Aristotle - William Shakespeare - Oliver Goldsmith - George Savile - Thomas Hobbes - Homer - Walter Scott - Exodus 4:10 - Matthew 26:73 - Colossians 4:6 - Richard Brinsley Sheridan - Yes Prime Minister TV - George Eliot - Voltaire - Percy Bysshe Shelley - Mark Twain - Alan Bleasdale TV - Cicero - Document: Radio 4 - World in Action TV -
Persuasion is achieved by the speaker’s personal character when the speech is so spoken as to make us think him credible. We believe good men more fully and more readily than others: this is true generally whatever the question is, and absolutely true where exact certainty is impossible and opinions are divided. Aristotle
For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth,
Action, nor utterance, nor power of speech,
To stir men’s blood; I only speak right on;
I tell you that which you yourselves do know. William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar III ii 225
Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue; but if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I had as lief the town-crier spoke my lines. Nor do not see the air too much with your hand, thus; but use all gently. William Shakespeare, Hamlet III ii 1
Rude am I in speech,
And little blessed with the soft phrase of peace. William Shakespeare, Othello I iii 81
And your large speeches may your deeds approve,
That good effects may spring from words of love. William Shakespeare, The History of King Lear I i 174-175, Kent
The true use of speech is not so much to express our wants as to conceal them. Oliver Goldsmith
Most men make little other use of their speech than to give evidence against their own understanding. George Savile, 1633-95, ‘Political, Moral and Miscellaneous Thoughts and Reflections’, 1750
True and False are attributes of speech, out of things. And where speech is not, there is neither Truth and Falsehood. Thomas Hobbes 1588-1679, Leviathan
Son of Atreus, what manner of speech has escaped the barrier of your teeth? Homer, The Iliad
Hateful to me as the gates of Hades is that man who hides one thing in his heart and speaks another. ibid.
His ready speech flowed fair and free,
In phrase of gentlest courtesy;
Yet seemed that tone, and gesture bland,
Less used to sue than to command. Walter Scott, The Lady of the Lake
But I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. Exodus 4:10
Thy speech betrayeth thee. Matthew 26:73
Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt. Colossians 4:6
An aspersion upon my parts of speech! Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The Rivals
If I reprehend any thing in this world, it is the use of my oracular tongue, and a nice derangement of epitaphs! ibid.
Your speeches are nothing like as embarrassing as they used to be. Yes, Prime Minister s2e6: The Patron of the Arts, Sir Humphrey to Jim, with Bernard, BBC 1988
Half the sorrows of women would be averted if they could repress the speech they know to be useless; nay, the speech they have resolved not to make. George Eliot, Felix Holt
It was one of those dangerous moments when speech is at once sincere and deceptive, when feeling, rising high above its average depth, leaves flood-marks which are never reached again. George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss
Mrs Deane was a thin-lipped woman, who made small well-considered speeches on peculiar occasions, repeating them afterwards to her husband, and asking him if she had not spoken very properly. ibid.
[Men] use thought only to justify their injustices, and speech only to conceal their thoughts. Voltaire, Dialogues, 1763
The flowery style is not unsuitable to public speeches or addresses, which amount only to compliment. The lighter beauties are in their place when there is nothing more solid to say; but the flowery style ought to be banished from a pleading, a sermon, or a didactic work. Voltaire
He gave men speech, and speech created thought,
Which is the measure of the universe. Percy Bysshe Shelley, Prometheus Unbound
Eloquence is the essential thing in a speech, not information. Mark Twain
It was still a great speech, Michael. Just like the kind your dad used to make. Alan Bleasdale, GBH: It Couldn’t Happen Here starring Robert Lindsay & Lindsay Duncan & Michael Palin & Julie Walters & Tom Georgeson & Andrew Schofield & Jane Danson & David Ross et al, director Robert Young, caretaker to Michael, Channel 4 1991
Brevity is the best recommendation of speech, whether in a senator or an orator. Marcus Tullius Cicero
The Rivers of Blood Speech: but it pivoted on one particular woman’s story. No recording of this section exists today … The tale of this frightened isolated woman touched a chord with many … Who was this woman? The country wanted to know … Document: The Woman Who Never Was, Radio 4 2007
Max Atkinson spends his life studying video tapes of top politicians talking. After analysing hundreds of speeches, Dr Atkinson has discovered the hidden rules of the world-games played by politicians to make us applaud. World in Action: Clap Trap, ITV 1984