Devil's Advocate Quotes

• I hope you're representing the devil's advocate.

  Charles Olson

  Devil, Advocating, Devil's Advocate

  53 Copy quote

• Freedom, baby, is never having to say youre sorry.

  Al Pacino

  Baby, Sorry, Devil's Advocate

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• Love is overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate

  Al Pacino

  Love Is, Chocolate, Different

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• You sharpen the human appetite to the point where it can split atoms with its desire; you build egos the size of cathedrals; fiber-optically connect the world to every eager impulse; grease even the dullest dreams with these dollar-green, gold-plated fantasies, until every human becomes an aspiring emperor, becomes his own God... and where can you go from there?

  Al Pacino

  Dream, Ego, Grease

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• Look, but don't touch. Touch, but don't taste. Taste, but don't swallow.

  Al Pacino

  Looks, Taste, Devil's Advocate

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• Encourage dissent: Leaders should have associates who have contrary views, who are devil's advocates, "variance sensors" who can tell them the difference between what is expected and what is really happening, between what they want to hear and what they need to hear. There are too many naked emperors running around today.

  Warren G. Bennis

  Running, Views, Should Have

  Source: bobmorris.biz

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• People have confused playing devil's advocate with being intelligent.

  Cecily Strong

  Confused, Intelligent, People

  7 Copy quote

• The essayist . . . can pull on any sort of shirt, be any sort of person, according to his mood or his subject matter - philosopher, scold, jester, raconteur, confidant, pundit, devil's advocate, enthusiast.

  E. B. White

  Philosophy, Devil, Matter

  E. B. White (2011). “In the Words of E.B. White: Quotations from America's Most Companionable of Writers”, p.215, Cornell University Press

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• Better to reign in hell than serve in heav'n.

  John Milton

  Death, War, Paradise

  Paradise Lost bk. 1, l. 263 (1667)

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• If you give people an idea these days, they just think you are sharing it with them so they can critique it, play devil's advocate, and so on. It doesn't occur to them that they might help or get enthused or at least have the courtesy to get out of your way.

  Esme Raji Codell

  Thinking, Play, Ideas

  7 Copy quote

• I'm the devil's advocate. We have our own worshipers.

  Frank Zappa

  Devil, Satanic, Satanism

  46 Copy quote

• Being a New Yorker is never having to say you are sorry.

  Lily Tomlin

  Sorry, Devil's Advocate, New Yorkers

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• Vasectomy means never having to say you're sorry.

  Larry Adler

  Love, Movie, Romantic

  Larry Adler, Philip Judge (1994). “Me and My Big Mouth”, Blake Pub

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• Avant-garde means never having to say you're sorry.

  Marc Ribot

  Love, Movie, Romantic

  27 Copy quote

• If opponents of all important truths do not exist, it is indispensable to imagine them and supply them with the strongest arguments which the most skillful devil's advocate can conjure up.

  John Stuart Mill

  Important, Devil, Opponents

  Source: www.usconstitution.net

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• I hate people who say 'Just to play devil's advocate.'

  Seth MacFarlane

  Hate, Play, People

  Twitter post from Jan 27, 2013

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• Whenever you feel like feeling like a devil's advocate, Bible-thump. That, in a worldly world, is the great irony and satire of evangelism.

  Criss Jami

  Feelings, Devil, World

  Criss Jami (2015). “Killosophy”, p.66, Criss Jami

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• Never play the Devil's Advocate. Your words could be the difference between success and failure in someone else.

  Ingrid Weir

  Success, Play, Differences

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• John Kerry doesn't think in terms of black-and-white. He's all gray, and he looks at all sides of the issues. That makes people think he likes to be devil's advocate. Whatever you say, he'll challenge you on.

  Douglas Brinkley

  Black And White, Thinking, Issues

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• That's one of those hazards of an interview: You get tired of your stock answer and you try to get creative and even play devil's advocate.

  Doug Martsch

  Tired, Play, Creative

  Source: www.motherjones.com

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• This does not mean that the profession is about to abandon Darwin forever or indorse [sic] my views publicly. The situation remains much as it was: the inner circles are full of doubt, but the public utterances are confident. The doubts may be greater now and the confidence less serene, but it will be a long time before the public is given the full dark picture. There is still need for a dissenting voice, a devil's advocate, a skeptical whistle-blower.

  Norman Macbeth

  Mean, Dark, Circles

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