When a thing is said to be not worth refuting you may be sure that either it is flagrantly stupid read more

When a thing is said to be not worth refuting you may be sure that either it is flagrantly stupid -- in which case all comment is superfluous -- or it is something formidable, the very crux of the problem.

No matter what side of the argument you are on, you always find people on your side that you wish read more

No matter what side of the argument you are on, you always find people on your side that you wish were on the other.

I always admired Mrs. Grote's saying that politics and theology
were the only two really great subjects.

I always admired Mrs. Grote's saying that politics and theology
were the only two really great subjects.

Any fact is better established by two or three good testimonies than by a thousand arguments.

Any fact is better established by two or three good testimonies than by a thousand arguments.

The purely agitation attitude is not good enough for a detailed consideration of a subject.

The purely agitation attitude is not good enough for a detailed consideration of a subject.

I am bound to furnish my antagonists with arguments, but not with
comprehension.

I am bound to furnish my antagonists with arguments, but not with
comprehension.

It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in an argument.

It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in an argument.

Reproachful speech from either side
The want of argument supplied;
They rail, reviled; as often ends
read more

Reproachful speech from either side
The want of argument supplied;
They rail, reviled; as often ends
The contests of disputing friends.

Nay, if he take you in hand, sir, with an argument,
He'll bray you in a mortar.

Nay, if he take you in hand, sir, with an argument,
He'll bray you in a mortar.