Marcus Tullius Cicero
Politician, Philosopher, Orator
"Nothing is so unbelievable that oratory cannot make it acceptable."
Oratory quotes
Oratory
60 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Plutarch
Philosopher, Historian
"When Demosthenes was asked what was the first part of Oratory, he answered, "Action," and which was the second, he replied, "action," and which was the third, he still answered "Action."
William Shakespeare
Playwright, Poet
"Very good orators, when they are out, they will spit; and for lovers, lacking--God warn us!--matter, the cleanliest shift is to kiss."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Essayist, Philosopher, Poet
"There is no true orator who is not a hero."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Poet, Playwright, Novelist
"With little art, clear wit and sense Suggest their own delivery."
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Topics related to Oratory
Browse quotes that often appear alongside oratory — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
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Oratory quotes (page 1 of 3)
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"Yet through delivery orators succeed, I feel that I am far behind indeed."
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"Amplification is the vice of modern oratory."
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"It is the first rule in oratory that a man must appear such as he would persuade others to be: and that can be accomplished only by the force of his life."
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"Oratory is the power of beating down your adversary's arguments and putting better in their place."
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"There is nothing in the world like a persuasive speech to fuddle the mental apparatus and upset the convictions and debauch the emotions of an audience not practiced in the tricks and delusions of oratory"
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"Hark to that shrill, sudden shout, The cry of an applauding multitude, Swayed by some loud-voiced orator who wields The living mass as if he were its soul!"
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"I don't have any oratory skills. But I would not use them if I had."
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"Yet through delivery orators succeed, I feel that I am far behind indeed. [Ger., Allein der Vortrag macht des Redners Gluck, Ich fuhl es wohl noch bin ich weit zuruck.]"
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"I must say I'm not very fond of oratory that's so full of energy it hasn't any room for facts."
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"All the great speakers were bad speakers at first."
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"The aim of forensic oratory is to teach, to delight, to move."
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"Only hidden and undetected oratory is really insidious. What reaches the heart without going through the mind is likely to bounce back and put the mind out of business."
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"There is nothing like oratory, it is a skill that can turn a commoner into a king."
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"The simplest man with passion will be more persuasive than the most eloquent without."
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"The Orator persuades and carries all with him, he knows not how; the Rhetorician can prove that he ought to have persuaded and carried all with him."
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"He mouths a sentence as curs mouth a bone."
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"The greatest and truest models for all oratorsis Demosthenes. One who has not studied deeply and constantly all the great speeches of the great Athenian, is not prepared to speak in public. Only as the constant companion of Demosthenes, Burke, Fox, Canning and Webster, can we hope to become orators."
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"The nature of oratory is such that there has always been a tendency among politicians and clergymen to oversimplify complex matters. From a pulpit or a platform even the most conscientious of speakers finds it very difficult to tell the whole truth."
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"There is nothing in the world like persuasive speech to fuddle the mental apparatus."
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"Of all the talents bestowed upon men, none is so precious as the gift of oratory !!"
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