Argument Quotes - Page 24

• I believe that President Clinton considered the legal merits of the arguments for the pardon as he understood them, and he rendered his judgment, wise or unwise, on the merits.

  John Podesta

  Wise, Believe, President

  "Democratic fund-raiser takes Fifth Amendment in pardons probe" by March 1, 2001, www.cnn.com. March 1, 2001.

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• If one is going to change the definition of marriage to be, quote, 'same sex,' then there is absolutely no valid argument constitutionally or rhetorically you can make against multiple people getting married. These are radical social changes.

  Gary Bauer

  Sex, People, Definitions

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• The argument now that the spread of pop culture and consumer goods around the world represents the triumph of Western civilization trivializes Western culture. The essence of Western civilization is the Magna Carta, not the Magna Mac. The fact that non-Westerners may bite into the latter has no implications for their accepting the former.

  Samuel P. Huntington

  Essence, Civilization, Culture

  Samuel P. Huntington (1997). “The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order”, p.58, Penguin Books India

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• I do not propose to criticize the fatuous argument I have just outlined; here, to expound is to expose.

  Peter Medawar

  Criticize, Propose

  Peter Brian Medawar (1996). “The Strange Case of the Spotted Mice and Other Classic Essays on Science”, p.7, Oxford University Press, USA

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• It is prima facie highly implausible that life as we know it is the result of a sequence of physical accidents together with the mechanism of natural selection. We are supposed to abandon this naïve response, not in favor of a fully worked out physical/chemical explanation but in favor of an alternative that is really a schema for explanation, supported by some examples. What is lacking, to my knowledge, is a credible argument that the story has a nonnegligible probability of being true.

  Thomas Nagel

  Together, Example, Alternatives

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• To the best of my recollection, I became a philosopher because my parents wanted me to become a lawyer. It seems to me, in retrospect, that there was much to be said for their suggestion. On the other hand, many philosophers are quite good company; the arguments they use are generally better than the ones that lawyers use; and we do get to go to as many faculty meetings as we like at no extra charge.

  Jerry Fodor

  Hands, Parent, Retrospect

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• Silence is an argument in favor of the status quo. A refusal to address an inequity is a strategy for maintaining that inequity.

  PZ Myers

  Silence, Addresses, Favors

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• A crucial contribution to the ideological argument ...it provides a vital part of the intellectual manifesto on which the battle for a better society can be fought

  Roy Hattersley

  Intellectual, Battle, Contribution

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• Some people accused me of being pro-Muslim in Bosnia, but I realised that our job is to give all sides an equal hearing, but in cases of genocide you can't just be neutral. You can't just say, 'Well, this little boy was shot in the head and killed in besieged Sarajevo and that guy over there did it, but maybe he was upset because he had an argument with his wife.' No, there is no equality there, and we had to tell the truth.

  Christiane Amanpour

  Jobs, Boys, Wife

  "What we do is really tough" by Julie Ferry, www.theguardian.com. August 15, 2007.

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• The supposition that the future resembles the past, is not founded on arguments of any kind, but is derived entirely from habit.

  David Hume

  Past, Words Of Wisdom, Kind

  David Hume (2015). “A Treatise of Human Nature: Top Philosophy Collections”, p.110, 谷月社

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• Never preach a sermon without a text from the Bible, a text containing the theme which you can elaborate. The text is the best proof in support of your argument. A sermon without a text is an argument without a proof.

  Isaac Mayer Wise

  Support, Proof, Theme

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• Whether or not you agree that trimming and cooking are likely to lead on to downright forgery, there is little to support the argument that trimming and cooking are less reprehensible and more forgivable. Whatever the rationalization is, in the last analysis one can no more than be a bit dishonest than one can be a little bit pregnant. Commit any of these three sins and your scientific career is in jeopardy and deserves to be.

  Charles Thomas Jackson

  Science, Careers, Support

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• We are told that the possession of nuclear weapons - in some cases even the testing of these weapons - is essential for national security. But this argument can be made by other countries as well.

  Joseph Rotblat

  Country, Essentials, Nuclear

  Joseph Rotblat, Daisaku Ikeda (2007). “A Quest for Global Peace: Rotblat and Ikeda on War, Ethics and the Nuclear Threat”, p.132, I.B.Tauris

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• We argue with our biology, and the result of that argument is civilization.

  Charles Siebert

  Civilization, Arguing, Biology

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• I have advocated postal reform for many years. The parliament said it was an absurd argument. The people have said it was the right thing.

  Junichiro Koizumi

  Years, People, Reform

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• When you can prove me wrong, then call me blind.

  Sophocles

  Blind, Call Me, Prove Me Wrong

  Sophocles (1951). “The Theban Plays: King Oedipus, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone”

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• When I read passages like this, I want to look for the nearest wall to bang my head against.

  S. T. Joshi

  Wall, Want, Bangs

  S. T. Joshi (2003). “The Weird Tale”, p.15, Wildside Press LLC

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• It is bad enough that so many people believe things without any evidence. What is worse is that some people have no conception of evidence and regard facts as just someone else's opinion.

  Thomas Sowell

  Believe, People, Self Improvement

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• Students of popular science... are always insisting that Christianity and Buddhism are very much alike, especially Buddhism. This is generally believed, and I believed it myself until I read a book giving the reasons for it.

  Gilbert K. Chesterton

  Book, Buddhism, Giving

  Gilbert K. Chesterton (2013). “The Essential Gilbert K. Chesterton”, p.97, Simon and Schuster

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• To those who think that the law of gravity interferes with their freedom, there is nothing to say.

  Lionel Tiger

  Thinking, Law, Gravity

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• People often find it easier to refute a fake extreme opponent than a more cautious real one, so they knock down the straw man instead. It is actually worth the trouble to identify the invalid forms of argument, and to learn their names. Not only can you then avoid them yourself; you can also identify them in opponents. If you call your opponent's errors by their Latin names, you can make it look as though he or she is suffering from a rare tropical disease.

  Madsen Pirie

  Real, Latin, Men

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• The number of arguments is unimportant unless some of them are correct.

  Ralph Hartley

  Numbers, Arguing, Unimportant

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• It is astonishing how articulate one can become when alone and raving at a radio. Arguments and counter arguments, rhetoric and bombast flow from one's lips like scurf from the hair of a bank manager.

  Stephen Fry

  Hair, Radio, Flow

  Stephen Fry (2010). “Paperweight”, p.62, Random House

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• I suppose it's unfair, tricks of argument that leave wounds, but with this sort of thing that (C.S.) Lewis does, what I feel is a craftsman's joy at the sight of a superior performance.

  Joy Davidman

  Sight, Joy, Doe

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• An aim of an argument should be progress, but progress ultimately means little without victory.

  Gary L. Francione

  Mean, Victory, Progress

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