Put the argument into a concrete shape, into an image, some hard phrase, round and solid as a ball, which they can see and handle and carry home with them, and the cause is half won.
Interpretation
Presenting ideas in a tangible form helps others understand and accept them.
Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote emphasizes the importance of articulating arguments in a clear and concrete manner. By transforming abstract ideas into visual or physical representations that can be easily grasped, one can significantly enhance understanding and persuasion, thereby making one's message more impactful and memorable.
In practice
In a presentation to stakeholders, I would use this quote to emphasize the need for clear and visual arguments.
It is plain that there is no separate essence called courage, no cup or cell in the brain, no vessel in the heart containing drops or atoms that make or give this virtue; but it is the right or healthy state of every man, when he is free to do that which is constitutional to him to do.
Few people have any next, they live from hand to mouth without a plan, and are always at the end of their line.
Men cease to interest us when we find their limitations
Tis the good reader that makes the good book; a good head cannot read amiss: in every book he finds passages which seem confidences or asides hidden from all else and unmistakeably meant for his ear.
The world belongs to the energetic.
Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?
Awe is the salve that will heal our eyes.
There are no problems, only solutions.
Look for the second right answer.
Never did a great man hate good wine.
Common sense suits itself to the ways of the world. Wisdom tries to confirm to the ways of heaven.
Example, whether it be good or bad, has a powerful influence.
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