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.

Where we desire to be informed 'tis good to contest with men
above ourselves; but to confirm and establish read more

Where we desire to be informed 'tis good to contest with men
above ourselves; but to confirm and establish our opinions, 'tis
best to argue with judgments below our own, that the frequent
spoils and victories over their reasons may settle in ourselves
an esteem and confirmed opinion of our own.

If you can't answer a man's arguments, all is not lost; you can still call him vile names.

If you can't answer a man's arguments, all is not lost; you can still call him vile names.

In arguing one should meet serious pleading with humor, and humor
with serious pleading.

In arguing one should meet serious pleading with humor, and humor
with serious pleading.

The sounder your argument, the more satisfaction you get out of it.

The sounder your argument, the more satisfaction you get out of it.

In arguing, too, the parson own'd his skill,
For even though vanquished he could argue still.

In arguing, too, the parson own'd his skill,
For even though vanquished he could argue still.

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.

To strive with an equal is dangerous; with a superior, mad; with an inferior, degrading.

To strive with an equal is dangerous; with a superior, mad; with an inferior, degrading.

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.