# Persuasion

Persuasion is a word denoting forms of deliberate influence or attempts to influence beliefs, attitudes, intentions, motivations, or behaviors.
    For the Jane Austen novel, see Persuasion (novel)
    CONTENT : A - F , G - L , M - R , S - Z , See also , External links

## Quotes

    Quotes are arranged alphabetically by author

### A - F

* We always have hoped that American diplomacy deploys itself in dialogue and persuasion rather than by ultimatums. That is the path we want in international relations.
** Mahmoud Abbas in: Terry Reese Downing Martyrs in Paradise, AuthorHouse, 2009, p. 113
* Even if you persuade me, you won’t persuade me.
** Aristophanes in: Leaders and Leadership, Xlibris Corporation, 22 September 2010, p. 139
* Variant:You won't persuade [peiseis] me even if you convince [peisēs] me.
** Aristophanes in:Jeremy J. Mhire, Bryan-Paul Frost The Political Theory of Aristophanes: Explorations in Poetic Wisdom, SUNY Press, Apr 1, 2014
* In making a speech one must study three points: first, the means of producing persuasion; second, the language; third the proper arrangement of the various parts of the speech.
** Aristotle in: Rhetoric, Start Publishing LLC, 24 January 2013, p. 107
* This progress among the people through Dhamma has been done by two means, by Dhamma regulations and by persuasion. Of these, Dhamma regulation is of little effect, while persuasion has much more effect. The Dhamma regulations I have given are that various animals must be protected. And I have given many other Dhamma regulations also. But it is by persuasion that progress among the people through Dhamma has had a greater effect in respect of harmlessness to living beings and non-killing of living beings.
** Ashoka, in Edicts of Ashoka (c. 257 BC)
* If I was wrong in yielding to persuasion once, remember that it was to persuasion exerted on the side of safety, not of risk. When I yielded, I thought it was to duty; but no duty could be called in aid here. In marrying a man indifferent to me, all risk would have been incurred, and all duty violated.
** Jane Austen, in Persuasion (1818); Anne Elliott, in Ch. 23
* 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 in: The Complete Novels of Jane Austen, Wordsworth Editions, 2007, p. 264
* Whatever your religious persuasion, if you believe that that the universe is governed by benign forces, at some point you have to explain why there is so much suffering, misfortune and misery in the world.
** Julian Baggini in: The thought police Brief Answers To Big Questions: Hoddle has gone, but the question of evil remains, The Independent, 7 February 1999
* Advertising is fundamentally persuasion and persuasion happens to be not a science, but an art.
** William Bernbach in: Steve Cuno The Fallible Gut, iUniverse, 28 February 2008, p. 57
* I told you I'm not going to criticize my successor. I'll just tell you that there are people at Gitmo that will kill American people at a drop of a hat and I don't believe that persuasion isn't going to work. Therapy isn't going to cause terrorists to change their mind.
** George W. Bush in: Martyrs in Paradise, AuthorHouse, 2009, p. 364
* Not brute force but only persuasion and faith are the kings of this world.
** Thomas Carlyle in: Quotes by Carlyle Thomas, Quotations Book, p. 16
* What is illiberal is not persuasion but imposition of one's views.
** Richard Dawkins, in: Gordon Fisher The Very Best of Richard Dawkins: Quotes from a Devout Atheist, Gordon Fisher, 22 September 2014, p. 18

### G - L

* A ruler must learn to persuade and not to compel... he must lay the best coffee hearth to attract the finest men... a good ruler has to learn his world's language... it's different for every world... the language of the rocks and growing things... the language you don't hear just with your ears... the Mystery of Life... not a problem to solve, but a reality to experience... Understanding must move with the flow of the process.
** Frank Herbert in: Dune, Penguin, 2 August 2005, p. 30
* There is hardly an example of a mass movement achieving vast proportions and a durable organization solely by persuasion. ...It was the temporal sword that made Christianity a world religion. Conquest and conversion went hand in hand... Where Christianity failed to gain or retain the backing of state power, it achieved neither a wide nor a permanent hold. ..."The most flourishing periods for Mohammedanism have been at the times of its greatest political ascendency..." The Reformation made headway only when it gained the backing of the ruling prince or the local government. In the case of the French Revolution, "It was the armies of the Revolution, not its ideas, that penetrated throughout the whole of Europe." ...The threat of communism at present does not come from the forcefulness of its preaching but from the fact that it is backed by one of the mightiest armies on earth.
** Eric Hoffer, The True Beliver (1951) Ch.14 Unifying Agents, §86. Quote on Mohammedanism from Charles Reginald Haines, Islam as a Missionary Religion (1889)
* I used all diligence to arrive at London and therefore I now gave my crew a certificate under my hand, of my free and willing return, without persuasion or force by any one or more of them.
** Henry Hudson in: Corey Sandler Henry Hudson: Dreams and Obsession ; [the Tragic Legacy of the New World's Least Understood Explorer, Citadel Press, 2008, p. 119
* Maybe tomorrow when He looks down Every green field and every town All of his children, every nation There'll be peace and good, brotherhood… Crystal blue persuasion.
** Tommy James, Eddie Gray and Mike Vale, in "Crystal Blue Persuasion" (1969)
* Behold, I am become a reproach to thy holy name, by serving any ambition and the sins of others; which though I did by the persuasion of other men, yet my own conscience did cheek and upbraid me in it.
** William Laud in: Old England's Worthies, C. Cox, 1847, p. 120
* It is therefore worthwhile, to search out the bounds between opinion and knowledge; and examine by what measures, in things, whereof we have no certain knowledge, we ought to regulate our assent, and moderate our persuasions.
** John Locke in: John Locke, Kenneth Winkler An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Hackett Publishing, 1 January 1996, p. 5

### M - R

* The object of oratory alone is not truth, but persuasion.
** Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, "On the Athenian Orators" — in Knight's Quarterly Magazine, Vol. 3 (August 1824), p. 124
* It ain't that he's not interested in, like, persuasiveness, get me? He's interested in it. Like something in a jar.
** China Miéville in: Kraken: An Anatomy, Del Rey/Ballantine Books, 2010, p. 58
* American traditions and the American ethic require us to be truthful, but the most important reason is the best propaganda and lies are the worst. To be persuasive, we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful. It is as simple as that.
** Edward R. Murrow in: Thomas L. McPhail Global Communication: Theories, Stakeholders and Trends, John Wiley & Sons, 14 November 2013, p. 69
* A heart can no more be forced to love than a stomach can be forced to digest food by persuasion.
** Alfred Nobel in: Nobel Laureates, 1901-2000, Polo Pub., 2000, p. 1

### S - Z

* I have sung for Americans of every political persuasion, and I am proud that I never refuse to sing to an audience, no matter what religion or color of their skin, or situation in life.
** Pete Seeger in: Robert Vaughn Only Victims: A Study of Show Business Blacklisting, Hal Leonard Corporation, 1972, p. 201
* The triumph of persuasion over force is the sign of a civilized society.
** Mark Skousen in: Connor Boyack Latter-Day Liberty: A Gospel Approach to Government and Politics, Connor Boyack, 2011, p. 266
* Only by plunging into illusions to which every fact gives the lie can he persuade himself that his will is a force that can overcome all other forces, or that it is less conditioned by circumstances than a wheelbarrow is.
** George Bernard Shaw in: The Quintessence of Ibsenism: Now Completed to the Death of Ibsen, Wildside Press LLC, 1 January 2009, p. 62
* I have with me two gods, Persuasion and Compulsion.
** Themistocles in: Robert Andrews The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations, Columbia University Press, 1993, p. 894
* Children should be led into the right paths, not by severity, but by persuasion.
** Terence in: Daniel Taddeo The Controversy: Godliness vs. Worldliness, Fideli Publishing Inc., 14 February 2011, p. 120
* They have the knack of persuading men before instructing them; although truth persuades by teaching, but does not teach by first persuading.
** Tertullian in: Petri Luomanen , et al., Explaining Christian Origins and Early Judaism, BRILL, 2007, p. 129
* The problem with breaking up with someone, if you are a little unsure — and so often, people are unsure — is that breaking up involves persuasion. You have to persuade your ex that it is better this way for everyone. And this is difficult if you have not entirely persuaded yourself. It is especially tricky to do this if you are also naked, and making two cups of coffee.”
** Adam Thirlwell in: 101 Break Up Quotes, Mary Jones, p. 101
* Thaw with her gentle persuasion is more powerful than Thor with his hammer. The one melts, the other breaks into pieces.
** Henry David Thoreau in: George Monteiro Robert Frost & the New England Renaissance, University Press of Kentucky, p. 74
* 'Tis more than reason that goes to persuasion.
** Quoted by Sir Thomas Twisden, 1st Baronet, J., Manby v. Scott (1672), 1 Levinz. 4; 2 Sm. L. C. (8th Ed.) 462.