Jay Heinrichs > Quotes

“A person’s life persuades better than his word,” said one of Aristotle’s contemporaries.”
― Jay Heinrichs, Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion

“THE UNANNOUNCED EMOTION: Don’t advertise a mood. Invoke it”
― Jay Heinrichs, Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion

“Don’t push back. Keep asking questions. Insist on drilling down to definitions (“Define Star Trek”), details, and sources. And see if you can outlast your bullying opponent. If you can—if he walks away exasperated—then, despite all I’ve written about previously…you win.”
― Jay Heinrichs, Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion

“When you want to change someone’s mood, tell a story.”
― Jay Heinrichs, Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion

“A bully wants you to cower or blush or run away in embarrassment. If you want to reverse the power, try pretending deep affection with just a little bit of pity.”
― Jay Heinrichs, Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion

“Euphemism. A form of irony that makes bad things sound good—or at least not as bad. Personification. Pretending things are human: another role-playing trope. Kindergarten Imperative. Issues a command in terms of a personal need. Yogism. A foolishly wise expression.”
― Jay Heinrichs, Word Hero: A Fiendishly Clever Guide to Crafting the Lines that Get Laughs, Go Viral, and Live Forever

“Rhetoric is the art of influence, friendship, and eloquence, of ready wit and irrefutable logic. And it harnesses the most powerful of social forces, argument.”
― Jay Heinrichs, Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion

“People may claim to hate puns, but most true word lovers have groaned to like them.”
― Jay Heinrichs, Word Hero: A Fiendishly Clever Guide to Crafting the Lines that Get Laughs, Go Viral, and Live Forever

“When someone tries to derail an argument with an insult, your response depends on who the audience is. If the two of you are alone, say something like, “This isn’t recess. I’m out of here,” and walk away. You’re not about to persuade the jerk. But if there are bystanders, ridicule the insult. “So Bob’s answer to the problem of noise in this town is that I’m a jerk. Was that helpful to you all?” You turn sophistry into genuine banter.”
― Jay Heinrichs, Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion

“Persuasion Alert Self-deprecating humor is an acceptable way to brag. Mentioning a moment of boneheadedness at my former company beats the far more obnoxious “I was a high-level manager at a publishing company that had twenty-three million customers the year I left.” The term du jour for this device: humblebrag. So I’m a lousy prognosticator of bestsellers. In retrospect, however, I can explain why the title was not such a bad idea after all. “South Beach” conjures an image of people—you—in bathing attire. It says vacation, one of the chief reasons people go on a diet. The Rodale editors stimulated an emotion by making readers picture a desirable and highly personal goal: you, in a bathing suit, looking great. So”
― Jay Heinrichs, Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion

“CONCESSION: Concede your opponent’s point in order to win what you want.”
― Jay Heinrichs, Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion

“John F. Kennedy deployed a chiasmus during his inaugural address—“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”—and thousands joined the Peace Corps.”
― Jay Heinrichs, Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion

“Tullius Cicero said: “The eyes are the window to the soul.”
― Jay Heinrichs, How to Argue with a Cat: A Human's Guide to the Art of Persuasion

“It’s a form of amplification, an essential rhetorical tactic that turns up the volume as you speak. In a presentation, you can amplify by layering your points: “Not only do we have this, but we also”
― Jay Heinrichs, Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion

“If life were free of contingencies, then we could live by a few rules written in stone that would apply to all our decisions. Every baby would come with an operating manual, the same guide that worked for her older brother. Every rule of thumb would apply to every situation. The early bird would always catch the worm, everything would be cheaper by the dozen, and the world would come in two colors: black and white. But alas, it doesn’t. Sometimes, under some circumstances (say, jumping out of an airplane for the first time), it’s a very bad idea to look before you leap. Sometimes the enemy of your enemy makes a terrible friend. Girl”
― Jay Heinrichs, Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion

“En una lucha, los contendientes intentan vencer. En una discusión, intentan vencer a una audiencia, que puede incluir a los testigos directos, los telespectadores, un electorado o los interlocutores.”
― Jay Heinrichs, Gracias por Discutir

“I resist stoically. No cat is going to boss me around this morning.”
― Jay Heinrichs, Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion

“Craft does not entail looking up decisions in books, or sticking to universal truths. It’s an instinct for making the right decision on every occasion. Pure eggheads lack it. When we think of the Apollo space program, we rarely picture the rocket scientists. We remember a failed mission, Apollo 13, when three guys jury-rigged their spaceship and got back to earth alive. They were among the most highly trained people ever to leave the ground, but they had little training in the repair of carbon dioxide scrubbers. Still, they were able to combine instructions from the ground with their skill as first-class tinkerers. That’s craft: flexibly wise leadership. All great leaders have it.”
― Jay Heinrichs, Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion

“Finalmente, llénala de deseo de actuar. Muestra a la bombilla que el cambio es pan comido e inspírala con una visión de claridad. Esto requiere emociones más fuertes que conviertan una decisión en un compromiso.”
― Jay Heinrichs, Gracias por Discutir

“Keep it focused on choices that solve a problem to your audience’s (and your) advantage.”
― Jay Heinrichs, Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion

“Este capítulo te ayudará a distinguir entre una discusión y una lucha, y a decidir lo que deseas sacar de una discusión.”
― Jay Heinrichs, Gracias por Discutir

“Arrancar lágrimas al público es fácil comparado con el objetivo número dos: hacer que decidan lo que tú quieres.”
― Jay Heinrichs, Gracias por Discutir

“When being bullied or heckled, refuse to show the emotion the bully wants. Gain the audience’s sympathy by trying to look calm and above it all.”
― Jay Heinrichs, Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion

“La verdad surge de la discusión entre amigos. DAVID HUME”
― Jay Heinrichs, Gracias por Discutir

“And the very, very worst thing you can do to angry cats or people is tell them to calm down. Telling someone to calm down implies that his anger is his own fault. Anyone who’s angry believes that someone else, not him, is to blame.”
― Jay Heinrichs, How to Argue with a Cat: A Human's Guide to the Art of Persuasion

“For persuasive purposes, the opinion of your audience is as good as what it knows, and what it thinks is true counts the same as the truth.”
― Jay Heinrichs, Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion

“People still love a well-delivered talk; the top professional speakers charge more per person than a Bruce Springsteen concert.”
― Jay Heinrichs, Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion

“La seducción es manipulación, la manipulación es la mitad de la argumentación y, por consiguiente, muchos de nosotros la rehuimos.”
― Jay Heinrichs, Gracias por Discutir

“And if he thinks you’re to blame, and you’re the one telling him to calm down…well! Keep a respectful distance from his claws.”
― Jay Heinrichs, How to Argue with a Cat: A Human's Guide to the Art of Persuasion

“Yo dedico un capítulo entero al elegante método de Cicerón, que consta de cinco pasos para la construcción de un discurso (invención, organización, estilo, memoria y ejecución),”
― Jay Heinrichs, Gracias por Discutir