Tact Quotes

• Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes.

  Harry S. Truman

  Men, Shine On, Shoes

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  Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.

  Benjamin Franklin

  Inspirational, Relationship, Uplifting

  Benjamin Franklin (2013). “The Art of Virtue: Ben Franklin's Formula for Successful Living”, p.1, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

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• Tact does for life just what lubricating oil does for machinery.

  Laura Ingalls Wilder

  Oil, Doe, Machinery

  Laura Ingalls Wilder (2010). “Writings to Young Women from Laura Ingalls Wilder - Volume One: On Wisdom and Virtues”, p.33, Thomas Nelson Inc

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• Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy.

  Isaac Newton

  Positive, Wisdom, Art

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• Tact is the ability to make a person see lightning without letting him feel the bolt.

  Orlando Aloysius Battista

  Lightning, Ability, Feels

  Orlando Aloysius Battista (1981). “Quotoons: a speaker's dictionary”, Perigee

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• Tact is the unsaid part of what you think.

  Henry Van Dyke

  Thinking, Unsaid

  Henry Van Dyke (2007). “Camp-Fires and Guide-Posts”, p.37, Wildside Press LLC

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• Tact is rubbing out another's mistake instead of rubbing it in.

  Leo Buscaglia

  Mistake, Rubbing It

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• Without tact you can learn nothing. Tact teaches you when to be silent. Inquirers who are always questioning never learn anything.

  Benjamin Disraeli

  Silent, Questioning, Teach

  Benjamin Disraeli, Edmund Gosse, Robert Arnot (1904). “The Works of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield: Embracing Novels, Romances, Plays, Poems, Biography, Short Stories and Great Speeches”

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• Tact is not a small thing; in the battle of life it is more powerful than a bludgeon.

  Arthur Lynch

  Life, Powerful, Battle

  Arthur Lynch (1921). “Moods of Life: Popular Psychological Studies of Affairs of Every Day”

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• It is tact that is golden, not silence.

  Samuel Butler

  Silence, Golden, Programming

  Samuel Butler (2008). “The Note-books of Samuel Butler: Easyread Super Large 18pt Edition”, p.43, ReadHowYouWant.com

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• Step with care and great tact. And remember life's a great balancing act.

  Dr. Seuss

  Inspirational, Positive, Places You Go

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• The secret of man's success resides in his insight into the moods of people, and his tact in dealing with them.

  J. G. Holland

  Motivational, Men, People

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• Because there can be consequences for saying the first thing that pops into our heads, it is prudent to exercise tact.

  Jeanne Phillips

  Women, Exercise, Prudent

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• Truth or tact? You have to choose. Most times they're not compatible. It's so hard to draw the line.

  Eddie Cantor

  Compatible

  "Harriet the Spy".

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• Discretion in speech is more than eloquence.

  Francis Bacon

  Inspiration, Speech, Eloquence

  Francis Bacon, William Rawley (1871). “A harmony of the essays, etc. of Francis Bacon”, p.21

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• Don't flatter yourselves that friendship authorizes you to say disagreeable things to your intimates. On the contrary, the nearer you come into relation with a person, the more necessary do tact and courtesy become.

  Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

  Friendship, Relationship, Courtesy

  Oliver Wendell Holmes (2007). “Autocrat Of The Breakfast Table”, p.51, Reprint Services Corporation

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• Perseverance and tact are the two great qualities most valuable for all those who would climb, but especially for those who have to step out of the crowd.

  Benjamin Disraeli

  Perseverance, Two, Quality

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  Real love amounts to withholding the truth, even when you're offered the perfect opportunity to hurt someone's feelings.

  David Sedaris

  Funny Love, Hurt, Real

  «At The Movies With David & Sarah» by David Sedaris, www.esquire.com. January 29, 2007.

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• If you use tact you can say anything, then make it funny.

  Dane Cook

  Funny, Say Anything, Use

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• People's shortcomings should be treated with tact; if you expose them crudely, this is attacking weakness with a weakness. When people are stubborn, it requires skill to influence them; if you treat them with anger and spite, this is treating stubbornness with stubbornness.

  Zicheng Hong

  Skills, People, Taoism

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• A spoonful of honey will catch more flies than a gallon of vinegar.

  Benjamin Franklin

  Food, Catching Fire, Vinegar

  Benjamin Franklin (2004). “Poor Richard's Almanack”, p.117, Barnes & Noble Publishing

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• The original meaning of the word tact referred to the sense of touch (as in 'tactile'), and came to mean skill in dealing with persons or sensitive situations. Tact is defined as: 'intuitive perception, especially a quick and fine perception of what is fit and proper and right.' It alludes to one's ability to conduct delicate negotiations and personal matters in a way that recognizes mutual rights, and yet leads to a harmonious solution.

  J. Oswald Sanders

  Mean, Rights, Skills

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• Tact is after all a kind of mind reading.

  Sarah Orne Jewett

  Inspirational, Reading, Memorable

  Sarah Orne Jewett (1997). “The Country of the Pointed Firs and Other Stories”, p.73, UPNE

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• The trouble with cats is that they've got no tact.

  P. G. Wodehouse

  Cat, Animal, Trouble

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• A man may lack everything but tact and conviction and still be a forcible speaker; but without these nothing will avail... Fluency, grace, logical order, and the like, are merely the decorative surface of oratory.

  Charles Horton Cooley

  Men, Order, Grace

  Charles Horton Cooley (1964). “Human Nature and the Social Order”, p.335, Transaction Publishers

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