ELOQUENCE, n. The art of orally persuading fools that white is the color that it appears to be. It includes the gift of making any color appear white. - Ambrose Bierce
RACK, n. An argumentative implement formerly much used in persuading devotees of a false faith to embrace the living truth. As a call to the unconverted the rack never had any particular efficacy, and is now held in light popular esteem. - Ambrose Bierce
The only thing more difficult than persuading someone else to start having sex with you is persuading yourself to stop. - Jacob M. Appel
Truth persuades by teaching, but does not teach by persuading. - Tertullian
All good writing is persuasive writing; persuading the reader to buy what you're selling, to side with you, to believe the tales you tell. - Ramsey Isler
If you're teaching, say, physics, there's no point in persuading a student that you're right. You want to encourage them to find out what the truth is, which is probably that you're wrong. - Noam Chomsky
Business today consists in persuading crowds.