“What really worries me is that those who are in positions of power are not really affected by what we are writing. In the moral dialogue you want to start, you really want to involve the leaders. People ask me: "Why were you so bold as to publish A Man of the People? How did you think the Government was going to take it? You didn't know there was going to be a coup?" I said rather flippantly that nobody was going to read it anyway, so I wasn't likely to be fired from my official position. It's a distressing thought that we cannot engage our leaders in the kind of moral debate we need.” PeopleThinkingKnowsMenWantNeedsWritingKindSaidGovernmentAsksLeaderMoralWorryPositionDebateDialogueAsk MeOfficialsAffectedPublishDistressingCoupsPosition Of Power Book:Conversations with Chinua Achebe Source: Conversations with Chinua Achebe
“The extreme positions of the Crossfire Syndrome require extreme simplification - framing the debate in terms which ignore the real issues.” RealTermIssuesPositionExtremesDebateSyndromesSimplificationFramingCrossfire Author:Michael Crichton
“If I believe in something, I will fight for it with all I have. But I do not demand all or nothing. I would rather get something than nothing. Professional liberals want the fiery debate. They glory in defeat. The hardest job for a politician today is to have the courage to be a moderate. It's easy to take an extreme position.” IfsWantBelieveTodayJobsFightingI BelieveEasyPositionPoliticianDemandGloryDefeatExtremesI Believe InDebateHardestModeratesFieryHardest Job Author:Hubert H. Humphrey
“It's so much easier to debate people when you can pretend that they hold moronic position that they don't actually believe.” PeopleBelievePositionEasierDebateNsa Author:Glenn Greenwald
“My position is that it is high time for a calm debate on more fundamental questions. Does human spaceflight continue to serve a compelling cultural purpose and/or our national interest? Or does human spaceflight simply have a life of its own, without a realistic objective that is remotely commensurate with its costs? Or, indeed, is human spaceflight now obsolete?” HumansDoePurposeInterestPositionCostFundamentalsCalmDebateObjectivesRealisticCompellingObsoleteSpace TravelNational InterestsSpaceflight Author:James Van Allen
“The "family" has clearly emerged anew in the late 1970s as a central subject for discussion, debate, research and writing in bothscholarly and popular arenas. Anxiety over whether or not the family as a basic social institution is dying has diminished. In its stead has emerged a fairly broad consensus around the position that the family is "here to stay," but that it certainly is changing.” WritingSocialChangeSubjectsDyingPositionAnxietyLateResearchInstitutionsDebateDiscussionBroadsArenaConsensusSocial InstitutionsResearch And Writing Book:Parenting in an unresponsive society: managing work and family life Source: Parenting in an unresponsive society: managing work and family life
“On religious issues there can be little or no compromise. There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this Supreme Being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly.” PeopleShouldLittlesUseUsedJesusNamesBeliefChristReligiousPowerfulIssuesPositionWeaponsJesus ChristClaimsDebateSupremeCompromiseAlliesBehalfReligious BeliefSupreme BeingPowerful WeaponsNo Compromise Author:Barry Goldwater
“Ironically, members on both sides of the debate do agree about one thing: big bang cosmology puts their position in jeopardy. The big bang poses a problem for young-earth creationists because it makes the universe billions of years old rather than thousands. Such an assertion undercuts their system at its foundation. Big bang cosmology also presents a problem for atheistic scientists because it points directly to the existence of a transcendent Creator - a fact they dare not concede.” YearsFactsProblemBigsEarthYoungUniverseSidesExistenceOne ThingPositionMembersScientistAgreeFoundationDareCreatorBillionsDebateBoth SidesBangsAssertionTranscendentCosmologyAtheisticJeopardy Author:Hugh Ross
“But I also want to change the dynamics of this debate, which has kept us gridlocked into positions which caused people to shoot at abortion clinics and other Americans to view it as the only issue in American politics, ... There are areas we can agree on. ... We need to work together to eliminate abortion.” PeopleWantNeedsTogetherViewsIssuesPositionAreasAgreeDebateAbortionWorking TogetherAmerican PoliticsDynamicsClinic Author:John McCain
“The National Security Adviser is supposed to be an arbiter of policy and open minded in internal debates. But the playing field was never balanced. It was always tilted toward Rumsfeld's position, which is obviously the same as Bush's.” SecurityPolicyFieldsPositionDebateSupposed To BeInternalsBalancedNational SecurityOpen MindOpen MindedAdviserPlaying FieldsArbiter Author:Seymour Hersh
“At the debate, Donald Trump backed off of his health care position for 20 years. For 20 years, he has agreed with Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders on socialized medicine, saying Obamacare doesn't go far enough. He wants the government to pay for everyone's health care and to control it.” WantYearsEnoughGovernmentCarePayPositionTrumpMedicineClintonDebateHealth CareObamacareSocialized Medicine Author:Ted Cruz