No speech can be entirely bad if it is short.

He is a good orator who convinces himself.

Be sincere ... be brief ... be seated.

Some speakers electrify their listeners, others only gas them.

Neil Kinnock's speeches go on for so long because he has nothing to say and so he has no way of knowing when he's finished saying it.

In oratory, the greatest art is to conceal art.

No phrase can convey the idea of surprise so vividly as opening the eyes and raising the eyebrows. A shrug of the shoulders would lose much by translation into words.

My basic rule is to speak slowly and simply so that my audience has an opportunity to follow and think about what I am saying.

Speeches cannot be made long enough for the speakers, nor short enough for the hearers.

Ten doors are opened if one door be shut: the finger is the interpreter of the dumb man's tongue.

In saying what is obvious, never choose cunning. Yelling works better.

He who holds his tongue will be saved.

Keep your mouth shut, and close up the doors of sight and sound, and as long as you live you will have no vexation. But open your mouth, or become inquisitive, and you will be in trouble all your life long.

Too many words are lit for a beast of burden.

Explain yourself without gestures. The moment you gesticulate, you look common.

The less said the better.

There is all the difference in the world between having something to say and having to say something.

There are two kinds of speeches: the Mother Hubbard speech, which, like the garment, covers everything but touches nothing, and the French bathing suit speech, which covers only the essential points.

Place a padlock on your throat and hide the key.

Speech is our second possession, after the soul-and perhaps we have no other possession in this world.