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.

He'd undertake to prove, by force
Of argument, a man's no horse.
He'd prove a buzzard is read more

He'd undertake to prove, by force
Of argument, a man's no horse.
He'd prove a buzzard is no fowl,
And that a Lord may be an owl,
A calf an Alderman, a goose a Justice,
And rooks, Committee-men or Trustees.

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.

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

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

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.

The brilliant chief, irregularly great,
Frank, haughty, rash--the Rupert of debate.

The brilliant chief, irregularly great,
Frank, haughty, rash--the Rupert of debate.

It is more noble by silence to avoid an injury than by argument to overcome it.

It is more noble by silence to avoid an injury than by argument to overcome it.

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.

Nothing requires a greater effort of thought than arguments to justify the rule of non-thought.

Nothing requires a greater effort of thought than arguments to justify the rule of non-thought.