Quotes about argument

There are two things which cannot be attacked in front: ignorance and narrow-mindedness. They can only be shaken by the simple development of the contrary qualities. They will not bear discussion.

— Lord Acton

Arguments out of a pretty mouth are unanswerable.

— Joseph Addison

The long term versus the short term argument is one used by losers.

— Larry Adler

Wise men argue cases, fools decide them.

— Anacharsis

We must not contradict, but instruct him that contradicts us; for a madman is not cured by another running mad also.

— Antisthenes

Quarrels often arise in marriages when the bridal gifts are excessive.

— Auson

Argument is conclusive... but... it does not remove doubt, so that the mind may rest in the sure knowledge of the truth, unless it finds it by the method of experiment. For if any man who never saw fire proved by satisfactory arguments that fire burns. his hearer's mind would never be satisfied, nor would he avoid the fire until he put his hand in it that he might learn by experiment what argument taught.

— Roger Bacon

It is not necessary to understand things in order to argue about them.

— Pierre De Beaumarchais

Most of the arguments to which I am party fall somewhat short of being impressive, knowing to the fact that neither I nor my opponent knows what we are talking about

— Robert Benchley

I tell you Wellington is a bad general, the English are bad soldiers; we will settle this matter by lunch time.

— Napoleon Bonaparte

Behind every argument is someone's ignorance.

— Louis D. Brandeis

We are not won by arguments that we can analyze, but by tone and temper; by the manner, which is the man himself.

— Samuel Butler

A man lives by believing something: not by debating and arguing about many things.

— Thomas Carlyle

People generally quarrel because they cannot argue.

— Gilbert K. Chesterton

Neither irony or sarcasm is argument.

— Samuel Butler

When you have no basis for an argument, abuse the plaintiff.

— Marcus T. Cicero

It is the briefest yet wisest maxim which tells us to meddle not.

— Charles Caleb Colton

Men's arguments often prove nothing but their wishes.

— Charles Caleb Colton

There's nothing I like less than bad arguments for a view that I hold dear.

— Daniel Dennett

Fear not those who argue but those who dodge.

— Marie Ebner-Eschenbach

Any fact is better established by two or three good testimonies than by a thousand arguments.

— Nathaniel Emmons

Those disputing, contradicting, and confuting people are generally unfortunate in their affairs. They get victory, sometimes, but they never get good will, which would be of more use to them.

— Benjamin Franklin

He that blows the coals in quarrels that he has nothing to do with, has no right to complain if the sparks fly in his face.

— Benjamin Franklin

I had a lovers quarrel with the world.

— Robert Frost

Never contend with one that is foolish, proud, positive, testy, or with a superior, or a clown, in matter of argument.

— Thomas Fuller

When good people have a falling out, only one of them may be at fault at first; but if the strife continues long, usually both become guilty.

— Thomas Fuller

Soft words are hard arguments.

— Thomas Fuller

Most quarrels amplify a misunderstanding.

— Andre Gide

There is no arguing with him, for if his pistol misses fire, he knocks you down with the butt end of it.

— Oliver Goldsmith

The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the right.

— Lord Quintin Hogg Hailsham

Hear one side and you will be in the dark. Hear both and all will be clear.

— Thomas C. Haliburton

The most important thing in an argument, next to being right, is to leave an escape hatch for your opponent, so that he can gracefully swing over to your side without too much apparent loss of face.

— Sidney J. Harris

No matter what side of the argument you are on, you always find people on your side that you wish were on the other.

— Jascha Heifetz

But curb thou the high spirit in thy breast, for gentle ways are best, and keep aloof from sharp contentions.

— Homer

The sounder your argument, the more satisfaction you get out of it.

— Edgar Watson Howe

Strong and bitter words indicate a weak cause.

— Victor Hugo

An association of men who will not quarrel with one another is a thing which has never yet existed, from the greatest confederacy of nations down to a town meeting or a vestry.

— Thomas Jefferson

It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle it without debate.

— Joseph Joubert

The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress.

— Joseph Joubert

Myself when young did eagerly frequent doctor and saint, and heard great argument about it and about: but evermore came out by the same door as in I went.

— Omar Khayyam

You punch me, I punch back. I do not believe it's good for ones self-respect to be a punching bag.

— Edward Koch

The argument of the strongest is always the best.

— Jean De La Fontaine

When all are wrong, everyone is right.

— La Lehaussee

Quarrels would not last so long if the fault lay only on one side.

— Francois De La Rochefoucauld

Heat and animosity, contest and conflict, may sharpen the wits, although they rarely do; they never strengthen the understanding, clear the perspicacity, guide the judgment, or improve the heart.

— Walter Savage Landor

When you argue with your inferiors, you convince them of only one thing: they are as clever as you.

— Irving Layton

Debate is the death of conversation.

— Emil Ludwig

He who establishes his argument by noise and command shows that his reason is weak.

— Michel Eyquem De Montaigne

The purely agitation attitude is not good enough for a detailed consideration of a subject.

— Jawaharlal Nehru

One often contradicts an opinion when what is uncongenial is really the tone in which it was conveyed.

— Friedrich Nietzsche

True disputants are like true sportsman: their whole delight is in the pursuit.

— Alexander Pope

When much dispute has past, we find our tenets just the same as last.

— Alexander Pope

In argument similes are like songs in love; they describe much, but prove nothing.

— Matthew Prior

Soft words win hard hearts.

— Proverb

Two dogs strive for a bone and the third one runs off with it.

— Proverb

Use soft words and hard arguments.

— English Proverb

It takes two to quarrel, but only one to end it.

— Spanish Proverb

Whenever you argue with another wiser than yourself in order that others may admire your wisdom, they will discover your ignorance.

— Saadi

It was completely fruitless to quarrel with the world, whereas the quarrel with oneself was occasionally fruitful and always, she had to admit, interesting.

— May Sarton

The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.

— William Shakespeare

In a false quarrel there is no true valor.

— William Shakespeare

I will name you the degrees. The first, the Retort Courteous; the second, the Quip Modest; the third, the Reply Churlish; the fourth, the Reproof Valiant; the fifth, the Countercheck Quarrelsome; the sixth, the Lie with Circumstance; the seventh, the Lie Direct.

— William Shakespeare

Concerning God, freewill and destiny: Of all that earth has been or yet may be, all that vain men imagine or believe, or hope can paint or suffering may achieve, we descanted.

— Percy Bysshe Shelley

Argument, as usually managed, is the worst sort of conversation, as in books it is generally the worst sort of reading.

— Jonathan Swift

When a thing is said to be not worth refuting you may be sure that either it is flagrantly stupid -- in which case all comment is superfluous -- or it is something formidable, the very crux of the problem.

— Miguel De Unamuno

When two quarrel, both are in the wrong.

— Source Unknown

There is no point in arguing about matters of taste.

— Source Unknown

There are usually two sides to every argument but no end.

— Source Unknown

People who know the least always argue the most.

— Source Unknown

If you argue with a woman and win, you lose.

— Source Unknown

An argument is like a country road, you never know where it is going to lead.

— Source Unknown

A lot of good arguments are spoiled by some fool who knows what he is talking about.

— Source Unknown

A sure way of getting the last word in an argument is to say you right.

— Source Unknown

A long dispute means that both parties are wrong

— Voltaire

Men argue, nature acts.

— Voltaire

Weakness on both sides is, the motto of all quarrels.

— Voltaire

Weak arguments are often thrust before my path; but although they are most insubstantial, it is not easy to destroy them. There is not a more difficult feat known than to cut through a cushion with a sword.

— Richard Whately

Never argue at the dinner table, for the one who is not hungry always gets the best of the argument.

— Richard Whately

How beggarly appear arguments before a defiant deed!

— Walt Whitman

Arguments are to be avoided; they are always vulgar and often convincing.

— Oscar Wilde

It is senseless to argue with someone whose sole purpose in life is to not be convinced of anything.

— Jon Campbell

Arguments are like fire-arms which a man may keep at home but should not carry about with him.

— Samuel Butler

There is no good in arguing with the inevitable. The only argument available with an east wind is to put on your overcoat.

— James Russell Lowell

The difficult part in an argument is not to defend one's opinion, but rather to know it.

— Andre Maurois

I dislike arguments of any kind. They are always vulgar, and often convincing.

— Oscar Wilde