best quotations about
Speaking |
| 58 quotes | Visits: 3,032 |
Quotations
 | Speech was given to man to disguise his thoughts. — Talleyrand, 1754-1838, French statesman & diplomat 22 likes |
 | Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, it’s also what it takes to sit down and listen. — Winston Churchill, 1874-1965, British Prime Minister, Nobel 1953 15 likes |
 | Nothing is often a good thing to do and always a good thing to say. — Will Durant, 1885-1981, American historian & philosopher 14 likes |
 | Speak only if it improves upon the silence. — Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948, Indian leader of independence 11 likes |
 | Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know. — Lao-Tzu, 6th cent. BC, Chinese philosopher 10 likes |
 | Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret. — Ambrose Bierce, 1842–1914, American writer 10 likes |
 | If we don't believe in free expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all. — Noam Chomsky, 1928-, American linguist, philosopher, social activist 8 likes |
 | People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought, which they avoid. — Søren Kierkegaard, 1813-1855, Danish philosopher 6 likes |
 | Once a word has been allowed to escape, it cannot be recalled. 5 likes |
 | Lucidity of speech is unquestionably one of the surest tests of mental precision. In my experience a confused talker is never a clear thinker. — David Lloyd George, 1863-1945, British Prime Minister [1916-1922] 5 likes |
| Eating words has never given me indigestion. — Winston Churchill, 1874-1965, British Prime Minister, Nobel 1953 4 likes |
 | Nobody has a right to speak more clearly than he thinks. — Alfred North Whitehead, 1861-1947, British philosopher & mathematician 4 likes |
 | He who speaks sows. He who listens, gathers the crop. — Pierre Claude Boiste, 1765-1824, French lexicographer 4 likes |
 | I never lecture, not because I am shy or a bad speaker, but simply because I detest the sort of people who go to lectures and don't want to meet them. — H.L. Mencken, 1880-1956, American columnist & cultural critic 3 likes |
 | Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can't, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it. — Robert Frost, 1874-1963, American poet 3 likes |
 | I am not magnanimous enough to like people who speak to me without seeming to see me. — George Eliot, 1819-1880, English writer 3 likes |
 | Speech and silence. We feel safer with a madman who talks than with one who cannot open his mouth. — Emile M. Cioran, 1911-1995, French-Romanian philosopher 3 likes |
 | Grammar: a complicated structure that teaches language but impedes speaking. — Pitigrilli (Dino Segre), 1893-1975, Italian writer 2 likes |
 | All the great speakers were bad speakers at first. — Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1884, American philosopher 2 likes |
 | The only reason to give a speech is to change the world. — John Kennedy, 1917-1963, American President [1961-1963] 2 likes |
 | We say little when vanity does not make us speak. — La Rochefoucauld, 1613-1680, French writer 2 likes |
 | I have always been fond of the West African proverb “Speak softly and carry a big stick”; you will go far. — Theodore Roosevelt, 1858-1919, American President [1901-1909] 2 likes |
 | Be sincere, Be brief, Be seated. — Franklin Roosevelt, 1882-1945, American President [1936-1945] (advice to his son James on how to make a public speech) 2 likes |
 | Never close your lips to those whom you have already opened your heart. — Charles Dickens, 1812-1870, British writer 2 likes |
 | I think like a genius, I write like a distinguished author, I speak like a child. — Vladimir Nabokov, 1899-1977, Russian-American writer (because of his Russian accent) 2 likes |
 | Silence is as deep as eternity, speech a shallow as time. |
 | Nobody kicks on being interrupted if it's by applause. |
 | Speech is the garment of thought, and the explanation is its armor. |
| Speech is external thought, and thought internal speech. |
 | Literature is as old as speech. It grew out of human need for it, and it has not changed except to become more needed. |
| When a man says he does not want to speak of something, he usually means he can think of nothing else. |
 | Why can’t somebody give us a list of things that everybody thinks and nobody says, and another list of things that everybody says and nobody thinks? |
 | It is a sad thing when men have neither the wit to speak well, nor the judgment to hold their tongues. |
 | There are only three gems on earth: water, food and sweet speech. They are fools who dig out stones and call them gems. |
| Goebbels was in favor of free speech for views he liked. So was Stalin. If you’re really in favor of free speech, then you’re in favor of freedom of speech for precisely the views you despise. Otherwise, you’re not in favor of free speech. — Noam Chomsky, 1928-, American linguist, philosopher, social activist |
 | All speech, written or spoken, is a dead language, until it finds a willing and prepared hearer. |
 | After making love, the first to speak says something stupid. |
 | Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud. |
 | Milady knew it well, her greatest seduction was in her voice, which so skilfully traversed the whole range of tones, from human speech to celestial language. |
 | Tell the audience what you're going to say, say it; then tell them what you've said. |
| Monotony is poverty, whether in speech or in life. |
 | Silence remains, inescapably, a form of speech. — Susan Sontag, 1933-2004, American writer, critic, activist |
 | He who wants to persuade should put his trust not in the right argument, but in the right word. The power of sound has always been greater than the power of sense. |
Funny Quotes
 | I read that the number one fear of the average person is public speaking … Number two was death. To me, that means that, to the average person, if you were going to be at a funeral, you would rather be in the casket than doing the eulogy. |
Stupid Quotes
 | Who the hell wants to hear actors talk? — Harry Warner, 1881-1958, American film producer (in 1927) 3 likes |
Ancient Greek
 | Now begins a river of words and a trickling of sense. Άρχεται λέξεων μεν ποταμός, νου δε σταλαγμός. — Theocritus, 3rd cent. BC, Ancient Greek poet (on one of his opponents who was about to make a public speech) 9 likes |
 | The tongue has led many men to destruction. Η γλώσσα πολλούς εις όλεθρον ήγαγεν. — Menander, 4th cent. BC, Ancient Greek dramatist (New Comedy) 7 likes |
 | Speak to a tyrant as little as possible or as pleasantly as possible. Ομιλείν δυνάστῃ... ως ήκιστα ή ως ήδιστα. — Aesop, 620-560 BC, Ancient Greek fabulist 6 likes |
 | Speech is the mirror of action. Τον λόγον είδωλον είναι των έργων. — Solon, 630-560 BC, Ancient Greek lawmaker & philosopher 5 likes |
 | Hear much, speak to the point. Άκουε πολλά, λάλει καίρια. — Bias of Priene, 625-540 BC, one of the 7 sages of Ancient Greece 5 likes |
 | Do not let your tongue outrun your mind. Η γλώσσα σου μη προτρεχέτω του νου. — Chilon of Sparta, 6th cent. BC, one of the 7 sages of Ancient Greece 5 likes |
 | When you say whatever you want [be prepared to] listen to what you don't want. Ειπών ά θέλεις, αντάκουε ά μη θέλεις — Ancient Greek phrase 4 likes |
 | The things that are not good to do are neither good to talk about. Ά ποιείν αισχρόν, ταύτα νόμιζε μηδέ λέγειν είναι καλόν. — Isokrates, 436-338 BC, Ancient Greek rhetorician 4 likes |
 | Speaking is the shadow of action. Λόγος γαρ έργου σκιή. — Democritus, 470-370 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 4 likes |
 | All speech is vain and empty unless it be accompanied by action. Ως άπας μεν λόγος, αν απή τα πράγματα, μάταιόν τι φαίνεται και κενόν. — Demosthenes, 384-322 BC, Ancient Athenian & statesman orator 3 likes |
 | Not speaking well of others is not only sinful by itself, but lets evil intrude into the soul. Το μη καλώς λέγειν ου μόνον εις αυτό τούτο πλημμελές, αλλά και κακόν τι εμποιεί ταίς ψυχαίς. — Socrates, 469-399 BC, Ancient Geek Philosopher 3 likes |
 | Nothing ends unless it passes through the tongue. Πέρας γαρ ουδέν μη διά γλώσσης ιόν. — Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ The Suppliants 3 likes |
Proverbs
 | While the word is still in your mouth, you are a lord; once you say it, you are a fool. 5 likes |
