Quotations for Public Speakers.

• Author: Pressler, Larry
• Position: Brief Article - Review

by U.S. Senator Robert G. Torricelli

Published by Rutgers University Press, Piscataway, N.J., 336 pages, $27.00

I LIKE SEN. ROBERT TORRICELLI, even though we are of opposite parties. My observations are that he is a fair man, an honest man and a decent man. Reading his book of collected quotes, Quotations for Public Speakers -- A Historical, Literary and Political Anthology, has given me a new insight into him and his character. I wish more of our public officials would take time to write books, or collect quotations or take part in the "reflective" life.

The book is divided up into nearly 50 topics so you can find quotes for a speech on almost any subject. There are chapters on "action," on the "arts," on "courage," on "honesty and trust," on "labor," on "love and friendship," on race and ethnicity," on war, on "youth," plus many others.

In reading Sen. Torricelli's book from a perspective of the international telecommunications lawyer and corporate board member that I now am, I was sensitive that "businesses," or "boards of directors," or "entrepreneurs" were not listed as separate topics. Torricelli seems to take the approach of the classical Oxford-Cambridge (Oxbridge) education that if you learn the basics, business and everything else will follow naturally.

But readers of DIRECTORS & BOARDS would be interested to know that Torricelli has a section on "leadership" which is most outstanding, including such quotes as:

* "Anyone who never has made a mistake has never tried anything new" (Albert Einstein) -- which may be a quote I will use in an upcoming board meeting where I am trying to get us to adopt a new product.

* "You should not confuse your career with your life" (Dave Barry) -- good advice for all of us at all times to keep our values and priorities straight.

* "A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go but ought to be" (Rosalynn Carter) would be useful to cite in many business meetings.

* "I have climbed to the top of the greasy pole" (Benjamin Disraeli, on becoming prime minister of Britain) is a quote one might use upon being elected chairman of the audit committee.

* "Statistics are no subject for judgment" (Henry Clay's speech on radical abolitionism, 1839) is a quote for aboard member to use the next time some bright young button comes into a board meeting with an overwhelming array of numbers.

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