Quotes About Argument

My books have all generated controversy.

It's so easy to create a controversy.

I'm not out to convince anybody of anything.

Arguing, in the sense of attempting to convince others, has gone out of fashion with conservatives.

A man convinced against his will is not convinced.

The same evidence that is convincing to one person may not convince another.

When I wanted to be an attorney, I think I wanted to be a litigator; I wanted to be in a courtroom.

Reading a brief filled with ad hominem attacks is like listening to my kids fight, except that I have to wait until we're in the courtroom to tell the attacking lawyer what I think about it.

I tend to judge a piece of criticism by how smart I find the argument. This, I know,, is not how everyone does it.

The argument by the anti-gay-marriage crowd is so absurd, so internally contradictory, and so awash in unproven assertions that it is difficult to take it as anything more than a construct cobbled together by people who just don't like those people.

I'm quite an emotional person. I cry a lot. I do not like conflict, so if I have an argument with my parents, I'll often cry. I become too emotional.

The other night I ate at a real nice family restaurant. Every table had an argument going.

I'm no table flipper. I am more calm and collected in my fights.

I cannot think of a tactical alliance with the Left because I represent the idea that there is a peaceful, nonviolent way to dislodge a dictatorship... A tactical Left alliance damages my argument. If I succeed with them, we will never know if peace can really produce freedom.

The main business of a lawyer is to take the romance, the mystery, the irony, the ambiguity out of everything he touches.

A philosopher who is not taking part in discussions is like a boxer who never goes into the ring.

Sure, I went through my 'J'accuse' phase. I was so angry for so long, I could hardly have a conversation without getting into an argument. And it was only when I felt I could finally distance myself from my past that I began to write about what happened - not just to me, but to lots of young people. I think my story is a cautionary tale.

I think when you're talking about marriage equality and race, people very quickly start to get into their political corners: their ideology comes to the forefront, and they get into this platform argument that they're used to making, which really doesn't have anything to do with the day-to-day basics of what is being talked about.

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

Nobody talks so constantly about God as those who insist that there is no God.

When we engage in a philosophical argument with an opponent, the primary issue is frequently about who has offered the best reasons to support her thesis. It is an illusion to think that there are ahistorical determinate standards to which we can appeal that will sharply distinguish once and for all what "really" are good or better reasons. What counts as "good reasons" is essentially contested.

Respect for the dignity of others includes treating them as rational creatures capable of being persuadad by rational argument, even in the face of frequent evidence to the contrary.

An important work of architecture will create polemics.

A talent for speaking differently, rather than for arguing well, is the chief instrument of cultural change.