"The passions are the only orators that..." - Quote by Francois De La Rochefoucauld
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.
More by Francois De La Rochefoucauld
“Nothing ought in reason to mortify our self-satisfaction more that the considering that we condemn at one time what we highly approve and commend at another.”
“It is as easy to deceive one's self without perceiving it, as it is difficult to deceive others without their finding out.”
“Some beautiful things are more dazzling when they are still imperfect than when they have been too perfectly crafted.”
More on Passion
More on Persuasion
“Nothing is so difficult to believe that oratory cannot make it acceptable, nothing so rough and uncultured as not to gain brilliance and refinement from eloquence.”
“A plant is like a self-willed man, out of whom we can obtain all which we desire, if we will only treat him his own way.”
“When I am getting ready to reason with a man, I spend one-third of my time thinking about myself and what I am going to say and two-thirds about him and what he is going to say.”