Ben Jonson Quotes

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

Talking and eloquence are not the same: to speak and to speak well are two things. A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks.

I often begin a thought with spirit and finish it with nonsense. The chain of my argument often escapes me, and when lost can seldom be retrieved. These faults are so overpowering that I should sink into perpetual silence were it not that sometimes in ardor of debate, when my feelings are wound up to a high tone, elocution pours itself along with unusual rapidity, and I have passages which would not shame a good speaker; this is the only thing that makes me tolerable to others or to myself.

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

I'm not good at throwing around rhetoric.

The ability to speak well is the shortcut to distinction.

The tongue is the only tool that gets sharper with use.

I [Moses] am not a man of words.

It lies deep in our habits, confirmed by all manner of educational and other arrangements for several centuries back, to consider human talent as best of all evincing itself by the faculty of eloquent speech.

Chauncy Burr ... talks well, possibly better than he thinks. But this is a common failing.

Speech is the best show a man puts on.

A great speech is literature.

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

Much speech is one thing, well-timed speech is another.

To speak and to speak well, are two things. A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks.

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

Some eloquence is like a magic.

We love to hear some men speak, though we hear not what they say.

word thrower … phrase maker

Great speech is impassioned; small speech cantankerous.

God and my dad gave me the gift of gab. I know how to finagle.

I'm not very articulate. I don't have that skill.

Nobody wants to hear long speeches.

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

I like to talk. Talking is kind of my thing. If talking had been a sport option at Wexford, I would have been captain. But sports always have to involve running, jumping, or swinging your arms around. You don’t get PE points for the smooth and rapid movement of the jaw.