I was (and am) a terrible conversationist but consider myself a good communicator.
— A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Self
When people ask for time, it's always for time to say no. Yes has one more letter in it, but it doesn't take half as long to say.
Discretion of speech, is more than eloquence; and to speak agreeably to him, with whom we deal, is more than to speak in good words, or in good order.
Be sincere, be brief, be seated.
— Franklin D. Roosevelt
Leadership
It is not enough to prove something, one has also to seduce or elevate people to it. That is why the man of knowledge should learn how to speak his wisdom: and often in such a way that it sounds like folly!
— Friedrich Nietzsche
Knowledge
Jubal had a frame For lack of speech to tell us they are glad.
The problems of deafness are deeper and more complex, if not more important, than those of blindness. Deafness is a much worse misfortune. For it means the loss of the most vital stimulus — the sound of the voice that brings language, sets thoughts astir and keeps us in the intellectual company of man.
It takes two to speak the truth, — one to speak, and another to hear.
— Henry David Thoreau
Truth
One says a lot in vain, refusing;The other mainly hears the "No."
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Communication