Marcus Tullius Cicero Quotes

You have to really know what you're saying.

Eloquence is the essential thing in a speech, not information.

Talking and eloquence are not the same: to speak, and to speak well, are two things.

You don't need many words if you already know what you're talking about.

Unless one is a genius, it is best to aim at being intelligible.

Write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow.

I used to tell my husband that, if he could make me understand something, it would be clear to all the other people in the country.

My basic rule is to speak slowly and simply so that my audience has an opportunity to follow and think about what I am saying.

If you can’t explain something simply, you don’t understand it.

If you are knowledgeable about something and are able to talk about it, you should be able to express yourself.

Ordinary people can be very articulate and very eloquent.

Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people.

If one is master of one thing and understands one thing well, one has at the same time, insight into and understanding of many things.

Where questions of style and exposition are concerned I try to follow a simple maxim: if you can't say it clearly you don't understand it yourself.

Making noise is easy; making stuff people understand is an easy thing to do.

The main thing is to know something and to say it.

Communication is about being effective, not always about being proper.

For my next trick I will make everyone understand me.

Having knowledge but lacking the power to express it clearly is no better than never having any ideas at all.

It's no use of talking unless people understand what you say.

If you're a preacher, you talk for a living, so even if you don't make sense, you learn to make nonsense eloquently.

Complex things, if you don't understand them, it seems complicated. If you understand them, and we know how to handle it, it became simple.

I won't write about a subject unless I've mastered it.

Know what you're talking about.

The truly educated man will always speak to the understanding of the most unlearned of his audience.