Contentious Quotes

• Long stormy spring-time, wet contentious April, winter chilling the lap of very May; but at length the season of summer does come.

  Thomas Carlyle

  Summer, Nature, Spring

  Thomas Carlyle (2014). “The Selected Works of Thomas Carlyle”, p.73, Lulu.com

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• Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious. Great speech is impassioned, small speech cantankerous.

  Zhuangzi

  Wisdom, Speech, Petty

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• Give no answer to contentious arguments or irresponsible accusations. Let such things "fly out open windows" until they spend themselves.

  Stephen Covey

  Giving, Answers, Argument

  Stephen R. Covey (1992). “Principle Centered Leadership”, p.124, Simon and Schuster

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• Becoming a mom made me more contentious about expressing my true taste.

  Edie Brickell

  Mom, Taste, Becoming

  "Edie Brickell ready for 'Picture Perfect' comeback". www.today.com. December 31, 2003.

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• The world of American politics is more contentious than it has ever been in my lifetime.

  Chuck Palahniuk

  World, Lifetime, American Politics

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• The scrum and the tackle are the two really contentious areas of the game. If you get those two aspects right, most rugby matches will work in your favour.

  Alan Lewis

  Games, Two, Favour

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• Dare to contend without being contentious. Preserve the truth without hurting people. Love and be charitable.

  Aiden Wilson Tozer

  Hurt, People, Dare

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• One of the most fruitless, irritating wastes in the world is arguing-the contentious, endless kind of arguing that is akin to quarreling, and causes feuding in families and among friends, and leaves resentful feeling in homes, in hearts, in businesses and professions, and in all kinds of gatherings in public and private places, and in all relationships of life-and with so little that it ever seems to settle!

  Richard L. Evans

  Home, Heart, Feelings

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• You can't assume if you do something contentious that people will be on your side. The moment violence enters the story, the story changes. Then the question is, "How do you face up to violence?" And then you have to have a no-compromise position. And this is quite simply a lesson we learn in the school playground.

  Salman Rushdie

  School, Your Side, People

  Source: www.teachingbooks.net

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• Tolerance obviously requires a non-contentious manner of relating toward one another’s differences. But tolerance does not require abandoning one’s standards or one’s opinions on political or public policy choices. Tolerance is a way of reacting to diversity, not a command to insulate it from examination.

  Dallin H. Oaks

  Differences, Diversity, Choices

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• I mean, I went to a Catholic boys school for a year, but that was to play hockey. Religion class was quite contentious for me.

  Keanu Reeves

  Funny, School, Mean

  "Keanu Heads Down Under With 'Constantine'". Associated Press Interview, www.foxnews.com. February 19, 2005.

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• Politics in this country [USA] is always tough. It's always contentious, because this is a big country and a diverse country, and people have strong points of view, and we've got a great diversity of interests.

  Barack Obama

  Country, Strong, Views

  Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

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• Faithiest resonated with me in many ways-not only because, like Chris, I am a gay former-Christian atheist who still thinks of my religious neighbors as fellow truth-seekers-but also because I deeply appreciated the book's nuanced approach to contentious issues. This is an important contribution to current debates, one which should be read not only for its valuable content but also for its exemplary tone: warm, engaging, optimistic, and humble.

  John Corvino

  Christian, Religious, Atheist

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• When you take comprehensive, then we're dealing with certain issues like full citizenship ... And whatever else we disagree on, I think we would agree on that that's a more toxic and contentious issue, granting full amnesty.

  Herbert Spencer

  Thinking, Issues, Immigration

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• But to proceed in this reconciling project with regard to the question of liberty and necessity; the most contentious question of metaphysics, the most contentious science.

  David Hume

  Liberty, Free Will, Projects

  David Hume (2012). “An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding”, p.60, Courier Corporation

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• The Constitution empowers the people to resolve our day's most contentious issues. When judges forget this basic truth, they do a disservice to our democracy and to our constitution.

  Mike DeWine

  Issues, People, Judging

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

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• On dispersive ground, therefore, fight not. On facile ground, halt not. On contentious ground, attack not. On open ground, do not try to block the enemy's way. On the ground of intersecting highways, join hands with your allies. On serious ground, gather in plunder. In difficult ground, keep steadily on the march. On hemmed-in ground, resort to stratagem. On desperate ground, fight.

  Sun Tzu

  Art, Block, Military

  Sun Tzu (2012). “The Art of War (The Classic Lionel Giles Translation)”, p.29, e-artnow

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• What distinguishes exemplary boards is that they are robust, effective social systems . . .The highest performing companies have extremely contentious boards that regard dissent as an obligation and that treat no subject as undiscussable.

  Jeffrey Sonnenfeld

  Boards, Social, Robust

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• I don't even like playing a contentious role.

  Jim DeMint

  Roles

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• For whatever reason, we like to focus on the 2 percent that's different, and most of the conflict in the world comes from that.

  David Levithan

  Focus, Different, World

  David Levithan (2013). “Every Day”, p.51, Egmont UK

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• ...in the eyes of her oldest friends and colleagues and extended family, she wasn't a painfully thin seventy-five-year-old gray haired woman dying of cancer- she was a grade school class president, the young friend you gossiped with, a date or double date, someone to share a tent with in Darfur, a fellow election monitor in Bosnia, a mentor, a teacher you'd laughed within a classroom or a faculty lounge, or the board member you'd groaned with after a contentious meeting

  Will Schwalbe

  Teacher, Cancer, Eye

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• ...he was part of a family whether he wanted to be or not, the family of humanity, more often than not a frustrating and contentious clan, flawed and often deeply confused, but also periodically noble and admirable, with a common destiny that every member shared.

  Dean Koontz

  Confused, Destiny, Humanity

  Dean Koontz (2007). “Winter Moon: A Novel”, p.169, Bantam

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• The good news is you can get a lot of information off the Internet for free and in a hurry. But I think the breaking up of the media, which is otherwise kind of healthy, has contributed to less actual reporting and a louder, more contentious, more divisive public discourse, highlighting conflict, sometimes falsely.

  William J. Clinton

  Thinking, Media, Healthy

  "Bill Clinton: Someone We Can All Agree On". Interview with Charles P. Pierce and Mark Warren, www.esquire.com. January 18, 2012.

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• This is a perfect example of the power and ridiculousness of a website like Wikipedia. I did give a slightly contentious graduation speech, where I decided not to be funny as my classmates had hoped, which was why I was chosen. I was not valedictorian, that's for sure. Instead, I talked about the failure to communicate between the administration and the teachers and students. That's what was contentious about it. At some point, somebody wrote about that incident on my Wikipedia page. And then somebody added the bit about me exposing my genitals to the crowd.

  Nick Kroll

  Teacher, Giving, Perfect

  Source: www.esquire.com

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• Condoleezza Rice was confirmed by a vote of 85, 13, despite a contentious but futile protest vote by democrats. By the way, for a fun second term drinking game, chug a beer every time you hear the phrase 'contentious but futile protest vote by democrats.' By the time Jeb Bush is elected, you'll be so wasted you won't even notice the war in Syria.

  Jon Stewart

  Fun, War, Drinking

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