The chief virtue that language can have is clearness, and nothing detracts from it so much as the use of unfamiliar words.

I had to resign myself, many years ago, that I’m not too articulate when it comes to explaining how I feel about things. But my music does it for me, it really does.

Where there is shouting, there is no true knowledge.

I soothe my conscience now with the thought that it is better for hard words to be on paper than that Mummy should carry them in her heart.

I’m modern because I make the difficult seem easy, and so I can communicate with the whole world.

There can be no doubt that the average man blames much more than he praises. His instinct is to blame. If he is satisfied he says nothing; if he is not, he most illogically kicks up a row.

The press, the machine, the railway, the telegraph are premises whose thousand-year conclusion no one has yet dared to draw.

If you don’t like what someone has to say, argue with them.

One merit of poetry few persons will deny: it says more and in fewer words than prose.

People have to talk about something just to keep their voice boxes in working order so they’ll have good voice boxes in case there’s ever anything really meaningful to say.

Words are cheap. The biggest thing you can say is ‚elephant‘.

The question isn’t, ‚What do we want to know about people?‘, It’s, ‚What do people want to tell about themselves?‘

I’ll think I have a few wonderful friends and all of a sudden, ooh, here it comes. They do a lot of things. They talk about you to the press, to their friends, tell stories, and you know, it’s disappointing.

I promised myself that I would write as well as I can, tell the truth, not to tell everything I know, but to make sure that everything I tell is true, as I understand it. And to use the eloquence which my language affords me.

I’m the most boring person to talk to.

Style is that which indicates how the writer takes himself and what he is saying. It is the mind skating circles around itself as it moves forward.

In oratory the will must predominate.

I guess the toughest things in translations are word play, which can never be reproduced exactly.

Human language appears to be a unique phenomenon, without significant analogue in the animal world.

When he speaks to you he speaks with an earnest vibe and an earnest energy.

Before a man speaks it is always safe to assume that he is a fool. After he speaks, it is seldom necessary to assume it.

When marrying, ask yourself this question: Do you believe that you will be able to converse well with this person into your old age? Everything else in marriage is transitory.

A mother defends herself with a heart filled with love before doing so with words. I wonder whether there is any love for the church in the hearts of those who pay so much attention to the scandals.

In honorable dealing you should consider what you intended, not what you said or thought.

I’m actually a very honest person, and sometimes I end up like, ‚Man, I said too much.‘ It’s hard for me not to tell the truth when you ask me.

Pressed into service means pressed out of shape.

When I talked to him on the phone yesterday. I called him George rather than Mr. Vice President. But, in public, it’s Mr. Vice President, because that is who he is.

Throughout my career, I fed off the fuel of people not being able to understand me.

When I looked at the third base coach, he turned his back on me.

We can’t just choose to tell some facts and not others because we don’t want to upset people. We have to tell it like it is.

One great use of words is to hide our thoughts.

The drawing teacher has this problem of communicating how to draw by osmosis and not by instruction, while the physics teacher has the problem of always teaching techniques, rather than the spirit, of how to go about solving physical problems.

What’s another word for Thesaurus?

A good leader can engage in a debate frankly and thoroughly, knowing that at the end he and the other side must be closer, and thus emerge stronger. You don’t have that idea when you are arrogant, superficial, and uninformed.

I didn’t just invent saying offensive things.

I will listen to anyone’s convictions, but pray keep your doubts to yourself.

Tell the children the truth.

I looked the people of Louisiana in the eye and told them exactly what I thought in terms that normal people use.

If the present Congress errs in too much talking, how can it be otherwise in a body to which the people send one hundred and fifty lawyers, whose trade it is to question everything, yield nothing, and talk by the hour?

Words are more treacherous and powerful than we think.

I’m not always going to say things the perfect way, the right way. But I’m going to say how I feel.

In human intercourse the tragedy begins, not when there is misunderstanding about words, but when silence is not understood.

As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence.

I remain convinced that obstinate addiction to ordinary language in our private thoughts is one of the main obstacles to progress in philosophy.

In true dialogue, both sides are willing to change.

People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude.

In my divorce, I stood up and said to my ex-wife, ‚Hey, I messed up. This had nothing to do with you. I didn’t understand what marriage was. I cheated. I was wrong. We couldn’t fix it; it got worse. I stepped away because I didn’t want it to get any worse. You’re the mother of my kids – I don’t want to hate you.‘

Why a four-year-old child could understand this report. Run out and find me a four-year-old child. I can’t make head nor tail out of it.

I write all my sermons.

What you guys want, I’m for.

I’m trying to make God more relevant in our society. And I think talking in everyday terms and making sure people can understand it – I think that’s important.

‚Do you spell it with a ‚V‘ or a ‚W‘?‘ inquired the judge. ‚That depends upon the taste and fancy of the speller, my Lord‘.

I wanted to be a doctor that I might be able to work without having to talk because for years I had been giving myself out in words.

Silence speaks so much louder than screaming tantrums. Never give anyone an excuse to say that you’re crazy.

In this experiment, made on the 9th of October, 1876, actual conversation, backwards and forwards, upon the same line, and by the same instruments reciprocally used, was successfully carried on for the first time upon a real line of miles in length.

If you’re really satisfied with your position on something, you just say, ‚Hey;‘ you just very calmly present something.

People who know little are usually great talkers, while men who know much say little.

I never learn anything talking. I only learn things when I ask questions.

The American public’s a lot more sophisticated than we all give them credit for. And on complicated issues, I’m going to give them straight answers. And if it takes more than three minutes, I’m going to do it.

When your mother asks, ‚Do you want a piece of advice?‘ it is a mere formality. It doesn’t matter if you answer yes or no. You’re going to get it anyway.

The major advances in speed of communication and ability to interact took place more than a century ago. The shift from sailing ships to telegraph was far more radical than that from telephone to email!