quotations about arguments & arguing
Our disputants put me in mind of the scuttlefish, that when he is unable to extricate himself, blackens the water about him till he becomes invisible.
JOSEPH ADDISON
The Spectator
I never yet saw an instance of one of two disputants convincing the other by argument. I have seen many on their getting warm, becoming rude, and shooting one another.
THOMAS JEFFERSON
letter to Thomas Jefferson Randolph, November 24, 1808
I like to do all the talking myself. It saves time, and prevents arguments.
OSCAR WILDE
Stories for Children
Even good arguments fail, if they are spiced with digressions.
FAUSTO CERCIGNANI
Simply Transcribed
The arguer's tone, sincerity, care, concern, listening, and respect matter as much as his or her logic -- probably more.
PETER KREEFT
Pocket Handbook of Christian Apologetics
It is better to debate a question without settling it, than to settle it without debate.
JOSEPH JOUBERT
Pensées
Don't start an argument with somebody who has a microphone when you don't. They'll make you look like chopped liver.
HARLAN ELLISON
speech at the University of New Mexico, 1980
The most striking difference between ancient and modern sophists is that the ancients were satisfied with a passing victory of the argument at the expense of truth, whereas the moderns want a more lasting victory at the expense of reality.
HANNAH ARENDT
The Origins of Totalitarianism
In arguing, too, the parson own'd his skill,
For e'en though vanquish'd, he could argue still.
OLIVER GOLDSMITH
The Deserted Village
He argued high, he argued low,
He also argued round about him.
W.S. GILBERT
Sir Macklin
A contentious man will never lack words.
JOHN JEWEL
A Defence of the Apology for the Church of England
He disliked contradiction, and still more, arguments that were continually skipping from one thing to another, introducing new and disconnected points, so that there was no knowing to which to reply.
LEO TOLSTOY
Anna Karenina
He draweth out the thread of his verbosity finer than the staple of his argument.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Love's Labour's Lost
A knock-down argument; 'tis but a word and a blow.
JOHN DRYDEN
Amphitryon
Rather a tough customer in an argeyment, Joe, if anybody was to try and tackle him.
CHARLES DICKENS
Barnaby Rudge
Don't raise your voice, improve your argument.
DESMOND TUTU
Address at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Houghton, Johannesburg, South Africa, November 23, 2004
They argued because they liked argument, liked the swift run of the unfettered mind along the paths of possibility, liked to question what was not questioned.
URSULA K. LE GUIN
The Dispossessed
Let the long contention cease!
Geese are swans and swans are geese!
MATTHEW ARNOLD
The Last Word
Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; argument an exchange of ignorance.
ROBERT QUILLEN
attributed, And I Quote
The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
DALE CARNEGIE
How to Win Friends and Influence People