Persuasion Quotes

The secret of all true persuasion is to induce the person to persuade himself. ~ Harry Allen Overstreet

We need to know not only what is done but what is purposed and said by those who shape the destines of states and realms." Horace Greeley ~ Harold Holzer

We have quite the same ideas. No; I think our ideas are quite different. But he has been most pleasant. ~ Oscar Wilde

There are lives lived for love, and lives lived for art. We, happy band, have chosen the later persuasion. ~ Clive Barker

It is well for us if we have learned to listen to the sweet persuasion of the Beatitudes, but there are crises in all lives which require also the emphatic "Thou shalt not" of the decalogue which the founders wrote on the gateposts of their commonwealth. ~ John Greenleaf Whittier

And I think there's something about conservatives frankly - and the Left, when it comes to their channels of persuasion, are unpersuasive. They are, most of them are hate-filled, obscenity-clogged rants of anger and hatred. ~ Karl Rove

To convert somebody go and take them by the hand and guide them. ~ Thomas Aquinas

Innovation, sales and marketing are less about ideas and persuasion and more about understanding. We forget that. People don't want one more nudge in the direction we have decided they need to go. They need us to build our businesses around what we notice will make their lives better. WHERE ~ Bernadette Jiwa

We can have no power from Christ unless we live in a persuasion that we have none of our own. ~ John Owen

nor could she help fearing, on more serious reflection, that, like many other great moralists and preachers, she had been eloquent on a point in which her own conduct would ill bear examination. PERSUASION ~ Jane Austen

basic rule of negotiation is to know what you want, what you need to walk away with in order to be whole. ~ Phil Knight

What happens when two people talk? That is really the basic question here, because, that's the basic context in which all persuasion takes place. ~ Malcolm Gladwell

There is hardly any personal defect which an agreeable manner might not gradually reconcile one to. ~ Jane Austen

most powerful military in the world is sent to do a task best accomplished by schoolteachers, police forces, persuasion, and time. ~ Mohsin Hamid

Hitler's strength as a leader is that he almost always works through the power of his persuasion; rarely does he command. ~ Rudolf Hess

Sometimes it appears that we're reaching a period when our senses and our minds will no longer respond to moderate stimulation. We seem to be approaching an Age of the Gross. Persuasion through speeches and books is too often discarded for disruptive demonstrations aimed at bludgeoning the unconvinced into action. ~ Spiro T. Agnew

It was characteristic of the rise of the Nazi movement in Germany and of the Communist movements in Europe after 1930 that they recruited their members from this mass of apparently indifferent people whom all other parties had given up as too apathetic or too stupid for their attention. The result was that the majority of their membership consisted of people who never before had appeared on the political scene. This permitted the introduction of entirely new methods into political propaganda, and indifference to the arguments of political opponents; these movements not only placed themselves outside and against the party system as a whole, they found a membership that had never been reached, never been "spoiled" by the party system. Therefore they did not need to refute opposing arguments and consistently preferred methods which ended in death rather than persuasion, which spelled terror rather than conviction. They presented disagreements as invariably originating in deep natural, social, or psychological sources beyond the control of the individual and therefore beyond the power of reason. This would have been a shortcoming only if they had sincerely entered into competition with other parties; it was not if they were sure of dealing with people who had reason to be equally hostile to all parties. ~ Hannah Arendt

Human free will implies God's prior decision not to tamper with the metaphysical base of that free will. It also implies man's ability to reject the persuasion God uses to influence that free will while leaving its metaphysical base intact! Persuasion, not compulsion, is what even He must rely upon! And persuasion, by its very definition, must be resistible! ~ Don Richardson

How could he encapsulate in a pithy admissions-interview line all of his unique ideas and interests? ~ Alexandra Robbins

Name-calling will make you an enemy, not an ally, and if that is your objective, then persuasion is probably not what you were after in the first place. ~ Steven D. Levitt

Those who are coerced by force become our enemies, those who succumb to reason become our allies. ~ Alexandre Dumas

Ninety percent of selling is conviction, and 10 per cent is persuasion. ~ Shiv Khera

A sociosphere of contact, control, persuasion and dissuasion, of exhibitions of inhibitions in massive or homeopathic doses ... : this is obscenity. All structures turned inside out and exhibited, all operations rendered visible. In America this goes all the way from the bewildering network of aerial telephone and electric wiresto the concrete multiplication of all the bodily functions in the home, the litany of ingredients on the tiniest can of food, the exhibition of income or IQ. ~ Jean Baudrillard

I suspect Dr. Robert L. Webb may be theologically a 'hyper-Calvinist' of the Jesse Mercer persuasion."


~R. Alan Woods [2013] ~ R. Alan Woods

The age can be impressed. Anything will be accepted by men if you will but preach it with tremendous enthusiasm, emotion, persuasionnergy and living earnestness. ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Aristotle writes that persuasion is based on three things: the ethos, or personal character of the speaker; the pathos, or getting the audience into the right kind of emotional receptivity; and the logos, or the argument itself, carried out by abbreviated syllogisms, or something like deductive syllogisms, and by the use of example. ~ Randal Marlin

Persuasion with good intention helps problem-solving; manipulation often serves the ego. ~ Pearl Zhu

What we need is not more learning, not more eloquence, not more persuasion, not more organization, but more power from the Holy Spirit. ~ John Stott

The adjectives that are in the book ["Win"] - passion, persuasion, persistence, perfection, prioritization, being people-centered - none of them are as important as principles. Without principles, the language will fail. ~ Frank Luntz

The barbarian chieftain, who defended his country against the Roman invasion, driven to the remotest extremity of Britain, and stimulating his followers to battle, by all that has power of persuasion upon the human heart, concludes his exhortation by an appeal to these irresistible feelings - Think of your forefathers and of your posterity. ~ John Quincy Adams

Everybody knows that there's a liberal, that there's a heavy liberal persuasion among correspondents. ~ Walter Cronkite

We are already bound together in the way of my people. Will you speak vows in the way of yours?"
Her blue eyes widened with shock, eyes a man could drown in. Eyes a man could spend eternity staring into. A small, very male smile tugged at his mouth. He had succeeded in shocking her.
"Mikhail, are you asking me to marry you?"
"I am not really certain I know how it is done. Should I be on my knee?" He was grinning openly at her.
"You're proposing to me with a carload of assassins approaching?"
"Potential assassins." He gave her a small, heart-wrenching smile. "Say yes. You know you cannot possibly resist me. Say yes."
"After you made me drink that disgusting apple juice? You set your wolves on me, Mikhail. I know there's a long list of sins I should be reciting." Her eyes were sparkling with mischief.
He pulled her into his arms, against the heavy muscles of his chest, fitting her neatly into the cradle of his hips. "I can see this is going to take some heavy persuasion. ~ Christine Feehan

The author found participants in a study able to come up with more reasons to support their position but not anymore likely to change their minds based on contradictory evidence. In effect, they enlist their IQ on behalf of their instincts. ~ Jonathan Haidt

According to Aman Mehndiratta, Persuasion of the idea and planning the strategy is the key activity for every business not only for the entrepreneurial business. But there goes an extra emphasis on the business started as an entrepreneurship. As here, everything including decisions, responsibilities, failures, success, appreciation, and criticism belongs to you only. Proper strategy and planning are necessary if one wants to avoid the future risks. ~ Aman Mehndiratta

I've finally given in, my eyes are shut under the blindfold. I can hear and smell, but I cannot see. My hands are clammy I feel cold yet I am warm. It is what I wanted, but I am now unsure, dubious yet at the same time excited and curious. I would like to think I feel a bit like Alice just before she fell down the hole into the rabbit hole. Yet there are no rabbits here… not even those of the rampant persuasion. ~ LEONORA MORRISON

Ah, there's the governess voice. All stern and disapproving. It makes me feel like a naughty schoolboy. ~ Lisa Kleypas

Pascal makes no attempt in this most famous argument to show that his Roman Catholicism is true or probably true. The reasons which he suggests for making the recommended bet on his particular faith are reasons in the sense of motives rather than reasons in the sense of grounds. Conceding, if only for the sake of the present argument, that we can have no knowledge here, Pascal tries to justify as prudent a policy of systematic self-persuasion, rather than to provide grounds for thinking that the beliefs recommended are actually true. ~ Antony Flew

Persuasion is not a science but an art ~ William Bernbach

As a young man in South Africa at the beginning of the twentieth century, Gandhi developed satyagraha, a mode of political activism based upon moral persuasion, while mobilizing South Africa's small Indian minority against racial discrimination. ~ Pankaj Mishra

A wise old man taught me that diplomacy is the velvet glove that cloaks the fist of power. Persuasion, not force, works best and lasts longest. ~ Robin Hobb

It seems too simplistic that just repeating a persuasive message should increase its effect, but that's exactly what psychological research finds (again and again). Repetition is one of the easiest and most widespread methods of persuasion. In fact it's so obvious that we sometimes forget how powerful it is. ~ Jeremy Bean

Roosevelt pulled a cigar from his pocket and lit it. "How can you smoke at a time like this?" asked the captain. His eyes were aimed up at the falling flames.

"Hell, if I'm going to die, it's going to be doing something I enjoy. And since none of you are of the female persuasion, it's the cigar."

"At this point the fall would probably just pulverize our legs. If we could avoid cardiac arrest, we'd live. As invalids of course," replied Smith.

"Don't ruin my cigar, Schmitty. ~ Andrew Mayne

For it is not true, as some treatise-mongers lay down in their systems, of the probity of the speaker, that it contributes nothing to persuasion; but moral character nearly, I may say, carries with it the most sovereign efficacy in making credible. ~ Aristotle.

It is thus evident that Rhetoric does not deal with any one definite class of subjects, but, like Dialectic, [is of general application]; also, that it is useful; and further, that its function is not so much to persuade, as to find out in each case the existing means of persuasion. ~ Aristotle.

Need is stronger than want.
Action is stronger than speech.
Persuasion is stronger than force.
Influence is stronger than authority.

Progress is stronger than movement.
Momentum is stronger than activity.
Perfection is stronger than excellence.
Consequence is stronger than action.

Knowledge is stronger than ignorance.
Instinct is stronger understanding.
Wisdom is stronger than intelligence.
Certainty is stronger than perception.

Contentment is stronger than desire.
Joy is stronger than happiness.
Faith is stronger than courage.
Love is stronger than yearning.

Truth is stronger than reality.
Fate is stronger than chance.
Existence is stronger than time.
Eternity is stronger than death. ~ Matshona Dhliwayo

In ancient times music was the foundation of all the sciences. Education was begun with music with the persuasion that nothing could be expected of a man who was ignorant of music. ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

No matter what your political persuasion, you can find a guide that makes it quick, easy and painless to exercise your right to vote. Wanna know what a certain proposition put forth by a cadre of undisclosed billionaires which cuts funding for public education, arts and infrastructure means? Use the voting guide! ~ Steven Weber

What is illiberal is not persuasion but imposition of one's views. ~ Richard Dawkins

I made a list of skills in which I think every adult should gain a working knowledge. I wouldn't expect you to become a master of any, but mastery isn't necessary. Luck has a good chance of finding you if you become merely good in most of these areas. I'll make a case for each one, but here's the preview list.
Public speaking
Psychology
Business Writing
Accounting
Design (the basics)
Conversation
Overcoming Shyness
Second language
Golf
Proper grammar
Persuasion
Technology ( hobby level)
Proper voice technique ~ Scott Adams

To yield readily
easily
to the persuasion of a friend is no merit ... To yield without conviction is no compliment to the understanding of either. ~ Jane Austen

A rejection of absolutism, in all its forms, may sometimes slip into moral relativism or even nihilism, an erosion of values that hold society together, but for most of our history it has encouraged the very process of information gathering, analysis, argument, and persuasion which allows us to make better, if not perfect, choices – not only about the means to our ends, but also the ends themselves. ~ Barack Obama

Imagine then a fleet or a ship in which there is a captain who is taller and stronger than any of the crew, but he is a little deaf and has a similar infirmity in sight, and his knowledge of navigation is not much better. The sailors are quarrelling with one another about the steering --every one is of opinion that he has a right to steer, though he has never learned the art of navigation and cannot tell who taught him or when he learned, and will further assert that it cannot be taught, and they are ready to cut in pieces any one who says the contrary. They throng about the captain, begging and praying him to commit the helm to them; and if at any time they do not prevail, but others are preferred to them, they kill the others or throw them overboard, and having first chained up the noble captain's senses with drink or some narcotic drug, they mutiny and take possession of the ship and make free with the stores; thus, eating and drinking, they proceed on their voyage in such a manner as might be expected of them. Him who is their partisan and cleverly aids them in their plot for getting the ship out of the captain's hands into their own whether by force or persuasion, they compliment with the name of sailor, pilot, able seaman, and abuse the other sort of man, whom they call a good-for-nothing; but that the true pilot must pay attention to the year and seasons and sky and stars and winds, and whatever else belongs to his art, if he intends to be really qualified for the comm ~ Plato

A slut born out of masculine persuasion. ~ Jettie Woodruff

A laconic Texas lawmaker declined to use his considerable influence to intervene in a loud dispute between his colleagues. When asked why not, he said, They're not voting. If they're not voting, they're not passing any laws. If they're not passing any laws, they're not hurting anybody. ~ Robert A. Caro

With most women he would use flattery and flirtation, appealing to both their vanity and their pleasure. But Grace was no ordinary woman. With her, he knew he would have to take a more subtle approach. Less than half a minute into their acquaintance, he'd sensed her reserve, as well as her insecurity. He surmised she wasn't used to being boldly pursued by men, so any sudden, overt interest on his part would only provoke her suspicions and put her on the alert.
Instead, his approach would require a deft touch and gentle, patient persuasion. A shy doe required proper coaxing, after all. The key was to figure out what kind of inducement she liked best and be there to offer it. ~ Tracy Anne Warren

The Didots created happiness and power, or in this case, pain and sadness ... but only within its subject's mind.
The power it held was real, but it was not a physical power. It was the power of persuasion, the power of illusion.
Mr. Bradshaw was a genius. ~ Embee

The inward persuasion that we are free to do, or not to do a thing, is but a mere illusion. If we trace the true principle of our actions, we shall find, that they are always necessary consequences of our volitions and desires, which are never in our power. You think yourself free, because you do what you will; but are you free to will, or not to will; to desire, or not to desire? Are not your volitions and desires necessarily excited by objects or qualities totally independent of you? ~ Baron D'Holbach

I am guilty of believing that the human race can be humanized and enriched in every spiritual inference through the saner and more beneficent processes of peaceful persuasion applied to material problems rather than through wars, riots and bloodshed. ~ Eugene V. Debs

Wherever there is persuasion, there is rhetoric, and wherever there is rhetoric, there is meaning. ~ Kenneth Burke

I know I want and do not have what I want. A weight hangs suspended from a hook; being suspended, it suffers because it cannot fall: it cannot get off the hook, for insofar as it is weight it suspends, and as long as it suspends it depends.
[...]
Its life is this want of life. If it no longer wanted but were finished, perfect, if it possessed its own self, it would have ended its existence. At that point, as its own impediment to possessing life, the weight would not depend on what is external as much as on its own self, in that it is not given the means to be satisfied. The weight can never be persuaded.
Nor is any life ever satisfied to live in any present, for insofar as it is life it continues, and it continues into the future to the degree that it lacks life. If it were to possess itself completely here and now and be in want of nothing - if it awaited nothing in the future - it would not continue: it would cease to be life.
So many things attract us in the future, but in vain do we want to possess them in the present. ~ Carlo Michelstaedter

Lyndon Johnson's sentences were the sentences of a man with a remarkable gift for words, not long words but evocative, of a man with a remarkable gift for images, homey images of a vividness that infused the sentences with drama. ~ Robert A. Caro

Truth, like beauty, varies its fashions, and is best recommended by different dresses to different minds; and he that recalls the attention of mankind to any part of learning which time has left behind it, may be truly said to advance the literatures of his own age. As the manners of nations vary, new topicks of persuasion become necessary, and new combinations of imagery are produced; and he that can accommodate himself to the reigning taste, may always have readers who perhaps would not have looked upon better performances. ~ Samuel Johnson

Mind control is the process by which individual or collective freedom of choice and action is compromised by agents or agencies that modify or distort perception, motivation, affect, cognition and/or behavioral outcomes. It is neither magical nor mystical, but a process that involves a set of basic social psychological principles. Conformity, compliance, persuasion, dissonance, reactance, guilt and fear arousal, modeling and identification are some of the staple social influence ingredients well studied in psychological experiments and field studies. In some combinations, they create a powerful crucible of extreme mental and behavioral manipulation when synthesized with several other real-world factors, such as charismatic, authoritarian leaders, dominant ideologies, social isolation, physical debilitation, induced phobias, and extreme threats or promised rewards that are typically deceptively orchestrated, over an extended time period in settings where they are applied intensively. ~ Steven Hassan

Real persuasion comes from putting more of you into everything you say. Words have an effect. Words loaded with emotion have a powerful effect. ~ Jim Rohn

Thought as such ... is an act of negation, of resistance to that which is forced upon it; this is what thought has inherited from its archetype, the relation between labor and material. Today, when ideologues tend more than ever to encourage thought to be positive, they cleverly note that positivity runs precisely counter to thought, and that it takes friendly persuasion by social authority to accustom thought to positivity. ~ Theodor W. Adorno

All things are possible; if something seems like it's not, it's only because enough people aren't being deceived into the possibilities yet. ~ A.J. Darkholme

But she was well used to stubborn patients, the majority of which were always of the male persuasion. She figured it had something to do with carrying a penis around all the time. ~ Jill Shalvis

When (an advocate) is not thoroughly acquainted with the real strength and weakness of his cause, he knows not where to choose the most impressive argument. When the mark is shrouded in obscurity, the only substitute for accuracy in the aim is in the multitude of the shafts. ~ John Quincy Adams

"How do you do that?" I ask. "How do you always turn everything around on everyone else? Manipulate even those who know better than to believe you?"
Morpheus shrugs. "That's my power. My magic. Persuasion."
"No. Your power is poison." My pride raises its head again. "Just so you know, there's something you'll never persuade me to do."
He studies me, smug. "What's that?"
"Love you."
Morpheus's jewels turn pale blue, the color of anguish, and I revel in the knowledge that I cut him.
"Never say never," he murmurs. ~ A.G. Howard

Your lips are my persuasion, your love will be my cure. ~ Billy Squier

Enchantment and seduction were fine means of persuasion, but when time is short, an awkward but quick concussion could better serve a girl's purpose. ~ Christopher Moore

Leadership is essentially a task of persuasion - of winning people's minds and hearts. ~ Stephen Denning

Diplomacy's primary law: LEAVE ROOM FOR NEGOTIATION. ~ Barbara W. Tuchman

Robert Cialdini, author of one of my favorite books, Influence, the Psychology of Persuasion, writes: "A well-known principle of human behavior says that when we ask someone to do us a favor we will be more successful if we provide a reason. People simply like to have reasons for what they ~ Lior Suchard

The letter is too belligerent. If I were you, I would state the facts as they were, without the pepper and salt. Abraham Lincoln ~ Harold Holzer

I had also read somewhere that if a man didn't truly believe or understand what he was espousing, somehow he could do a more convincing job ~ Charles Bukowski

The state is a force incarnate. Worse, it is the silly parading of force. It never seeks to prevail by persuasion. Whenever it thrusts its finger into anything it does so in the most unfriendly way. Its essence is command and compulsion. ~ Mikhail Bakunin

The use of violence as an instrument of persuasion is therefore inviting and seems to the discontented to be the only effective protest. ~ William O. Douglas

Ammunition beats persuasion when you are looking for freedom. ~ Will Rogers

I do deeply deplore, of the sake of the cause, the prevalent notion, that the clergy must be had, either by persuasion or by bribery. They will not need persuasion or bribery, if their hearts are with us; if they are not, we are better without them. It is idle to suppose that the kingdom of heaven cannot come on earth, without their cooperation. ~ Sarah Moore Grimke

She had been in situations like this, where people said, Convince me, and in none of those had they actually wanted to be convinced. She could lay down a perfect argument and they just invented new bullshit on the spot to justify why the answer was still no. When people said, Convince me, she knew it didn't mean they had an open mind. It meant they had power and wanted to enjoy it a minute. ~ Max Barry

If what the philosophers say be true, that all men's actions proceed from one source; that as they assent from a persuasion that a thing is so, and dissent from a persuasion that it is not, and suspend their judgment from a persuasion that it is uncertain, so likewise they seek a thing from a persuasion that it is for their advantage. ~ Epictetus

A lot of people think that persuasion is all about values and aligning values. I largely disagree. I think persuasion generally, and political persuasion more particularly, has much more to do with explaining in new ways and connecting dots in new ways than just invoking emotions and values. ~ Nick Hanauer

The triumph of persuasion over force is the sign of a civilized society. ~ Mark Skousen

I think I have a really diverse audience. I've had people from all sorts of sexual persuasions. ~ Natalie Merchant

My favorite book has always been Jane Austen's Persuasion and it's been the comfort blanket of my life which I know sounds a bit dramatic but, if ever I'm feeling fed up, it's my novel of choice. What I've always done when I can't face the world is to retreat into its pages and spend some time with Captain Wentworth. ~ Jane Odiwe

Pitching was about fooling people, manipulating them, making them believe in something that ultimately wasn't there. Great pitching was great lying. ~ Linda Ellerbee

Anything to do with persuasion is rhetoric, right down to the argumentum ad baculum, which means threatening somebody with a stick until they agree with you. ~ Mark Forsyth

My powers of persuasion are only as strong as the bullshit I have to back it up.
- Charley Davidson ~ Darynda Jones

That all persons living in this province, who confess and acknowledge the one Almighty and eternal God, to be the Creator, Upholder and Ruler of the world; and that hold themselves obliged in conscience to live peaceably and justly in civil society, shall, in no ways, be molested or prejudiced for their religious persuasion, or practice, in manners of faith and worship, nor shall they be compelled, at any time, to frequent or maintain any religious worship, place or ministry whatever. ~ William Penn

The persuasion of a friend is a strong thing. ~ Homer

The more aggressive our ideologies become, the more aggressive our discourse whether it's in the United States, from Washington D.C., or whether it's from Tehran, or from some underground Al-Qaeda cell. The more aggressive that discourse is, the more people of moderate persuasion have to organize and speak a voice of compassion. That means to feel with the other. ~ Karen Armstrong

Persuasion is clearly a sort of demonstration, since we are most fully persuaded when we consider a thing to have been demonstrated. ~ Aristotle.

If you would convince others, seem open to conviction yourself. ~ Lord Chesterfield

Ideas and opinions are not spontaneously "born" in each individual brain: they have had a centre of formation, or irradiation, of dissemination, of persuasion-a group of men, or a single individual even, which has developed them and presented them in the political form of current reality. ~ Antonio Gramsci

One will seem to promote virtue better by using encouragement and persuasion of speech than law and necessity. For it is likely that he who is held back from wrongdoing by law will err in secret but that he who is urged to what he should by persuasion will do nothing wrong either in secret or openly. Therefore he who acts rightly from understanding and knowledge proves to be at the same time courageous and right-minded. ~ Democritus

St. Teresa of Avila once said: "We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can - namely, surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us." For Christians not of the prosperity persuasion, surrender is a virtue; the writings of the saints are full of commands to "let go" and to submit yourself to what seems to be the will of the Almighty. All of American culture and pop psychology scream against that. Never give up on your dreams! Just keep knocking, that door is about to open! Think positively! Self-improvement guaranteed!! The entire motivational-speaking industry rests on the assumption that you can have what you want, you can be what you want. Just do it.
When prosperity believers live out their daily struggles with smiles on their faces, sometimes I want to applaud. They confront the impossible and joyfully insist that God make a way. They obediently put miracle oil on their failing bodies. They give large offerings to the church and expect great things. They stubbornly get out of their hospital beds and declare themselves healed, and every now and then, it works.
They are addicted to self-rule, and so am I. ~ Kate Bowler

Colonel Brandon was now as happy, as all those who best loved him, believed he deserved to be; - in Marianne he was consoled for every past affliction; - her regard and her society restored his mind to animation, and his spirits to cheerfulness; and that Marianne found her own happiness in forming his, was equally the persuasion and delight of each observing friend. Marianne could never love by halves; and her whole heart became, in time, as much devoted to her husband, as it had once been to Willoughby. ~ Jane Austen

Persuasion, kind, unassuming persuasion, should be adopted to influence the conduct of men. The opposite course would be a reversal of human nature, which is God's decree and can never be reversed. ~ Abraham Lincoln

The new, old, and constantly changing language of politics is a lexicon of conflict and drama?ridicule and reproach?pleading and persuasion. ~ William Safire