Public Speaking - Quotations

Quotations are safe to use because if the quotation is not funny, it doesn't matter since you are just reciting it. You did not write it. It can still be used to make your point. You can use the power of the name of the person who did write it. People will be more likely to laugh or at least chuckle if a famous person made up the quotation.

If you are not sure to whom the quotation belongs, it does not matter at all. Unless I am absolutely certain who said something, I always give myself an out. I usually say I BELIEVE it was ____________ who said. This keeps me out of trouble for attributing the quotation to the wrong person. Sometimes I say, My great, great grandpappy used to say, or My old aunt Maude used to say. However, if you know for sure who said something and their name carries
weight, go ahead and use it.

There are literally thousands and thousands of notable quotations available to you. Check the bibliography for the names of some quotation books I use and look in the Internet section in Chapter 16 for searchable quotation web sites. Here are just a few examples of some of my favorite quotations:

* Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened. - Winston Churchill
* I am a friend of the workingman, and I would rather be his friend than be one. - Clarence Darrow
* I never made a mistake in my life; at least, never one that I couldn't explain away afterward. - - Rudyard Kipling
* Get your facts first and then you can distort them as much as you please. - Mark Twain
* Many of us spend half our time wishing for things we could have if we didn't spend half our time wishing. - Alexander Woollcott
* He is more apt to contribute heat than light to a discussion. - Woodrow Wilson

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