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Quotes about debate

72 quotes from 61 people

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Fear not those who argue but those who dodge.
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach1830–1916Often credited to Dale Carnegie
Don’t start an argument with somebody who has a microphone when you don’t. They’ll make you look like chopped liver.
Harlan Ellison1934–2018IguanaCon Guest of Honor speech, Phoenix, Arizona, (1978)
- Advice
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson1803–1882Journal (November 8, 1838)
- Character
A single fact will often spoil an interesting argument.
WFWilliam Feather1889–1981Featherisms (2008)
- Facts
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)
Analogies prove nothing, that is quite true, but they can make one feel more at home.
Sigmund Freud1856–1939“New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-analysis” (1933)
In arguing too, the parson owned his skill,
For e’en tho’ vanquished, he could argue still;
While words of learned length, and thundering sound,
Amazed the gazing rustics ranged around;
And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew,
That one small head could carry all he knew.
Oliver Goldsmith1728–1774The Deserted Village (1770), The Deserted VillageIn context
- Education
- Knowledge
I’m willing to admit that I may not always be right, but I am never wrong.
Samuel Goldwyn1882–1974
When you have the facts on your side, argue the facts. When you have the law on your side, argue the law. When you have neither, holler.
Al Goreborn 1948
Don’t take the wrong side of an argument just because your opponent has taken the right side.
Baltasar Gracián1601–1658
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)
If someone doesn’t value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn’t value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?
Sam Harrisborn 1967Sam Harris, “Is the Foundation of Morality Natural or Supernatural? – William Lane Craig vs. Sam Harris, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, United States – April 2011
- Thinking
The argument is at an end.
Augustine of Hippo354–430
The sounder your argument, the more satisfaction you get out of it.
E. W. Howe1853–1937
Freedom is hammered out on the anvil of discussion, dissent, and debate.
Hubert Humphrey1911–1978
- Freedom