Top Debate Quotes

Belief is a wonderful way to pass the time until the facts come in.

It is always healthy to be honest.

Debate Definition

(v. t.) To engage in combat for; to strive for.

(v. t.) To contend for in words or arguments; to strive to maintain by reasoning; to dispute; to contest; to discuss; to argue for and against.

(v. i.) To engage in strife or combat; to fight.

(v. i.) To contend in words; to dispute; hence, to deliberate; to consider; to discuss or examine different arguments in the mind; -- often followed by on or upon.

(v. t.) A fight or fighting; contest; strife.

(v. t.) Contention in words or arguments; discussion for the purpose of elucidating truth or influencing action; strife in argument; controversy; as, the debates in Parliament or in Congress.

(v. t.) Subject of discussion.

Whenever they are condemning weaves or breast implants, some people speak so passionately that their false teeth almost fall out.

Speak with caution. Even if someone forgives harsh words you've spoken, they may be too hurt to ever forget them. Don't leave a legacy of pain and regret of things you never should have said.

We seldom learn much from someone with whom we agree.

Does giving your piece of mind, bring a peace of mind? Or is it better to be silent and let the war inside subside?

Let's say that the consensus is that our species, being the higher primates, Homo Sapiens, has been on the planet for at least 100,000 years, maybe more. Francis Collins says maybe 100,000. Richard Da...

And I wonder, therefore, how James Atlas can have been so indulgent in his recent essay ‘The Changing World of New York Intellectuals.’ This rather shallow piece appeared in the magazine, and took us...

n order to capture someone's attention, you must allow them to have the mental and emotional space to let you in.

Some readers may have noticed an icy little missive from Noam Chomsky ["Letters," December 3], repudiating the very idea that he and I had disagreed on the "roots" of September 11. I rush to agree. He...

Don't fight to be right, but fight when you are right.

So I close this long reflection on what I hope is a not-too-quaveringly semi-Semitic note. When I am at home, I will only enter a synagogue for the or of a friend's child, or in order to have a deba...

We usually learn from debates that we seldom learn from debates.

Let's say that the consensus is that our species, being the higher primates, Homo Sapiens, has been on the planet for at least 100,000 years, maybe more. Francis Collins says maybe 100,000. Richard Da...

The real purpose of the opposition is to minimize the amount of money the ruling party will have stolen from the people at the end of its term.

I don't often agree with me either; there's much, in fact, with which I disagree. But that's probably because I'm so dashed ingenious that I haven't a clue what I'm saying.

When I find that stubbornness continually overrides common sense regardless of the logic of my argument, it seems that the only effective solution is to tell them to go ahead and stick their finger in...

There is nothing sexier than sword fight.

Knowing what to say is sense, when to say it is intelligence, how to say it is wisdom, why and how to say it is enlightenment.

Religion should be subject to commonsense appraisal and rational review, as openly discussible as, say, politics, art and the weather. The First Amendment, we should recall, forbids Congress both from...