ARGUMENT QUOTES

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


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


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


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


Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; argument an exchange of ignorance.

ROBERT QUILLEN

attributed, And I Quote


Let the long contention cease!
Geese are swans and swans are geese!

MATTHEW ARNOLD

The Last Word


The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.

DALE CARNEGIE

How to Win Friends and Influence People