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Quotes about debate

72 quotes from 61 people

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A great many of those who ‘debunk’ traditional…values have in the background values of their own which they believe to be immune from the debunking process.
C. S. Lewis1898–1963The Abolition of Man
I argue very well. Ask any of my remaining friends. I can win an argument on any topic, against any opponent. People know this, and steer clear of me at parties. Often, as a sign of their great respect, they don’t even invite me.
Dave Barryborn 1947
I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.
Margaret Thatcher1925–2013From an interview for Italian television (RAI) (10 March 1986)
If you can’t convince them, confuse them.
Harry S. Truman1884–1972Address at the National Plowing Match (18 September 1948); as quoted in Miracle of ‘48: Harry Truman’s Major Campaign Speeches and Selected Whistle-stops (2003); edited by Steve Neal
To be absolutely certain about something, one must know everything or nothing about it.
Henry Kissinger1923–2023
It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it.
Joseph Joubert1754–1824The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert (1883)
Many a long dispute among divines may be thus abridged: It is so. It is not so. It is so. It is not so.
Benjamin Franklin1706–1790Poor Richard’s Almanack (1879)
The moment we want to believe something, we suddenly see all the arguments for it, and become blind to the arguments against it.
George Bernard Shaw1856–1950
- Thinking
Trust the man who hesitates in his speech and is quick and steady in action, but beware of long arguments and long beards.
George Santayana1863–1952
I love argument, I love debate. I don’t expect anyone just to sit there and agree with me, that’s not their job.
Margaret Thatcher1925–2013The Times (1980), as cited in
Men often oppose a thing merely because they have had no agency in planning it, or because it may have been planned by those whom they dislike.
Alexander Hamilton1757–1804Federalist No. 70 (18 March 1788)
Did you ever notice how difficult it is to argue with someone who is not obsessed with being right?
Wayne Dyer1940–2015
Arguing is really saying, “If you were really more like me, then I could like you better.”
Wayne Dyer1940–2015
Fear not those who argue but those who dodge.
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach1830–1916Often credited to Dale Carnegie
He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper.
Edmund Burke1729–1797Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), Volume iii, p. 453