Eloquence is the ability to inspire in others our idea or view about something, to spark in them our feelings about it and make them in sympathy with us: and all this by having our words conduct the flow of our thoughts into their heads, and this with such vehemence that it diverts their thoughts from the course they had already taken and sweeps them along with our own. This masterstroke is all the greater the more the course of their thoughts had previously diverged from our own. This shows why personal conviction and passion make someone eloquent, and why, in general, eloquence is more a gift of nature than a work of art: although here too art assists nature.

In order to convince somebody of a truth that conflicts with an error he is wedded to, the first rule to follow is easy and natural: let the premises come first and the conclusion follow. Yet this rule is seldom observed and people dothe reverse, because zeal, haste, and pigheadedness make us scream the conclusion loudly and shrilly at the person clinging to the opposing error. This can easily intimidate him and set his will against all reasons and premises since he knows what conclusion they will give. That is why one should keep the conclusion completely hidden and give only the premises, clearly, completely, and comprehensively. If possible, one should not mention the conclusion at all: it must turn up in the listener's own reasoning in accordance with its laws, and the conviction that is born in him will be all the more sincere, and in addition be accompanied by selfesteem instead of shame. In difficult cases we can even pretend that we were aiming for the opposite of the conclusion we really intended to reach. A model of this is Antony's famous speech in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

When defending some position, many people make the mistake of confidently putting forward everything that can possibly be said in its favour, the true, the half-true, and the merely apparent all jumbled up together. But what is false will quickly be recognized or even felt, and will cast suspicion on the valid and true remarks that are presented along with it: