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.

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.

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.

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.

His conduct still right with his argument wrong.

His conduct still right with his argument wrong.

He who establishes his argument by noise and command shows that his reason is weak.

He who establishes his argument by noise and command shows that his reason is weak.

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.

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.

And there begins a lang digression
About the lords o' the creation.

And there begins a lang digression
About the lords o' the creation.