Tact Quotes - Page 6

• Criticism is above all a gift, an intuition, a matter of tact and flair; it cannot be taught or demonstrated--it is an art.

  Henri Frederic Amiel

  Art, Intuition, Criticism

  9 Copy quote

• No rules, however wise, are a substitute for affection and tact.

  Bertrand Russell

  Wise, Affection, Substitutes

  Bertrand Russell (2004). “In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays”, p.147, Psychology Press

  5 Copy quote

  Show source

• A little oil makes machinery work easy.

  Fanny Fern

  Oil, Littles, Easy

  FANNY FERN (1857). “FRESH LEAVES”, p.151

  5 Copy quote

  Show source

• If a diplomat says yes, he means perhaps. If he says perhaps he means no. And if he says no, he's the hell of a diplomat.

  Agnes Sligh Turnbull

  Mean, Diplomats, Hell

  13 Copy quote

• In our rough and rugged individualism, we think of gentleness as weakness, being soft and virtually spineless. Not so! Gentleness includes such enviable qualities as having strength under control, being calm and peaceful when surrounded by a heated atmosphere, emitting a soothing effect on those who may be angry or otherwise beside themselves, and possessing tact and gracious courtesy that causes others to retain their self-esteem and dignity. Instead of losing, the gentle gain. Instead of being ripped off and taken advantage of, they come out ahead!

  Charles R. Swindoll

  Self Esteem, Taken, Thinking

  12 Copy quote

• For whoever habitually suppresses the truth in the interests of tact will produce a deformity from the womb of his thought.

  B. H. Liddell Hart

  Military, Deformity, Produce

  B.H. Liddell Hart (2015). “Why Don't We Learn from History?”, p.62, Lulu Press, Inc

  21 Copy quote

  Show source

• Indiscretion has always seemed to me to be one of the privileges of tact.

  Natalie Clifford Barney

  Privilege

  Natalie Clifford Barney (1992). “Adventures of the Mind: The Memoirs of Natalie Clifford Barney”, p.19, NYU Press

  5 Copy quote

  Show source

• The difference between talent and genius is this: while the former usually develops some special branch of our faculties, the latter commands them all. When the former is combined with tact, it is often more than a match for the latter.

  Benjamin Disraeli

  Differences, Special, Genius

  11 Copy quote

• War is like government, a matter of tact.

  Napoleon Bonaparte

  War, Government, Matter

  5 Copy quote

• I never say the things I really want to. If I did, I'd have no friends.

  Chelsea Handler

  No Friends, Want, Ifs

  Chelsea Handler (2005). “My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands”, p.63, Bloomsbury Publishing USA

  10 Copy quote

  Show source

• He seemed determines, his resolve unwavering. This would take tact. Prudence. Possible Milk Duds.

  Darynda Jones

  Milk, Resolve, Prudence

  Darynda Jones (2012). “Third Grave Dead Ahead”, p.36, Macmillan

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Ah, the truth, what a thing it is! I sacrifice so much for it, with people: I forego, for truth's sake, discretion, loyalty, diplomacy, tact, polite manners, elegance, grace, poise, balance, good taste, conformity, image-role, fashionableness, polish, confidences, promises, ambition, consistency, identity, clarity, comprehensibleness, good will, hypocrisy, and lots of other things--amass sacrifice, at truth's altar. God! is truth worth it? I hope it is. It better be, in fact.

  Marvin L. Cohen

  Loyalty, Truth, Ambition

  "Fables at Life's Expense". Book by Marvin Cohen, 1975.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Washington society has always demanded less and given more than any society in this country--demanded less of applause, deference,etiquette, and has accepted as current coin quick wit, appreciative tact, and a talent for talking.

  M. E. W. Sherwood

  Country, Talking, Quick Wit

  5 Copy quote

• I have read all of Daniel Aaron's books, and admired them, but in The Americanist I believe he has composed an intellectual and social memoir for which he will be remembered. His self-portrait is marked by personal tact and admirable restraint: he is and is not its subject. The Americanist is a vision of otherness: literary and academic friends and acquaintances, here and abroad. Eloquently phrased and free of nostalgia, it catches a lost world that yet engendered much of our own.

  Harold Bloom

  Believe, Book, Self

  6 Copy quote

• ... the majority of colored men do not yet think it worth while that women aspire to higher education.... The three R's, a littlemusic and a good deal of dancing, a first rate dress-maker and a bottle of magnolia balm, are quite enough generally to render charming any woman possessed of tact and the capacity for worshipping masculinity.

  Anna Julia Cooper

  Men, Thinking, Dancing

  Anna Julia Cooper, Charles C. Lemert, Esme Bhan (1998). “The Voice of Anna Julia Cooper: Including A Voice from the South and Other Important Essays, Papers, and Letters”, p.85, Rowman & Littlefield

  18 Copy quote

  Show source

• Tact, the kind of tact you should cultivate, is not a form of deception or make-believe, but a cultivated taste which gives fine perception in seeing and doing what is best under all circumstances. There is nothing which will so readily bring you into favor, or disarm an opponent, as the right use of tact.

  Grenville Kleiser

  Believe, Giving, Deception

  7 Copy quote

• Be sure, when you think you are being extremely tactful, that you are not in reality running away from something you ought to face.

  Frank Medlicott

  Running, Reality, Thinking

  4 Copy quote

• I regard (parenting) as the hardest, most complicated, anxiety-ridden, sweat-and-blood-producing job in the world. Succeeding requires the ultimate in patience, common sense, commitment, humor, tact, love, wisdom, awareness, and knowledge. At the same time, it holds the possibility for the most rewarding, joyous experience of a lifetime, namely, that of being successful guides to a new and unique human being.

  Virginia Satir

  Jobs, Commitment, Successful

  Virginia Satir (1988). “The new peoplemaking”, Science & Behavior Books

  118 Copy quote

  Show source

• Love is the tact of every good,
  The only warmth, the only peace.

  Delmore Schwartz

  Peace, Love Is, Very Good

  Delmore Schwartz (1967). “Selected Poems (1938-1958): Summer Knowledge”, p.54, New Directions Publishing

  11 Copy quote

  Show source

• To be audacious with tact, you have to know to what point you can go too far.

  Jean Cocteau

  Manners, Audacious, Knows

  5 Copy quote

• The Great Being saith: Human utterance is an essence which aspireth to exert its influence and needeth moderation. As to its influence, this is conditional upon refinement which in turn is dependent upon hearts which are detached and pure. As to its moderation, this hath to be combined with tact and wisdom as prescribed in the Holy Scriptures and Tablets.

  Bahá'u'lláh

  Heart, Essence, Utterance

  4 Copy quote

• There are very many characteristics which go into making a model civil servant. Prominent among them are probity, industry, good sense, good habits, good temper, patience, order, courtesy, tact, self-reliance, many deference to superior officers, and many consideration for inferiors.

  Chester A. Arthur

  Order, Self, Habit

  First annual message, 1881.

  66 Copy quote

  Show source