Chapter 45 Win confidence with sincerity

The ancient Roman rhetorician Quintilian called an orator "a good man who is good at speaking", and he was talking about sincerity and character.Nothing that has been said and will be said in this book can take the place of this necessary quality.Pierpon Morgan once said that character is the best way to gain trust; and it is also the best way to gain the trust of your audience. "The sincerity with which a man speaks," said Alexander Woockert, "gives to his voice a brilliance of truth which no affectation can give." Especially when the purpose of our conversation is to persuade, we need to express our ideas with an unwavering inner light.We must allow ourselves to be persuaded before we can try to persuade others.