Unproductive Discourse Quotes

The attitude of the Senate toward public affairs makes all serious negotiations impossible.

Politicians today are not highly regarded... there seem to be people young and old and in the middle saying that they have never heard such wretched debates.

The haters want to hate. They want to talk about this and talk about that. We don't even acknowledge it.

And 'tis remarkable that they talk most who have the least to say.

It's when people come at you on Twitter and say really crazy things. That's the kind of stuff that I insulate myself from. All of that is not very interesting or helpful, but we have critics who sometimes really love us or sometimes don't, and it's really interesting for me to see what they don't like about it.

If a person can be said to have the wrong attitude, there is no need to pay attention to his arguments.

I don't believe in mud slinging. I don't think it does any good.

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.

In Congress, that putatively deliberative body, debates devolve into stand-offs between sets of talking points — no different than the hammed-up exchanges between cable-news commentators, but with even worse ratings.