The passions are the only orators that always persuade: they
are, as it were, a natural art, the rules read more

The passions are the only orators that always persuade: they
are, as it were, a natural art, the rules of which are
infallible; and the simplest man with passion is more persuasive
than the most eloquent without it.

There is no true orator who is not a hero.

There is no true orator who is not a hero.

Thence to the famous orators repair,
Those ancient, whose resistless eloquence
Wielded at will that fierce democratie,
read more

Thence to the famous orators repair,
Those ancient, whose resistless eloquence
Wielded at will that fierce democratie,
Shook the Arsenal, and fulmined over Greece,
To Macedon, and Artaxerxes' throne.

I asked of my dear friend Orator Prig:
"What's the first part of oratory?" He said, "A great wig."
read more

I asked of my dear friend Orator Prig:
"What's the first part of oratory?" He said, "A great wig."
"And what is the second?" Then, dancing a jig
And bowing profoundly, he said, "A great wig."
"And what is the third?" Then he snored like a pig,
And puffing his cheeks out, he replied, "A great wig."

When Demosthenes was asked what was the first part of Oratory, he
answered, "Action," and which was the second, read more

When Demosthenes was asked what was the first part of Oratory, he
answered, "Action," and which was the second, he replied,
"action," and which was the third, he still answered "Action."

For rhetoric, he could not ope
His mouth, but out there flew a trope.

For rhetoric, he could not ope
His mouth, but out there flew a trope.

Besides, as is usually the case, we are much more affected by the
words which we hear, for though read more

Besides, as is usually the case, we are much more affected by the
words which we hear, for though what you read in books may be
more pointed, yet there is something in the voice, the look, the
carriage, and even the gesture of the speaker, that makes a
deeper impression upon the mind.
[Lat., Praeterea multo magis, ut vulgo dicitur viva vox afficit:
nam licet acriora sint, quae legas, ultius tamen in ammo sedent,
quae pronuntiatio, vultus, habitus, gestus dicentis adfigit.]

It makes a great difference whether Davus or a hero speaks.
[Lat., Intererit multum Davusne loquatur an heros.]

It makes a great difference whether Davus or a hero speaks.
[Lat., Intererit multum Davusne loquatur an heros.]

Its Constitution--the glittering and sounding generalities of
natural right which make up the Declaration of Independence.

Its Constitution--the glittering and sounding generalities of
natural right which make up the Declaration of Independence.