|
"You can sway a thousand men by appealing to their prejudices quicker than you can convince one man by logic." - Robert A. Heinlein, Revolt in 2100/Methuselah's Children
"Anyone claiming to be a Christian ought never to make an argument (in defense of a position held) that is not first thought out and sincerely considered to be sound." - Robert Waters
"In all debates, let truth be thy aim, not victory, or an unjust interest." - William Penn
"It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it." - Joseph Joubert
"Instead of seeing how much pain I can dish out towards those I disagree with, or who I believe have done me wrong, I seek to follow the golden rule and use my words and behavior to create more of what the world needs – love, compassion, and connection." - Aspen Baker
"Those who make conversations impossible, make escalation inevitable." - Stefan Molyneux
"A sure sign of ineptitude and malice is manifested when one's attacker is willing to cover himself with mud in order to try and make some of it adhere to his target." - Christopher Hitchens
"Too many people get away with truly awful 'reasoning', not because what they are arguing happens to be true, but because they are in the majority."- Ellie Rose McKee
"Right to speak comes with a duty to listen." - Amit Kalantri, Wealth of Words
"Discussions, debates and even arguments will be fruitful if done with an open mind." - Haresh Sippy
"It is difficult to learn anything worthwhile if you only listen to those who share your views." - Gerard Trotman
"Speak with caution. Even if someone forgives harsh words you've spoken, they may be too hurt to ever forget them. Don't leave a legacy of pain and regret of things you never should have said." - Germany Kent
"To speak knowing the truth, among prudent and dear men, about what is greatest and dear, is a thing that is safe and encouraging. But to present arguments at a time when one is in doubt and seeking...is a thing both frightening and slippery." - Plato, The Republic
"When I find that stubbornness continually overrides common sense regardless of the logic of my argument, it seems that the only effective solution is to tell them to go ahead and stick their finger in the socket. And what I find is that what my argument failed to solve, electricity does quite nicely." - Craig D. Lounsbrough
"Dialogue unplugs you from your own programming as you become more real; debate turns up the voltage and entrenches you more deeply." - Oli Anderson, Dialogue / Ego - Real Communication
"...civility doesn't require consensus or the suspension of criticism. It is simply the ability to disagree productively with others while respecting their sincerity and decency." - Ravi Iyer and Jonathan Haidt
"As any debate club veteran knows, if you can't make your opponent's point for them, you don't truly grasp the issue." - Sean Blanda
"Some people are as stiff and inhumane as the dogmas they believe in" - Bangambiki Habyarimana, Pearls Of Eternity
"Some of the most polished ideas are discovered through healthy, honest debate, so if you don't argue with yourself every once in a while, other people will gladly point out if, in any sense, you missed a spot." - Criss Jami, Healology
"It is always healthy to be honest." - Amit Kalantri
"The idea that you have to be protected from any kind of uncomfortable emotion is what I absolutely do not subscribe to." - John Cleese
"Engaging solely to validate your opinion takes away from the character building process." - Unarine Ramaru
"The key to holding a logical argument or debate is to allow oneself to understand the other person's argument no matter how divergent their views may seem." - Auliq Ice
"When making a point, there are 2 types of people who may disagree with you: those who can support their reasons, and the childish ones who are too worried about being told what to do." - Criss Jami, Killosophy
"Cop-out excuses and catch-phrase dismissals can only work so long before the holes in the religious argument cannot be ignored any longer." - Steve Dustcircle
"The only truths worth arguing about are those truths that could prevent or lead to circumstances that may bite us in the rear sooner or later." - Criss Jami, Killosophy
"The problem with smart people is that they like to be right and sometimes will defend ideas to the death rather than admit they're wrong... Until they come face to face with someone who is tenacious enough to dissect their logic, and resilient enough to endure the thinly veiled intellectual abuse they dish out during debate, they're never forced to question their ability to defend bad ideas." - Scott Berkun
"Tolerance. In all my years of debating politics and religion no mind was changed with derision and no thought convicted by way of harshness. You have no right to demand tolerance while deriding others and their beliefs in the process. Want tolerance? Extend it. You'll be surprised because given it, people will actually listen." - Donna Lynn Hope
"If the majority view, whether in government or in the scientific establishment, is wrong, toleration of dissent increases the odds that their errors will eventually be discovered. But even if the majority view is correct, as it often may be, it is more likely to be seen to be correct if it must defend itself against critics." - Angus J.L. Menuge, Agents Under Fire: Materialism and the Rationality of Science
"People need to learn the art of making an argument. Often there is no right or wrong. It's just your opinion vs someone else's opinion. How you deliver that opinion could make the difference between opening a mind, changing an opinion or shutting the door. Sometimes folk just don't know when they've "argued" enough. Learn when to shut up." - J'son M. Lee
"We are all born with infinite wisdom at our fingertips. All you have to do is approach every disagreement, debate, and alternative view of your core beliefs with the sincere and soul honest desire of being proved partially or completely incorrect" - Carl Henegan, Darkness Left Undone
"Intellectual discourse and investigation is admittedly great fun but only truly meaningful when conducted in the service of others." - Sergio de la Pava, A Naked Singularity
|
