“Of all the talents bestowed upon men, none is so precious as the gift of oratory. He who enjoys it wields a power more durable than that of a great king. He is an independent force in the world. Abandoned by his party, betrayed by his friends, stripped of his offices, whoever can command his power is still formidable.”
Winston Churchill, 1897, “The Scaffolding of Rhetoric”

Rhetoric is “the faculty of observing, in any given case, the available means of persuasion.”
Aristotle, The Art of Rhetoric

Rhetoric is “the process of adjusting ideas to people and people to ideas.”
Donald C. Bryant, 1953, “Rhetoric: Its Function and Scope”