“A key difference between a dialogue and an ordinary discussion is that, within the latter people usually hold relatively fixed positions and argue in favor of their views as they try to convince others to change. At best this may produce agreement or compromise, but it does not give rise to anything creative.” PeopleGivingTryingMayDoeDifferencesViewsCreativePositionProduceKeysOrdinaryArguingFavorsDialogueCompromiseDiscussionFixedConvinceLatterAgreement Author:David
“You don't like a particular policy or a particular president? Then argue for your position. Go out there and win an election. Push to change it. But don't break it. Don't break what our predecessors spent over two centuries building. That's not being faithful to what this country's about.” TwoCountryWinningPresidentBreakCenturyPolicyPositionBuildingParticularElectionArguingFaithfulPredecessorsBeing Faithful Author:Barack Obama
“The apologist is most entrusted with apologetics when capable of arguing his opponent's position better than his opponent.” PositionCapableArguingOpponentsApologetic Book:Killosophy Source: Killosophy
“If you defend a behavior by arguing that people are programmed directly for it, then how do you continue to defend it if your speculation is wrong, for the behavior then becomes unnatural and worthy of condemnation. Better to stick resolutely to a philosophical position on human liberty: what free adults do with each other in their own private lives is their business alone. It need not be vindicated and must not be condemned by genetic speculation.” PeopleIfsNeedsHumansLife IsLibertyPositionBehaviorAdultsPhilosophicalSticksWorthyArguingSpeculationPrivate LifeUnnaturalCondemnationVindicated Book:Ever Since Darwin: Reflections in Natural History Source: Ever Since Darwin: Reflections in Natural History
“Faith strikes me as intellectual laziness, but I don't argue with it - especially as I am rarely in a position to prove that it is mistaken. Negative proof is usually impossible.” FaithImpossiblePositionProveIntellectualNegativeStrikesProofArguingLazinessMistakenIntellectual Laziness Author:Robert A. Heinlein
“Meiklejohn's position is that free speech in a democracy is not an absolute flowing from the boundless source of some presumed 'natural right.' It is a practical necessity of 'self-government by universal suffrage,' for if the citizens are not permitted to argue out the issues of government, how can they be what they must be in a democracy - the rulers as well as the ruled?” IfsWellsSelfGovernmentNaturalDemocracyIssuesAtheismPositionSourceCitizensSpeechUniversalAbsolutesArguingPracticalsRulersFree SpeechBoundlessSuffrageSelf-governmentUniversal Suffrage Author:Max Lerner
“Nixon is a strong leader with a good grasp of the world's problems. He knows that the only way to argue with the communists is from a position of strength.” KnowsWorldWayProblemStrongLeaderPositionArguingCommunistStrong Leaders Author:Mohammed Reza Pahlavi
“Plato has dramatic strength ... but is quite unaware of the strength of the argument against his position ... and allows himself to be grossly unfair in arguing against it.” PositionArgumentArguingDramaticUnfairPlato Author:Bertrand Russell
“College football is no more of a minor league than, say, the universities' schools of journalism, engineering or music are. We can argue at another time whether football should occupy the same space on campus as those disciplines, but for now, it does. The critical point is that a coach is less concerned with preparing athletes for the next level than he is with molding them to fit a system that helps him win games, keep his job and, eventually, move on to a position with a more prestigious program.” ShouldDoeHelpingSchoolJobsMovingNextGamesWinningSpaceLevelsPositionFootballCollegeDisciplineFitConcernedProgramUniversityAthleteCriticalArguingCoachesJournalismLeagueEngineeringMinorsPreparingCampusNext LevelAnother TimeCollege FootballPrestigiousMolding Author:William C. Rhoden
“I do not understand this squeamishness about the use of gas. We have definitely adopted the position at the Peace Conference of arguing in favour of the retention of gas as a permanent method of warfare. It is sheer affectation to lacerate a man with the poisonous fragment of a bursting shell and to boggle at making his eyes water by means of lachrymatory gas.” MenMeanUseEyeWaterPositionMethodArguingPermanentHis EyesGasShellsWarfareSheerFavourAdoptedConferencesFragmentsPoisonousBurstingRetentionPoison GasChemical Warfare Author:Winston Churchill
“I argue that I don't think it's a moral position to say that civilization is going to collapse, and that's okay. Because that would cause the deaths of billions of people. It's certainly not something I'm willing to accept.” PeopleThinkingCausesAcceptingMoralPositionWillingCivilizationOkayArguingBillionsCollapse Author:Margaret D. Klein
“I'm arguing for progressive positions on behalf of a progressive administration in front of a court who, before Justice [Antonin] Scalia's death, had a conservative majority that was quite conservative, frankly.” JusticeFrontsPositionMajorityCourtConservativeArguingAdministrationProgressiveBehalf Author:Donald Verrilli Jr.
“When we look at women, we have to look at the significance of their work in a different way from the way we look at it with men. Women have more often worked within the home, working equally as hard, I would argue, but not always out there where they're counted, not always up there in the labor unions, certainly not in leadership positions.” MenWayLooksDifferentHardHomePositionLaborUnionsArguingDifferent WaysSignificanceMen WomenLabor Union Author:Adele Logan Alexander
“[This approach] displays the characteristic philosophical lust to vanquish the skeptic by arguing him out of his skepticism, without appeal to moral and political considerations or to the facts of everyday life. [...] But more often than not, if you give the skeptic everything he wants, then he will be successful in repulsing your attacks and terrorizing your position.” IfsWantGivingFactsPoliticalMoralSuccessfulPositionApproachPhilosophicalEverydayArguingLustAppealsCharacteristicsBeing SuccessfulConsiderationDisplaySkepticismEveryday LifeSkepticVanquish Author:Dale Jamieson
“Our advanced and fashionable thinkers are, naturally, out on a wide swing of the pendulum, away from the previous swing of the pendulum.... They seem to have an un-argue-out-able position, as is the manner of sophists, but this is no guarantee that they are right.” ThinkingSeemsAbleSciencePositionWideArguingGuaranteesThinkerSwingsFashionableGuarantees ThatPendulums Author:Anthony Standen
“I think that if there are positions that you can't argue... then the responsibility is probably to resign. If one's own conscience is opposed to the requirements and responsibilities of the job, then it's time to leave the job.” IfsThinkingJobsResponsibilityPositionConscienceArguingRequirementsTime To Leave Author:Elena Kagan