Debate Quotes

"I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend." "Every man has a right to his opinion, but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts" "When you are arguing with a fool, make sure he isn't doing the same thing." "The strongest democracies flourish from frequent and lively debate, but they endure when people of every background and belief find a way to set aside smaller differences in service of a greater purpose." "Those who cannot understand how to put their thoughts on ice should not enter into the heat of debate" "When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser" "Every man has a right to utter what he thinks truth, and every other man has a right to knock him down for it" "He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that." "There is no conversation more boring than the one where everybody agrees" "Science is interesting, and if you don't agree you can fuck off." "It is better to discuss things, to argue and engage in polemics than make perfidious plans of mutual destruction." "We do not talk we bludgeon one another with facts and theories gleaned from cursory readings of newspapers magazines and digests" "He who establishes his argument by noise and command shows that his reason is weak" "The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum." "When we are debating an issue, loyalty means giving me your honest opinion, whether you think I'll like it or not. Disagreement, at this stage, stimulates me. But once a decision has been made, the debate ends. From that point on, loyalty means executing the decision as if it were your own." "The main point of financial opacity is that what is debatable remains hidden" "Truth springs from argument amongst friends" "You can't have people saying that evolution is only an option among many. When you have scientific consensus, it’s always better than opinions." "To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead" "There's nothing I like less than bad arguments for a view that I hold dear."