Jack Vance Quotes

True eloquence scorns eloquence.

Wit in conversation is only a readiness of thought and a facility of expression, or a quick conception and an easy delivery.

There is a truth and beauty in rhetoric; but it oftener serves ill turns than good ones.

Beware of the conversationalist who adds "In other words."

She might not be as strong as everyone she met, or as fast, or even as smart. But she could bullshit with the best of them. Combine that quality with a license to carry, and a girl could more than get by in this life.

Eighty percent of all questions are statements in disguise.

It is not true that men prefer foolish women. Rather they prefer women who can simulate foolishness whenever necessary, which is the very core of intelligence.

As fleeting emotions stalk it, a face can leak fear or the guilt of a forming lie.

You both ... you both saved me?" "Come on," said Luis. "You make it sound like it was hard for Val to go to the Unseelie Court, strike a deal with Roiben, challenge Mabry to a duel, win back your heart, and then get back here during rush hour.

Ours is the "land of the free"-nobody denies that-nobody challenges it. (Maybe it is because we won't let other people testify.)

Be wise among the wise, but pretend to be dull among fools.

Analogies are figures intended to serve as fatal weapons if they succeed, and as innocent toys if they fail.

Understanding people certainly impacts your ability to communicate with others.

Writing is more than just the making of a series of comprehensible statements: it is the gathering in of connotations; the harvesting of them, like blackberries in a good season, ripe and heavy, snatched from among the thorns of logic.

Intelligence makes sincerity difficult.

The key to conversation at work is flexibility and understanding how what you say might be perceived by others.

Politicians use statistics in the same way that a drunk uses lamp-postsfor support rather than illumination.

Rhetoric is not important. Actions are.

Logic invents as many fallacies as it detects; it is a good weapon, but as liable to be used in a bad as in a good cause.

Are you insinuatin' that my daughter is a liar?" "Oh, no, not at all. I'm saying your daughter is a liar. Surely you can appreciate the difference.

If you want to relate to a certain audience or generation, you have to speak their language. I truly believe that.

Remember the mind is your best muscle...BIG ARMS can move rocks, but BIG WORDS can move mountains... Ride the brain train for success.

The adjective hasn't been built that can pull a weak or inaccurate noun out of a tight place.

Psychologically speaking, what is true requires no protection, and never becomes negative when challenged. On the other hand, what is false almost never stops trying to protect itself, which it does by finding fault with whatever or whoever challenges the false image behind which it always hides.

It is not enough to prove something, one also has to seduce or elevate people to it. That is why the man of knowledge should learns how to speak his wisdom: and often in such a way that it sounds like folly!