Excel in the Art of Persuasion Quotes
The best persuaders do more listening than talking. Help enough people get what they want and you will rarely lack for what you want. This Influence path holds history's smartest quotes on persuasion and negotiation. Scroll through and put them to work.
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“You can’t transfer to me that which you do not feel yourself.”
“Humans are hardwired to reciprocate favors. If you want someone’s cooperation in the future, do something for that person today.”
“You’re wasting your time if you try to make someone see reason when reason is not influencing the decision.”
“All great careers, to some degree, become sales jobs.”
“The best way to be good at sales is to genuinely believe in what you’re selling.”
“If you want something in a deal, just ask for it.”
“Accustom yourself not to be disregarding of what someone else has to say: as far as possible enter into the mind of the speaker.”
“Whatever possession we gain by our sword cannot be sure or lasting, but the love gained by kindness and moderation is certain and durable.”
“If you can’t walk away from a negotiation, then you aren’t negotiating. You’re just working out the terms of your slavery.”
“When people give you their stated reason for doing something always assume they are giving you a reason that sounds good, but not the real reason.”
“Ultimately, the best speakers are the ones who have put 10,000 hours into listening.”
“He who knows how to speak, knows also when.”
“We are all salesmen every day of our lives. We are selling our ideas, our plans, our enthusiasms to those with whom we come in contact.”
“An order that can be misunderstood, will be misunderstood.”
“A good sketch is better than a long speech.”
“Do your homework and know your facts, but remember it’s passion that persuades.”
“Information is a negotiator’s greatest weapon.”
“People forget facts, but they remember stories.”
“You don’t know you’re going to get a ”No” until you ask, and if you don’t ask, you’ve given yourself the No.”
“Everything in life is a sale and everything you want is a commission.”
“Never lower your price, add value.”
“You can’t win an argument. You can’t because if you lose it, you lose it; and if you win it, you lose it.”
“Nobody is more persuasive than a good listener”
“Completely desist from defending your point of view. When you have no point to defend, you do not allow the birth of an argument.”
“Language creates reality. Words have power. Speak always to create joy.”
“Nothing brings down walls as surely as acceptance.”
“If you only talk to a person’s head and not their heart, people won’t listen to you.”
“If you want to keep someone’s brain lit up and receptive to your point of view, you must not start your response with a statement of disagreement.”
“Being able to simplify an idea and successfully share it with others is both the path to understanding it and the proof that you do. One of the ways we mask our lack of understanding of any idea is by using more words, bigger words and less necessary words.”
“If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack.”
“A vocabulary of truth and simplicity will be of service throughout your life.”
“What we present first changes the way people experience what we present to them next.”
“Brevity is a great charm of eloquence.”
“No one can speak well, unless he thoroughly understands his subject.”
“Do not worry if others do not understand you. Instead worry if you do not understand others.”
“Two people can see the same thing, disagree, and yet both be right. It’s not logical; it’s psychological.”
“My experience has been that there are times to teach and times not to teach. When relationships are strained and the air charged with emotion, an attempt to teach is often perceived as a form of judgment and rejection.”
“Learn to sell. In business you’re always selling: to your prospects, investors and employees. To be the best salesperson put yourself in the shoes of the person to whom you’re selling. Don’t sell your product. Solve their problems.”
“Selling is never about convincing. It is always about helping.”
“Avoid an unusual and unfamiliar word just as you would a reef.”
