1. Quintilian’s Useful Doubt Using Selflessness for Personal Gain QUOTES
Win Their Trust
Quintilian’s Useful Doubt
Using Selflessness for Personal Gain
QUOTES

2. “Most people use “disinterest” and “uninterest” interchangeably today
“Most people use “disinterest” and “uninterest” interchangeably today. But in earlier times, a reputation for selflessness determined whether a politician got elected. In The Federalist, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay…were so eager to disguise their “interest” that they pretended they never attended the (Constitutional) Convention in the first place…”
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3. “Marie Antoinette didn’t actually say, “Let them eat cake”; her enemies planted the quote. But her lousy ‘ethos’ made it believable. An argument rests on what the audience believes, not on what is true.”
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4. “A speaker might choose to feign helplessness by pretending to be uncertain how to begin or proceed with a speech. This makes him appear, not so much as a skilled master of rhetoric, but as an honest man.”
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5. “Modern persuasion research confirms Quintilian’s dubious theory: a knowledgeable audience tends to sympathize with a clumsy speaker and even mentally argue his case for him. Dubitatio also lowers expectations and causes opponents to ‘misunderestimate’ you, as Bush puts it. Lincoln’s country- bumpkin image disguised a brilliant political analyst who could speak lucidly about the issues. His ‘ethos’ made the audience trust his sincerity while doubting his intellect—until he showed them his intellect.”
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