Quotes About Argument

I've been keeping a diary for thirty-three years and write in it every morning. Most of it's just whining, but every so often there'll be something I can use later: a joke, a description, a quote. It's an invaluable aid when it comes to winning arguments. 'That's not what you said on February 3 1996 ' I'll say to someone.

When a subject declares intellectual philosophy useless, you can be sure it won't be making any intellectual defense of its position.

We're in a giant car heading towards a brick wall and everyones arguing over where they're going to sit

I picked up the phone and dialed up John on his cell. One ring, and then- "I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE, VINNY!" "John?" "Oh, Dave. Sorry. I had been having a heated argument here on my phone and then I hung up in disgust. Then when the phone rang I just assumed, without checking, that it was the person I was having an argument with so I just blindly shouted insults into the phone. How embarrassing." "I'm getting sick of that one, John.

The thing with Jen ended with a pregnancy scare. She had seen my world and didn't want to bring a baby into it. This led to some violent arguments during which I pointed out, loudly and in sprays of spittle, that if she got an abortion the fucking unborn fucking fetus would likely fucking haunt us—I mean literally haunt our home—until the day we died and possibly beyond. It turned out that was the wrong thing to say.

Never, under any circumstances, argue with a tired woman. She is always right.

Why must you argue before I even have my tea? So many words.

If you really believed that God preserved you in order to see this scheme to fruition, you are even more delusional than I first thought," I said in considerable exasperation. "It is impossible to argue with a mind that does not admit scientific fact and relies instead upon dogma delivered by the hand of an invisible author.

Deanna Raybourn

A philosopher's main task is to compulsively filibuster

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

Euclid taught me that without assumptions there is no proof. Therefore, in any argument, examine the assumptions.

Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence; he is just using his memory.

It is only the intellectually lost who ever argue.

Archer wouldn't consider her allowance of the guard to be evidence of the powers of rational argument. He'd take it as proof that she was in love with whichever of her guards was the most handsome.

Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; an argument an exchange of ignorance.

Contention is inseparable from creating knowledge. It is not contention we should try to avoid, but discourses that attempt to suppress contention.

if the two of you are alone, walk away. If you have an audience, consider throwing the fallacy back at your opponent. "I see. Purple is a fruit. So, since your skin is tan, that makes you a pair of khakis.

Is he paying attention? A distracted audience is much harder to persuade. When you argue with your cat, you must entertain him.

The ancient Romans would call the Ironman's brand appeal argumentum a fortiori, "argument from strength." Its logic goes like this: if something works the hard way, it's more likely to work the easy way. Advertisers favor the argument from strength. Years ago, Life cereal ran an ad with little Mikey the fussy eater. His two older brothers tested the cereal on him, figuring that if Mikey liked it, anybody would. And he liked it! An argumentum a fortiori cereal ad.

Reframing entails refusing to accept the opponent's definition of what the issue is about, and then substituting your own. You define the issue in your terms.

while logic is excellent and noble, and a first-rate way to make a friend look like a drooling idiot, a perfectly logical argument fails to persuade most of the time.

In an argument, you try to win over the other creature. You get your opponent to agree on a solution, or to make a choice. While both a fight and an argument start with a disagreement, only an argument can make both sides happy. How? By reaching an agreement that benefits both of you. In the best kind of argument, both sides think they won.

Seduction is manipulation, manipulation is half of argument, and therefore many of us shy from it. But seduction offers more than just consensual sex. It can bring you consensus. Even Aristotle, that logical old soul, believed in the curative powers of seduction. Logic alone will rarely get people to do anything. They have to desire the act. You may not like seduction's manipulative aspects; still, it beats fighting, which is what we usually mistake for an argument.