Marcus Tullius Cicero
Politician, Philosopher, Orator
"Nothing is so unbelievable that oratory cannot make it acceptable."
Persuasion quotes
Persuasion
84 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Kenneth Burke
Philosopher
"Wherever there is persuasion, there is rhetoric, and wherever there is rhetoric, there is meaning."
Van Morrison
Singer-Songwriter
"Meet them halfway with love, peace, and persuasion, and expect them to rise for the occasion."
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Military Leader, Politician
"I'll tell you what leadership is. It's persuasion and conciliation, and education, and patience."
Aesop
Fabulist
"Persuasion is often more effectual than force."
Explore further
Topics related to Persuasion
Browse quotes that often appear alongside persuasion — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Persuasion quotes (page 1 of 5)
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"For, besides what has been said, it should be borne in mind that the temper of the multitude is fickle, and that while it is easy to persuade them of a thing, it is hard to fix them in that persuasion"
Read quote
20 likes
"The universe, they said, depended for its operation on the balance of four forces which they identified as charm, persuasion, uncertainty and bloody-mindedness."
Read quote
17 likes
"If I have said something to hurt a man once, I shall not get the better of this by saying many things to please him."
Read quote
14 likes
"Rhetoric may be defined as the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion."
Read quote
12 likes
"Either we shall find what it is we are seeking or at least we shall free ourselves from the persuasion that we know what we do not know."
Read quote
11 likes
"If you would persuade, you must appeal to interest rather than intellect."
Read quote
11 likes
"To deal with men by force is as impractical as to deal with nature by persuasion."
Read quote
11 likes
"Persuasion is better than force."
Read quote
9 likes
"Gentle persuasion succeeds where force fails."
Read quote
8 likes
"In the world there is, parallel to the force of death and constraint, an enormous force of persuasion that is called culture."
Read quote
8 likes
"Few are open to conviction, but the majority of men are open to persuasion"
Read quote
8 likes
"The young mind is pliable and imitates, but in more advanced states grows rigid and must be warmed and softened before it will receive a deep impression."
Read quote
8 likes
"Facts and credibility only support persuasion."
Read quote
7 likes
"Does a firm persuasion that a thing is so, make it so?"
Read quote
7 likes
"Faith is a knowledge of the benevolence of God toward us, and a certain persuasion of His veracity."
Read quote
7 likes
"The persuasion of a friend is a strong thing."
Read quote
7 likes
"Violence is not the only means of persuasion."
Read quote
7 likes
"[M]ere knowledge of the truth will not give you the art of persuasion."
Read quote
6 likes
"Would you persuade, speak of interest, not of reason."
Read quote
6 likes
"From him [Death] alone of all the powers of heaven Persuasion holds aloof."
Read quote
6 likes