When you meet with someone and you try to assess whether they’re telling you the truth or not, there’s several things you can do. You judge demeanor and credibility. You look at corroboration.

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

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

When Caroline Kennedy managed to say ‚you know‘ more than 200 times in an interview with the New York ‚Daily News,‘ and on 130 occasions while talking to ‚The New York Times‘ during her uninspired attempt to become a hereditary senator, she proved, among other things, that she was (a) middle-aged and (b) middle class.

No one wants advice – only corroboration.

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

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.

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.

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

One may sometimes tell a lie, but the grimace that accompanies it tells the truth.

In the last analysis, what we are communicates far more eloquently than anything we say or do.

How can a president not be an actor?

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

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

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.

I really think that there was a great advantage in many ways to being a woman. I think we are a lot better at personal relationships, and then have the capability obviously of telling it like it is when it’s necessary.

Listen with your eyes for feelings.

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

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

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

Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment.

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 people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.

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

I’m just preparing my impromptu remarks.

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

No one can lie, no one can hide anything, when he looks directly into someone’s eyes.

People generally quarrel because they cannot argue.

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 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.

Example is leadership.

Conflict cannot survive without your participation.

Only the prepared speaker deserves to be confident.

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.

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

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

I go onstage and I talk, and I remember what I’m saying, and I track it.

I’ve been known to preach.

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

A yawn is a silent shout.

I thought my life was mapped out. Research, living in the forest, teaching and writing. But in ’86 I went to a conference and realised the chimpanzees were disappearing. I had worldwide recognition and a gift of communication. I had to use them.

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.

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

I don’t think people are going to talk in the future. They’re going to communicate through eye contact, body language, emojis, signs.

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

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

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.

I’m not a person that socializes very well.

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

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

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.

That sort of half sigh, which, accompanied by two or three slight nods of the head, is pity’s small change in general society.

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

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.

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.

If one could only teach the English how to talk, and the Irish how to listen, society here would be quite civilized.

In retrospect, I can see I couldn’t talk to people face to face, so I got on stage and started screaming and squealing and twitching about. Ha! Like, that sure made sense!

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

You can disagree without being disagreeable.

I’m not very articulate.