How many a dispute could have been deflated¹ into a single paragraph if the disputants had dared to define their terms.

Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)

The Argument from Intimidation² is a confession³ of intellectual impotence.

Ayn Rand (1905 - 1982), The Virtue⁴ of Selfishness, 1964

My parents only had one argument in forty-five years. It lasted forty-three years.

Cathy Ladman

He who strikes the first blow admits he's lost the argument.

Chinese Proverb

I can win an argument on any topic, against any opponent. People know this, and steer⁵ clear of me at parties. Often, as a sign of their great respect, they don't even invite me.

Dave Barry (1947 - )

Use soft words and hard arguments.

English Proverb

The most perfidious⁶ way of harming a cause consists of defending it deliberately⁷ with faulty arguments.

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900), The Gay Science, section 191

The thing I hate about an argument is that it always interrupts a discussion.

G. K. Chesterton (1874 - 1936)

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

Jascha Heifetz (1901 - 1987)

That's the beauty of argument-if you argue correctly, you're never wrong.

Jason Reitman and Christopher Buckly, Thank You for Smoking, 2006

If you go in for argument, take care of your temper. Your logic⁸, if you have any, will take care of itself.

Joseph Farrell

Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute.

Josh Billings (1818 - 1885)

Behind every argument is someone's ignorance.

Louis D. Brandeis (1856 - 1941)

Arguments are to be avoided; they are always vulgar and often convincing.

Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)

It is not necessary to understand things in order to argue about them.

Pierre Beaumarchais (1732 - 1799)

In a heated argument we are apt to lose sight of the truth.

Publilius Syrus (~100 BC)

The argument is at an end.

Saint Augustine (354 AD - 430 AD)

I learned an important lesson in the art of debate. Present your argument clearly, arm yourself with cutting wit and of course, bob and weave!

Takayuki Ikkaku, Arisa Hosaka and Toshihiro Kawabata, Animal Crossing: Wild World, 2005

It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument.

William G. McAdoo (1863 - 1941)

With reasonable men I will reason; with humane⁹ men I will plea; but to tyrants¹⁰ I will give no quarter, nor waste arguments where they will certainly be lost.

William Lloyd Garrison¹¹ (1805 - 1879)

For they are yet ear-kissing arguments.

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)