Debate Quotes - Page 24

• Now a great debate has been born. The thesis is Democratic Socialism. The antithesis is free-market capitalism. The Obama Democrats have posed the challenge. It is now up to the Republicans to pick it up and fight along these lines.

  Dick Morris

  Fighting, Democratic Socialism, Challenges

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• In human affairs, no single person, organisation or social formation ever has a final or an absolutely correct position. It is through conversation, debate and critical discussion that we approach positions that may provide workable solutions.

  Nelson Mandela

  Finals, May, Affair

  Nelson Mandela (2011). “Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations”, p.356, Pan Macmillan

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• Which is ideology? Which not? You shall know them by their assertion of truth, their contempt for considered reflection, and their fear of debate.

  John Ralston Saul

  Reflection, Contempt, Ideology

  John Ralston Saul (2012). “The Doubter's Companion: A Dictionary of Aggressive Common Sense”, p.170, Simon and Schuster

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• Since Khomeini's death, the popular appeal of an Islamic state - and of fundamentalism - has surely dimmed. Thinkers still debate and warriors kill, but no country seems prepared to emulate Iran. Perhaps revolutions happen only under majestic leaders, and no one like Khomeini has since appeared.

  Ruhollah Khomeini

  Country, Islamic, Warrior

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• The extreme positions of the Crossfire Syndrome require extreme simplification - framing the debate in terms which ignore the real issues.

  Michael Crichton

  Real, Issues, Syndromes

  "Mediasaurus: the Decline of Conventional Media". Speech at the National Press Club, Washington D.C., April 07, 1993.

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• A good argument diluted to avoid criticism is not nearly as good as the undiluted argument, because we best arrive at truth through a process of honest and vigorous debate. Arguments should not sneak around in disguise, as if dissent were somehow sinister... For it is bravery that is required to secure freedom.

  Clarence Thomas

  Courage, Truth, Justice

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• I despair of persuading people to drop the familiar and comforting tactic of dichotomy. Perhaps, instead, we might expand the framework of debates by seeking other dichotomies more appropriate than, or simply different from, the conventional divisions. All dichotomies are simplifications, but the rendition of a conflict along differing axes of several orthogonal dichotomies might provide an amplitude of proper intellectual space without forcing us to forgo our most comforting tool of thought.

  Stephen Jay Gould

  Axes, Space, People

  "Time's Arrow, Time's Cycle: Myth and Metaphor in the Discovery of Geological Time". Book by Stephen Jay Gould, p. 8, 1987.

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• There is a limitation on debate, which is unlike other bills, for 20 hours, but there is no limitation on amendments. In other words, Republicans if they wanted to, and I suspect they do, could offer literally thousands of amendments and keep Senate in session for weeks and months.

  Rick Santorum

  Bills, Months, Republican

  "Santorum's Health Care Stall Tactic: 'Offer Literally Thousands of Amendments' to Keep Senate in Session for Months". www.mediamatters.org. February 27, 2010.

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• I find Chinese debates about their political system domestically, but also about China's claims in the international system, to be among the most original and surprising and exciting of our time. The starting point is a system that none of us had anticipated, which I call Leninist capitalism, but also obviously because it is the most important emerging power. The question of China's relations with the United States in particular, and the rest of the world in general, is the question of war and peace in the 21st century.

  Timothy Garton Ash

  War, Political, Chinese

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• The not-visibly-insane Democrats all claim they'll get rough with the terrorists, but they can't even face Brit Hume. In case you missed this profile in Democrat machismo, the Democratic presidential candidates are refusing to participate in a debate hosted by Fox News Channel because the hosts are "biased." But they'll face down Mahmoud Ahmadinejad! At this, even Hillary Clinton was thinking, "Come on, guys - let's grow a pair."

  Ann Coulter

  Thinking, Guy, Presidential

  "No Wonder They're Afraid of Brit Hume" by Ann Coulter, townhall.com. May 3, 2007.

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• You know, when I was in college, there was a big debate: Do unions raise wages? Well, with regard to industrial unions, there were arguments back and forth -- international competition. It is now clear, I think, that whether or not you think unions raised wages 50 years ago, the absence of unions and their weakness that is inflicted by anti-union public policy depresses wages. The fact is that people who are not represented, in the service industries in particular, are the victims of policies which depress their wages.

  Barney Frank

  Depressing, College, Thinking

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• My voice is still for war. Gods! can a Roman senate long debate Which of the two to choose, slavery or death?

  Joseph Addison

  War, Two, Voice

  Joseph Addison, Henry George Bohn, Richard Hurd (1856). “The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison: Poems on several occasions. Poemata. Dialogues upon the usefulness of ancient medals, especially in relation to the Latin and Greek poets. Remarks on several parts of Italy, in the years 1701, 1702, 1703”, p.187

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• The noble lord is the Rupert of debate.

  Benjamin Disraeli

  Noble, Lord, Nobility

  'Hansard' 24 April 1844 (referring to Lord Stanley).

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• I make it a policy every election to only debate once, Democrats and Progressives. And I will say that the way that you have acted, very candidly, has been dishonorable in this entire campaign.

  Matt Shea

  Inspiring, Insightful, Insane

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• In our discussions here at the forum there was no trace of the futile debate about what is better, capitalism or socialism...We should seek a synthesis of ideas and values that have proven their viability.

  Mikhail Gorbachev

  Government, Ideas, Synthesis

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• The basis of the First Amendment is the hypothesis that speech can rebut speech, propaganda will answer propaganda, free debate of ideas will result in the wisest governmental policies.

  Fred M. Vinson

  Government, Ideas, Firsts

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• He who defines the terms, controls the debate.

  Mike Evans

  Israel, Term

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• I think church and state should remain entirely separate at all costs, and that the decision of religious marriage should be of each faith to debate and decide free of political influence.

  Adam Rickitt

  Faith, Religious, Thinking

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• Today the people from my State of Tennessee would listen to this debate, or even talk about a reference to God on our money or in the Halls of Congress or in our Pledge and say, please, let common sense and logic win the day and prevail versus legal mumbo jumbo.

  Zach Wamp

  Money, Winning, People

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• It is time... to end the long-standing and unproductive methodological debate over 'originalism' versus 'dynamism' or 'evolution' and focus instead on how, as a substantive matter, we should interpret the Constitution in the twenty-first century, and what it has to say on questions unimaginable to our eighteenth-century Framers.

  Diane Wood

  Time, Long, Focus

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• No more fatuous chimera has ever infested the brain than that you can control opinions by law or direct belief by statute, and no more pernicious sentiment ever tormented the heart than the barbarous desire to do so. The field of inquiry should remain open, and the right of debate must be regarded as a sacred right.

  William Borah

  Heart, Law, Brain

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• Profound insights arise only in debate, with a possibility of counterargument, only when there is a possibility of expressing not only correct ideas but also dubious ideas.

  Andrei Sakharov

  Wisdom, Ideas, Profound

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• Afterward, there was some debate as to whether we'd actually "done it properly," which gives you some idea of the awesome skill and artful dexterity of my lovemaking technique.

  David Nicholls

  Skills, Ideas, Giving

  David Nicholls (2004). “A Question of Attraction: A Novel”, p.83, Villard

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• American power in the world relies on these ideals of openness and critical debate.

  Joseph Nye

  World, Openness, American Power

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• The debate we won't be having is whether or not the debt ceiling should be raised. We will not have a situation where people will hold the American economy hostage in order to achieve a specific agenda - at least not until 2013. So we think that is incredibly important as a matter of economic good.

  Jay Carney

  Thinking, Order, People

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