Talkers are usually more articulate than doers, since talk is their specialty.

Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud.

Reacting in anger or annoyance will not advance one’s ability to persuade.

That’s another hallmark of truth, is that it snaps things together. People write to me all the time and say it’s as if things were coming together in my mind. It’s like the Platonic idea that all learning was remembering. You have a nature, and when you feel that nature articulated, it’s it’s like the act of snapping the puzzle pieces together.

In ideal form of social control is an atomised collection of individuals focused on their own narrow concern, lacking the kinds of organisations in which they can gain information, develop and articulate their thoughts, and act constructively to achieve common ends.

Resist the need to be ‚right‘ all the time or to always have the last word.

One of the issues I kept saying to my students is you have to learn to interrupt. When you raise your hand at a meeting, by the time they get to you, the point is not germane. So the bottom line is active listening. If you are going to interrupt, you look for opportunities. You have to know what you’re talking about.

When angry count to ten before you speak. If very angry, count to one hundred.

I don’t even know how to speak up for myself, because I don’t really have a father who would give me the confidence or advice.

A man may speak very well in the House of Commons, and fail very completely in the House of Lords. There are two distinct styles requisite: I intend, in the course of my career, if I have time, to give a specimen of both.

Be as polite to the custodian as you are to the chairman of the board.

If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time – a tremendous whack.

Listen with the intent to understand, not the intent to reply.

You know, you can make a small mistake in language or etiquette in Britain, or you could when I was younger, and really be made to feel it, and it’s the flick of a lash, but it would sting, and especially at school where there’s not much privacy, and so on. You could, yes, undoubtedly be made to feel crushed.

Eventually you get to this point where you understand what you want to do and get across and sound like.

I could never give relationship advice to anybody!

When it comes to knowing what to say, to charm, I always had it.

If the tongue had not been framed for articulation, man would still be a beast in the forest.

Transforming yourself into a deep listener will not only prove more amusing as you open your mind to their mind, but you will gain the most invaluable lessons about human psychology.

The trouble with her is that she lacks the power of conversation but not the power of speech.

A person standing in front of an audience without enthusiasm for his subject and his actions is disconnected from his spirit.

I’ve been known to preach.

I’m just preparing my impromptu remarks.

Until the men of action clear out the talkers we who have social consciences are at the mercy of those who have none.

Always remember that your calmness under fire is your best defense in any argument or discussion.

I don’t do meetings.

It’s funny because I’ve made a living off of words, but words get in the way of what you really want to say.

You can disagree without being disagreeable.

Extemporaneous speaking should be practiced and cultivated. It is the lawyer’s avenue to the public. However able and faithful he may be in other respects, people are slow to bring him business if he cannot make a speech.

Communication is a skill that you can learn. It’s like riding a bicycle or typing. If you’re willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of evry part of your life.

Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement.

It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.

When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.

The big divide in this country is not between Democrats and Republicans, or women and men, but between talkers and doers.

Conflict cannot survive without your participation.

I have been – I have spoken in Bir Zeit a number of times.

Women have to be active listeners and interrupters – but when you interrupt, you have to know what you are talking about.

Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.

I’m not very articulate.

It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what others say in a whole book.

I have learned to interface – what I think would be the contemporary term – with various different lexicons, and people speak very different languages. I’ve learned to speak in a lot of tongues, and I can live with the bellicose language of some fervent, fire-breathing Christians, sure.

You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.

When you are president, being able to clearly articulate detailed plans to help the people of this country is a good thing. Knowing what you’re doing is a good thing. And let me tell you, Hillary Clinton absolutely knows what she’s doing.

Only the prepared speaker deserves to be confident.

In making a speech one must study three points: first, the means of producing persuasion; second, the language; third the proper arrangement of the various parts of the speech.

When things haven’t gone well for you, call in a secretary or a staff man and chew him out. You will sleep better and they will appreciate the attention.

Talk low, talk slow and don’t say too much.

In the television age, the key distinction is between the candidate who can speak poetry and the one who can only speak prose.

Take advantage of every opportunity to practice your communication skills so that when important occasions arise, you will have the gift, the style, the sharpness, the clarity, and the emotions to affect other people.

There are some who speak well and write badly. For the place and the audience warm them, and draw from their minds more than they think of without that warmth.

Example is leadership.

So when I speak in front of thousands, tens of thousands of people, I don’t really get nervous because I know what I want to say and I know what message I want to give.

The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.

The most important thing for a director is being able to communicate.

Some years ago I became president of Columbia University and learned within 24 hours to be ready to speak at the drop of a hat, and I learned something more, the trustees were expected to be ready to speak at the passing of the hat.

People generally quarrel because they cannot argue.

A master performer like Bill Clinton never lost sight of the fact that as president he had to project confidence and power, but if he was speaking to a group of autoworkers he would adjust his accent and his words to fit the audience, and do the same for a group of executives.

I don’t want to spend the rest of my life giving speeches.

I was always taught not to answer no questions. I’m not really good at answering them because I get agitated so fast.

Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.

I’m not a person that socializes very well.