"When we would show any one that..." - Quote by Blaise Pascal
When we would show any one that he is mistaken, our best course is to observe on what side he considers the subject,--for his view of if is generally right on this side,--and admit to him that he is right so far. He will be satisfied with this acknowledgment, that he was not wrong in his judgment, but only inadvertent in not looking at the whole case.
More by Blaise Pascal
“If magistrates had true justice, and if physicians had the true art of healing, they would have no occasion for square caps; the majesty of these sciences would itself be venerable enough.”
“Nothing is surer than that the people will be weak.”
“Man lives between the infinitely large and the infinitely small.”
More on Persuasion
“Only that which does not teach, which does not cry out, which does not condescend, which does not explain, is irresistible.”
“Thus rhetoric, it seems, is a producer of persuasion for belief, not for instruction in the matter of right and wrong ... And so the rhetorician's business is not to instruct a law court or a public meeting in matters of right and wrong, but only to make them believe.”
“Do your homework and know your facts, but remember it's passion that persuades.”
More on Communication
“Since I cannot govern my own tongue, though within my own teeth, how can I hope to govern the tongue of others?”
“If you take my sayings and explode them in the air, they remain only sayings. But if you fit them together in their correct places, you will have the whole story.”
“The sentence must also contain its own apology for being spoken.”