Argument Strength Quotes

The truth is always the strongest argument.

When (an advocate) is not thoroughly acquainted with the real strength and weakness of his cause, he knows not where to choose the most impressive argument. When the mark is shrouded in obscurity, the only substitute for accuracy in the aim is in the multitude of the shafts.

Orators are most vehement when they have the weakest cause, as men get on horseback when they cannot walk.

We cannot be so scared that our ideas or opinions will not survive being tested. If you are afraid of being wrong, then you might not have a good argument.

The terminology of philosophical art is coercive: arguments are powerful and best when they are knockdown, arguments force you to a conclusion, if you believe the premisses you have to or must believe the conclusion, some arguments do not carry much punch, and so forth. A philosophical argument is an attempt to get someone to believe something, whether he wants to beleive it or not. A successful philosophical argument, a strong argument, forces someone to a belief.

If he who employs coercion against me could mould me to his purposes by argument, no doubt he would. He pretends to punish me because his argument is strong; but he really punishes me because his argument is weak.

If you want me to treat your ideas with more respect, get some better ideas.

Nothing is more certain than much of the force; as well as grace, of arguments or instructions depends their conciseness.

The bucolic mind of East Barsetshire took warm delight in the eloquence of the eminent personage who represented them, but was wont to extract more actual enjoyment from the music of his periods than from the strength of his arguments.

What convinces is conviction. Believe in the argument you're advancing. If you don't you're as good as dead. The other person will sense that something isn't there, and no chain of reasoning, no matter how logical or elegant or brilliant, will win your case for you.

The truth is always the strongest argument.

You can do the best research and be making the strongest intellectual argument, but if readers don't get past the third paragraph you've wasted your energy and valuable ink.

I hate to see the entire issue decided on as narrow a base, but ... the size of the vote is more important than the arguments that are made.

In exposition and in argument, the writer must likewise never lose his hold upon the concrete; and even when he is dealing with general principles, he must furnish particular instances of their application.

Academics don't normally manage to alter people's way of thinking through their strength of argument.

The weight of an argument may often be multiplied by making it specific

If you need to invoke your academic pedigree or job title for people to believe what you say, then you need a better argument.

An idle reason lessens the weight of the good ones you gave before.

I want my arguments to be good arguments on the basis of what I actually have to say.