Quotes about Rhetoric

Arguments are to be avoided, they are always vulgar and often convincing.

If you can't convince them, confuse them.

the rhetorical formulas of objurgation with which I was to begin a page of inquiries of you: whether you were dead

Karl Barth imagined the Christian theologian in the role of John the Baptist in the painting of Matthias Grünewald: he is standing to the side of the cross, holding the open Hebrew Scriptures in one hand and pointing with a finger of the other to the crucified Christ.67 A theologian ought to draw attention to the way of life and to the one who originally embodied it, not to the intellectual prowess, fertile imagination, or dazzling rhetoric of the theologian.

we want to know not merely what his propositions are, but also why he thinks we should be persuaded to accept them.

Lawyers spend a great deal of time shovelling smoke.

When Cicero (Marcus Tullius Cicero 106-43 BC,) was in 64 BC running for consul of Rome he was reported to be advised by his "campaign manager" that the voters "had rather you lied to them than refused them."

A sophistical rhetorician, inebriated with the exuberance of his own verbosity.

Communism to me is one-third practice and two-thirds explanation.

Rhetoric uses syllogisms and other suasions to bring about a change of heart and of mind.

Language kills, and inflamed rhetoric of the kind that spews almost daily from the lips of Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee, and others running for public office in this country should be condemned.

It simply makes no difference how good the rhetoric is or even how good the intentions are; if there is little or no trust, there is no foundation for permanent success. Only basic goodness gives life to technique.