Unproductive Debate Quotes

Don't wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty and the pig likes it.

You should never argue with a crazy mind, you ought to know my now.

Vilifying members of other political parties is a puerile exercise.

The personal things should be left out of platforms at conventions. You can argue yourself blue in the face, and you're not going to change each other's minds. It's a waste of your time and my time.

There are all kinds of stupid people that annoy me but what annoys me most is a lazy argument.

The peers just fill the air with their speeches.""And from what I've seen, vice versa.

The only thing worse than being on the wrong side of an argument is to be on the right side with no one listening.

Contend not in wisdom with a fool, for thy sense maketh much of his conceit; And some errors never would have thriven, had it not been for learned refutation.

It's hard to argue with someone that won't argue with you.

Controversy is what mediocre people start because they can't communicate anything meaningful.

do not engage in any paper wars. You will convince nobody and arrive at no satisfaction yourself.

I actually tried replying to what I thought were some unfair comments on the Internet once or twice, and I never heard back. What seems to happen with some people is they're very much interested in voicing their own opinions, but not in having them challenged.

Our friend, Mr Hume, made a most violent speech at a dinner … last week. He called Sir R. Peel and some other Tories "the cloven foot," which I think rather strong. I think that great violence and striving such a pity, on both sides … They irritate one another so uselessly by calling one another fools, blockheads, liars, and so forth for no purpose. I think violence so bad in everything.

I thank the Prime Minister for his remarks about me. Debating with him at the Dispatch Box has been exciting, fascinating, fun, an enormous challenge and, from my point of view, wholly unproductive in every sense. I am told that in my time at the Dispatch Box I have asked the Prime Minister 1,118 direct questions, but no one has counted the direct answers-it may not take long.

I have a hard time arguing with stupid people.