Plutarch Quotes

Speeches are not magic and there is no great speech without great policy.

It is a difficult task, O citizens, to make speeches to the belly, which has no ears.

Making a speech on economics is a lot like pissing down your leg. It seems hot to you, but it never does to anyone else.

The speeches to be wary of are those that begin with I'm just going to say a few words.

Trust me, I have never written a speech in my life, and if I have my way, I never will.

The aim of the sculptor is to convince us that he is a sculptor; the aim of the orator, is to convince us that he is not an orator.

The practice of public speaking flourishes in every peaceful and free state.

This trial has developed in the most remarkable manner, the insane love of speaking among public men. We are wading knee deep in words, words, words ….

A good orator is pointed and impassioned.

Few orators have known how to achieve such admirable results by dint of repetition. Besides, Lenin always felt his audience. He never rose too high above its level, nor did he ever omit to descend to it at just the necessary moment, in order not to break the continuity of the hypnosis which dominated the will of his flock; and more than any one he realized that a mob is like a horse that wants to be firmly bestrode and spurred, that wants to feel the hand of a master.

An orator is a man who says what he thinks and feels what he says.

I happen to have given lots of free speeches.

Nobody wants to hear long speeches.

What passes out of one's mouth passes into a hundred ears. It is a great misfortune not to have sense enough to speak well.

When Demosthenes was asked what were the three most important aspects of oratory, he answered, 'Action, Action, Action.'

When Demosthenes was asked what was the first part of Oratory, he answered, "Action," and which was the second, he replied, "action," and which was the third, he still answered "Action.

Accustomed as I am to public speaking, I know the futility of it.

I never failed to convince an audience that the best thing they could do was to go away.

In oratory the will must predominate.

Making clever speeches takes a lot of work and a lot of time.

An orator is the worse person to tell a plain fact.

With my natural communication abilities, I could probably gather a crowd even without the Spirit.

A great speech is literature.

Using rhetorical questions in speeches is a great way to keep the audience involved. Don't you think those kinds of questions would keep your attention?

If only I was as eloquent as Demosthenes, I would have to do no more than repeat a single word three times.