100 Quotes About Persuasion

Sometimes, persuasion is the only way to get people to do what they should. The following collection of persuasion quotes can help you influence others to do what you want. So whether you need to convince your boss to give you a raise, or just want to convince your friend that it’s time for them to go to bed, these quotes are sure to have the desired effect.

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Shigure: JUST LISTEN TO ME FOR A SECOND, KYO! Kyo: SHUT UP! I HATE THIS! DO YOU REALLY GET THAT MUCH ENJOYMENT FROM PLAYING WITH PEOPLES' LIVES?! Shigure: Well, yes, now that you mention it, I do-- B U T THIS IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD! Kyo: Man, your persuasion skills SUCK! Tohru: Um, welcome home. Dinner's-Kyo: NOT HUNGRY! Shigure: KYO! DON'T TAKE THIS OUT ON TOHRU! And come back to the entrance hall this instant and take those shoes off! Yuki: He's right, Shigure. You really do suck at persuasion. Natsuki Takaya
Truth persuades by teaching, but does not teach by persuading.
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Truth persuades by teaching, but does not teach by persuading. Tertullian
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Well, that depends, I suppose. I heard someone once say that men dance the same way they have sex. So, if you want everyone here to think you're the kind of guy who just sits around and–" He stood up. "Let's dance. Richelle Mead
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It is the bane, and pleasure when creating Romance fiction, to know immersion and fulfillment for the reader are based on clarity. Clarity of plot, clarity of message, clarity of the characters, clarity of the changes going on inside of them, clarity of the darkest moment -- but don't you dare be obvious ~ Persuasion for the Endowment of Sex Appeal (Academic Paper) Glenn Hefley
All the privilege I claim for my own sex, is...
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All the privilege I claim for my own sex, is that of loving longest, when existence or when hope is gone. Jane Austen
Most people would instantly start feeling ten years older if...
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Most people would instantly start feeling ten years older if someone were to convince them that they were actually born a decade before their birthdate. Mokokoma Mokhonoana
You cannot reason people out of a position that they...
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You cannot reason people out of a position that they did not reason themselves into. Ben Goldacre
Words and magic are two powerful forces that can change...
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Words and magic are two powerful forces that can change the world. Amy Neftzger
Take a step towards actualizing the very thing you are...
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Take a step towards actualizing the very thing you are persuaded for and do not allow injustice to silence your voice. Sunday Adelaja
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Also, even if technocrats provide reasonable estimates of a risk, which itself is an iffy enterprise, they cannot dictate what level of risk people ought to accept. People might object to a nuclear power plant that has a minuscule risk of a meltdown not because they overestimate the risk, but because they feel that the cost of a catastrophe, no matter how remote, are too dreadful. And of course any of these trade-offs may be unacceptable if people perceive that the benefits would go to the wealthy and powerful while they themselves absorb the risks. Nonetheless, understanding the difference between our best science and our ancient ways of thinking can only make our individual and collective decisions better informed. It can help scientists and journalists explain a new technology in the face of the most common misunderstandings. And it can help all of us understand the technology so that we can accept or reject it on grounds that we can justify to ourselves and to others. Steven Pinker
I had also read somewhere that if a man didn't...
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I had also read somewhere that if a man didn't truly believe or understand what he was espousing, somehow he could do a more convincing job Charles Bukowski
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If the surprise outcome of the recent UK referendum - on whether to leave or remain in the European Union - teaches us anything, it is that supposedly worthy displays of democracy in action can actually do more harm than good. Witness a nation now more divided; an intergenerational schism in the making; both a governing and opposition party torn to shreds from the inside; infinitely more complex issues raised than satisfactory solutions provided. It begs the question 'Was it really all worth it' ? . Alex Morritt
A long list of propositions does not necessarily make a...
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A long list of propositions does not necessarily make a coherent argument Andrew Pettegree
If
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If "facts" convinced people of things, no one would have sex Glenn Hefley
It doesn't really matter if you are left behind the...
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It doesn't really matter if you are left behind the back, but what matters is your capacity to pull and push everyone by your way to get to the front. Michael Bassey Johnson
Get what you can with words, because words are free,...
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Get what you can with words, because words are free, but the words of an armed man ring that much sweeter. Joe Abercrombie
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Casting a curious gaze down on planet Earth, extra-terrestrial beings could well be forgiven for assuming that we humans are programmed in every move we make, by a palm-sized, oblong, slab of glass. More perplexing than that, who on earth could convince them otherwise ? Alex Morritt
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There is never a moment where I find Trump persuasive. When I look at him I see a man without any inner life. I see the most superficial person on Earth. This is a guy who has been totally hollowed out by greed and self regard and delusion. The way he talks about himself; if I caught some sort of brain virus and I started talking about myself the way Trump talks about himself, I would throw myself out a fucking window. That barely overstates it. Do you remember that scene at the end of the in The Exorcist where the priest is driving out the devil from Linda Blair and the devil comes into him and he just hurls himself out the window to end all the madness? Well, it would be like that. - Sam Harris . Sam Harris
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(on the portrayal of women in literature) Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story. Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree Unknown
The stranglehold of the departed was much resented by the...
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The stranglehold of the departed was much resented by the new generation of aspiring authors. Which is why it is who did make the breakthrough were so admired. Andrew Pettegree
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It is the tendency of deep feeling to subdue the manner rather than to render it too energetic. Charles Haddon Spurgeon
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There are really two essential things in campaigning. First, you must be in good humor. If you're going to be a raffle, you are to stay home. Second, you are to make sense in your speeches. These aren't the two things you must do. Unless you're saying, if you can be in good humor when you're exhausted. — Henry Cabot Lodge David Pietrusza
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Diplomacy's primary law: LEAVE ROOM FOR NEGOTIATION. Barbara W. Tuchman
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We need to know not only what is done but what is purposed and said by those who shape the destines of states and realms." Horace Greeley Harold Holzer
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The art of oratory was considered part of the equipment of a statesman. Barbara W. Tuchman
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Even though he said no store in uncanny things, he was soldier enough to value with whatever weapon came to hand. Geraldine Brooks
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To understand desire, one needs language and flesh. Sherry Turkle
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A storyteller, a displaced poet, will absorb reading differently. Richard Brookhiser
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Rapport is the link between meeting and communicating. Nicholas Boothman
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Politics look very simple to the outsider whether he is a businessman or a soldier — it is only when you get into it that all the angles and hard work become apparent. James Forrestal David Pietrusza
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In spite of his Cold War credentials, Kennedy still believed in the power of words. Stephen L. Carter
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When manipulation flutters around everywhere, neither pull nor push anyone. Just do one thing - don't trust anyone! Ashish Patel
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The only way to change someone's mind is to connect with them from the heart. Rasheed Ogunlaru
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All great people had critics but they still believe in the beauty of their dreams, fully persuaded to stay focused and determined for the realisationof their dreams. Lailah Gifty Akita
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Words have power. Mira Grant
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She had been in situations like this, where people said, Convince me, and in none of those had they actually wanted to be convinced. She could lay down a perfect argument and they just invented new bullshit on the spot to justify why the answer was still no. When people said, Convince me, she knew it didn’t mean they had an open mind. It meant they had power and wanted to enjoy it a minute. Max Barry
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Those who rule have always had an interest in shaping the perceptions of those they wish to rule. But never in the history of humanity has their toolbox been so full. Advances in technology and psychology have enabled the messages of the rulers to permeate our consciousness to a degree no prior society could have imagined. James Rozoff
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[Everything you write is] not simply a collection of words, but a means of influence not to be taken lightly. Let your recipient's emotions be the gondola, and your words, its gondolier. A.J. Darkholme
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When you give people a choice, they believe they have power. A.J. Darkholme
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Power and influence: things that should be obtained not for means of greed, nor pride, nor ego, but rather to ensure that in the right moment, when your wisdom and benevolence are required to keep humanity strong and united, you can deliver and orchestrate others toward the greater good. A.J. Darkholme
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Every deal can be closed. Every prospect can become a buyer. Every no can turn into a yes. In any market. In any economy. There is always an angle. There is always another attempt. There is no law against how much you can prospect, or how many times you can try to close a deal. There are more than enough ideas and millions of resources and billions of people out there to make any dream that you want, a reality. The only mental chain that will ever imprison you in a life of scarcity, is a belief that there is not enough, or that there is not a way to make what you want possible.  This chapter is going to awaken and stir up a monster of influence and achievement inside you. This monster works by being totally aware of all the resources that you have at your disposal, and not being afraid to any means to influence. ”Excerpt From: “Unlimited Influence: Sell Any Idea One On One - Chapter: Gun To Your Head. Jonathan DeCollibus
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Heart language is logic set on fire. Charles Haddon Spurgeon
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A ruler must learn to persuade and not to compel.. he must lay the best coffee hearth to attract the finest men.. a good ruler has to learn his world's language.. it's different for every world.. the language of the rocks and growing things.. the language you don't hear just with your ears.. the Mystery of Life.. not a problem to solve, but a reality to experience.. Understanding must move with the flow of the process. Frank Herbert
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The only thing more difficult than persuading someone else to start having sex with you is persuading yourself to stop. Jacob M. Appel
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Woe betide him, and her too, when it comes to things of consequence, when they are placed in circumstances requiring fortitude and strength of mind, if she have not resolution enough to resist idle interference .. It is the worst evil of too yielding and indecisive a character, that no influence over it can be depended on. You are never sure of a good impression being durable; everybody may sway it. Let those who would be happy be firm. . Jane Austen
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What! Would I be turned back from doing a thing that I had determined to do, and that I knew to be right, by the airs and interference of such a person, or any person I may say? No, I have no idea of being so easily persuaded. When I have made up my mind, I have made it. Jane Austen
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It’s true what they say, that words are the true weapons. Those who fight with steel are limited to the strength of their arm, the reach of their blade, and the timing of their strike; but those who fight with persuasion know no limits — not time, nor status, nor chance. A.J. Darkholme
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She hoped to be wise and reasonable in time Unknown
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Every man walks his own path, and every path has its fair share of locked doors. You never know who holds the key to a door you’ll need to open one day, so you best treat people as if they are all keyholders. A.J. Darkholme
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The battle for our culture must be waged at the level of the imagination. Eric Metaxas
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It is therefore worthwhile, to search out the bounds between opinion and knowledge; and examine by what measures, in things, whereof we have no certain knowledge, we ought to regulate our assent, and moderate our persuasions. John Locke
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Its all about perspective, that is how you look at things. Your own thoughts and outlook defines whether an experience, event, situation whatever is good or bad. And your definition determines your response. Stella Payton
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Its all about perception, that is how you look at. Your own thoughts and outlook defines whether it is good or bad. And your definition determines your response. Stella Payton
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Good words were the difference between Emily eating well and not. And what she had found worked best were not facts or arguments but words that tickled people’s brains for some reason, that just amused them. Puns, and exaggerations, and things that were true and not at the same time. Max Barry
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It is the crimson tongue that paints the world others think they see. A.J. Darkholme
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'You can't stop me. Your word voodoo, it doesn't work on me. Right? So how do you think you're going to-' Eliot produced a pistol. He didn't seem to pull it from anywhere. He just suddenly had it. Wil's eyes stung. 'See?' Eliot put away the gun. 'There are all kinds of persuasion.' Max Barry
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You can lead and motivate people without a certificate or title, what you need to do is to tell people a compelling secret that was only known to you. Michael Bassey Johnson
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The more you try to impress, the more you become depressed, and the more they get tired of your coercion. It doesn't make them love you, instead, they'll see you as a little child, trying to draw a senseless picture on a piece of paper, begging people to look at it and admire it by force. You can persuade someone to look at your face, but you can't persuade them to see the beauty therein. Michael Bassey Johnson
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If we cannot prevail with men for God, we will at least endeavor to prevail with God for men. Charles Haddon Spurgeon
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To inquire and to learn is the function of the mind, By learning I do not mean the mere cultivation of memory or the accumulation of knowledge, but the capacity to think clearly and sanely without illusion, to start from facts and not from beliefs and ideals. There is no learning if thought originates from conclusions. Merely to acquire information of knowledge is to not to learn. Learning implies the love of understanding and the love of doing a thing for itself. Learning is possible only when there is no coercion through influence, thought attachment or threat, through persuasive encouragement or subtle forms of reward. Most people think that learning is encouraged through comparison, whereas the contrary is the fact. Comparison brings about frustration and merely encourages envy, which is called competition. Like other forms of persuasion, comparison prevents learning and breeds fear. Jiddu Krishnamurti
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Presenting a humble façade gains trust; flattery appeals to ego; combine the two to gain an ego-based trust within someone, and you will find in your hands a judgement clouding tool second only to love. A.J. Darkholme
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Her face crumpled and he felt her pain as if it was his own. He wanted to take it back, but just like that memory, it was always going to be there. She worked to get control over her features, then said, “I’m sorry I didn’t defend you. I’m sorry I didn’t tell them you were my guest.” Jem hadn’t thought he cared anymore, not really, but her words were tugging loose the hard, painful knot in his chest. “It’s okay.” She shook her head. “It’s not. It wasn’t.” He reached out and cupped her cheek in his hand. He didn’t know what else to say and all he wanted was to touch her skin, let her know that he wasn’t that boy anymore and that she wasn’t that girl. . Mary Jane Hathaway
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Lucy gripped her chilled glass of orange and raspberry juice. When Rebecca talked about Austen, she’d mostly mentioned Mr. Darcy or Mr. Knightley. She hadn’t really thought of the doe-eyed, pale-skinned heroines. On the screen, Anne Elliot walked down a long hallway, glancing just once at covered paintings, her mouth a grim line. Lucy thought Jane Austen would start the story with the romance, or the loss of it, but instead the tale seemed to begin with Anne’s home, and having to make difficult decisions. Maybe this writer from over two hundred years ago knew how everything important met at the intersection of family, home, love, and loss. This was something Lucy understood with every fiber of her being. Mary Jane Hathaway
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The key for any speaker is to establish his own point of view for the audience, so they can see the game through his eyes. Ronald Reagan
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Arminius, appealing to Lactantius, held that: 'To recommend faith to others, we must make it the subject of persuasion, and not of compulsion'. He insisted that the true religion from Christ does not deteriorate into dissention. In the exercise of Christian liberty there will be sincere and honest differences. These differences cannot and should not be stamped out by means of coercion. In confronting the Scripture, Christians should be able to agree on what is necessary for salvation. But when mutual consent and agreement cannot be obtained on some articles, 'then the right hand of fellowship should be extended by both parties'. Each party should 'acknowledge the other for partakers of the same faith and fellow-heirs of the same salvation, although they may hold different sentiments concerning the nature of faith and the manner of salvation'. . Gerald O. McCulloh
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Every self-respecting act of persuasion must find appeal to curiosity, then to vanity, and lastly to kindness or remorse. Isabella looked down and slowly nodded. Unknown
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It would be most right, and most wise, and, therefore must involve least suffering. Jane Austen
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I have, as it were, constructed a lay-figure for the purposes of a demonstration which I desired to be as rapid and as impressive as possible. Sigmund Freud
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And sometimes it doesn't matter how hard you try, how persuasive you can be, how much skill you have... you can't have everything. Sometimes you just can't win."" No. Sometimes you don't win." He gets to his feet, and Red stands beside him. "But I'll be damned if that's going to stop me from trying. Daystar721
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The most fundamental thing about a person is desire. It defines them. Tell me what a person wants, truly wants, and I'll tell you who they are, and how to persuade them. Max Barry
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The Andrians were the first of the islanders to refuse Themistocles' demand for money. He had put it to them that they would be unable to avoid paying, because the Athenians had the support of two powerful deities, one called Persuasion and the other Compulsion.The Andrians had replied that Athens was lucky to have two such useful gods, who were obviously responsible for her wealth and greatness; unfortunately, they themselves, in their small & inadequate land, had two utterly useless deities, who refused to leave the island and insisted on staying; and their names were Poverty and Inability. Herodotus
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A candidate with no experience they would package as a citizen politician, a lifetime hack as an elder statesman. Rick Perlstein
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The values most important to us are always the most easily exploitable. A.J. Darkholme
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What separates us into engineers and robots, puppeteers and puppets, kings and pawns, is not the status we hold at any given time among others - status is irrelevant; it is the level of ever-present awareness we have of a grey-matter tailor's tools [of flattery, persuasion, and cunning.] A.J. Darkholme
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Although Martin Luther's theological message was couched as an exhortation to all Christian people, his frame of reference, the human experiences on which he drew and his emotional sympathies, or almost entirely German. Andrew Pettegree
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His plain, undecorated, and utilitarian work reeked week of provincialism. Andrew Pettegree
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Teddy White lamented that TV might spell the death of serious politics: to give a thoughtful response to serious questions, politician needed a good thirty seconds to ponder, but television allowed only five seconds of silence at best. DDB (ad men) found nothing to lament and the fact. They were convinced you could learn everything you needed to KNOW about a product, which in this case happens to be a human being, in half a minute — the speed not of thought but of emotion. Rick Perlstein
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Growing a culture requires a good storyteller. Changing a culture requires a persuasive editor. Ryan Lilly
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He seemed to believe that indignation was a sufficient guardian. Stephen L. Carter
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We stay the same as we've always been, keeping to the path we've walked our whole lives. Paths that carry so much importance and perceived stability that we are utterly convinced it is the only one to walk — that anyone not walking it with us is being misled. A.J. Darkholme
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You can only manage to convince a person to admit to being wrong, not ignorant, arrogant, or stupid. Mokokoma Mokhonoana
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It’s amazing, the lies you can tell yourself. Even more amazing, the lies you can believe when you’re desperate enough. Cat Clarke
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Horace Greeley pursues temperance to extravagance." Lord Acton Harold Holzer
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Stephen Douglas's oratory was designed for the galleries, Lincoln's for his peers Harold Holzer
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The letter is too belligerent. If I were you, I would state the facts as they were, without the pepper and salt. Abraham Lincoln Harold Holzer
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Lewis was studying literary history with the present and future in mind. Philip Zaleski
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Lewis at his best is about trying on ways of looking at the world. Alister E. McGrath
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The key is to put your outrage in a place where you can get it when you need to, but not have it bubble up so much, especially when you're asked to explain new ideas or explain what you observed two people who share none of your experiences. Ron Suskind
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It's much easier to be convincing if you care about your topic. Figure out what's important to you about your message and speak from the heart. Nicholas Boothman
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You can LOBBY anyone. It is the great equalizer." — Chief of Staff Russell Jackson Madam Secretary
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He did what good lawyers always do. He shifted his argument in the direction his audience was already going. Jeffrey Toobin
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A dash of humor will only add intense gravity to the proceedings, even as a flash of lightning only makes midnight dreariness all the more impressive. Charles Haddon Spurgeon
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What does it mean to be an advocate?
 In its broadest sense, advocacy means “any public action to support and recommend a cause, policy or practice.” That covers a lot of public actions, from displaying
 a bumper sticker to sounding off with a bullhorn. But whether the action is slapping something on the back of a car or speaking in front of millions, every act of advocacy involves making some kind of public statement, one that says, “I support this.” Advocacy is a communicative act. Advocacy is also a persuasive act. “I support this” is usually followed by another statement (sometimes only implied): “..and you should, too.” Advocacy not only means endorsing a cause or idea, but recommending, promoting, defending, or arguing for it. . Unknown
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Lyndon Johnson’s sentences were the sentences of a man with a remarkable gift for words, not long words but evocative, of a man with a remarkable gift for images, homey images of a vividness that infused the sentences with drama. Robert A. Caro
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Johnson had a sense of humor, and he could kid with me, ” he would say. “Johnson didn’t enjoy talking with most liberals. He didn’t think they had a sense of humor. Hubert H. Humphrey
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Goldwater hardly ever mentioned a statistic. He hardly ever used it EXAMPLE. He presumed you already knew what he meant. Reagan SHOWED you. Rick Perlstein
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Reagan is described as "delivering Barry Goldwater's doctrine with John F. Kennedy's technique. H.W. Brands
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I discovered that night (in his college's student politics) that an audience has a feel to it, and, in the parlance of the theater, that audience and I were together. Ronald Reagan
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The key to Lincoln's famous employment of humor is not that he failed to appreciate the tragic aspects of human existence, but rather that he felt these with such keeness that some relief was required. Elton Trueblood
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No conflict no story Unknown