The secular argument, or the liberal argument, is to as much as possible remove taboos so things do not become unmentionable; to let some air into the discussion.
Christopher Hitchens
Related The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress. JOSEPH JOUBERT The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress. JOSEPH JOUBERT So, my argument is that as we become more and more scientifically literate, it DOUGLAS ADAMS I have, as it were, constructed a lay-figure for the purposes of a demonstration which I desired to ... SIGMUND FREUD Nothing is ever as good or as bad as it appears to be. JEFFREY FRY To make the argument that the media has a left- or right-wing, or a liberal or a conservative bias, ... AL FRANKEN Because we feel there was a good-faith argument to make that the statute as written was constitution... DAN MULLEN Friendship is a double-edged sword one side it can be great and true but the other side it spells be... GARY F EVANS... I'd rather lose an argument than get into a long discussion in order to win it. RAFAEL NADAL Everyone always says how I'm so smart, but they don't know what it's like being me. always feeling l... SUSANE COLASANTI The strangest thing about the low quality of Internet argument is that effective argument isn't ... BARRY EISLER The thing I hate about an argument is that it always interrupts a discussion. G. K. CHESTERTON The thing I hate about an argument is that it always interrupts a discussion. G.K. CHESTERTON Horror as for me is the best choice, you can gain a lot of. I like to be afraid like to see this shi... DEYTH BANGER What we are communicates far more eloquently than anything we say or do. There are people we trust b... STEPHEN R. COVEY The modern definition of 'racist' is someone who is winning an argument with a liberal. PETER BRIMELOW The modern definition of "racist" is "someone who is winning an argument with a liberal PETER BRIMELOW Each day I will accomplish one thing on my to do list. LAILAH GIFTY AKITA 'The Creation' presents an argument for saving biological diversity on Earth. Most of the bo... E. O. WILSON Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; argument is an exchange of ignorance ROBERT QUILLEN Let private enterprise do as much of it as possible and keep as much property on the tax rolls as po... RUSTY DEPASS Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; an argument an exchange of ignorance. ROBERT QUILLEN It's not about taking away rights from gays and lesbians as much as it is denying the best opportuni... CHUCK BOWEN Try to find someone with a sense of humor. That's an important thing to have because when you ge... ED SHEERAN Bigot-A person who wins an argument with a liberal RUSH LIMBAUGH They weren't making much sense; she decided they were having an argument as old and comfortable as a... NEIL GAIMAN If you love someone you must set them free like the wind and give them the respect they deserve.If y... GARY F EVANS... This practice of relying on the justice listening to a tape of the argument is good, but not the sam... ERIC MULTHAUP Congratulations, to the people which made gotham series, still need some more and extra work! DEYTH BANGER To have the cognitive abilities to do research and development is vital to a forever expanding world... GARY F EVANS... The first and foremost human right or fundamental right is the right to exist. APURVA GAGLANI If we ever put research into what the subconscious is we could probably come to the conclusion that ... GARY F EVANS... i know im not the girl you wanted. not the one you want to hear from. but what you see is what you g... SIMI GREWAL until we do what has not yet been done, what has not been done shall remain undone ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH Some folks hate to lose an argument even when the issue is not very important. THEE AMAZING GRACE Don't you ever get the feeling that all your life is going by and you're not taking advantage of it?... ERNEST HEMINGWAY That's SHIT! How do you remove it? You just put it inside the trash, easy as that. DEYTH BANGER His lectures were always well attended, and not just because he imparted so much wisdom and knowledg... JEFFREY ARCHER The love you get, is equal to the love you give. BEN OAK Without anything being said, there were no women at our lunches. Not that we were talking pussy. Or ... CRAIG BROWN ...to experience a furious disillusionment with ‘conventional’ politics, a bit young to be so cy... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Beware the irrational, however seductive. Shun the ‘transcendent’ and all who invite you to subo... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS They were having an argument as old and comfortable as an armchair, the kind of argument that no one... NEIL GAIMAN I explain this not for publicity, nor seeking to win an argument of right or wrong, I explain so tha... TIMOTHY MCVEIGH One particularly poor argument in defence of eating meat is that if humans did not eat animals, thos... DAVID BENATAR The key to holding a logical argument or debate is to allow oneself to understand the other person�... OSCAR AULIQ-ICE The key to holding a logical argument or debate is to allow oneself to understand the other person�... AULIQ ICE The basic argument is that after an outstanding year for industry orders in 2005, 2006 is not going ... NICK CUNNINGHAM Non-essential travel will be ended, idling of vehicles will be limited as much as possible and air c... CHARLES MEEKER I think the best thing in cases of censorship or things like this is to get as much media as possibl... KATHY ACKER So for me the approach has become to go into a story not really sure of what I want to say, try to f... GEORGE SAUNDERS The quest of the Inner Ring will break your hearts unless you break it. But if you break it, a surpr... C.S. LEWIS To be, or not to be, that is the question. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE You can never protect yourself 100%. What you do is protect yourself as much as possible and mitigat... KEVIN MITNICK Argument is meant to reveal the truth, not to create it. EDWARD DE BONO The saying sell all your belongings & give to the poor simply means "Redirect your mind to the verit... DAVID ATTA (A.K.A DAVIED ATTLARS & MR DAIN) Life can only be understood looking backward. It must be lived forward. ERIC ROTH You're afraid of getting hurt like I'm afraid to die. It doesn't mean I'm not going to live every da... VI KEELAND Wesley Rush doesn't chase girls, but I'm chasing you. KODY KEPLINGER I turn and kick with the first one and feel myself being lifted and thrown towards the beach. It's l... MARK SMITH What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough ... DOUGLAS ADAMS One of the things Ford Prefect had always found hardest to understand about humans was their habit o... DOUGLAS ADAMS I try and mention it as much as possible when I'm on the air. CARSON DALY Australia is in a great position to take a human rights lead in this region and to make the argument... LEX LASRY I think the conference is as strong, if not stronger, than last year. Could an argument [for five NC... MARK TRAKH I prefer leaving things to the market as much as possible. DOROTHY DENNING One must simply take the days of their lives as they happen. If you spend time worrying over what is... R.J. GONZALES I don't spend a lot of time asking "WHY?" Instead I focus on what I should do now or how I should re... JEFF DIXON-THE KEY TO THE KINGDOM The secret of happiness is this: let your interests be as wide as possible, and let your reactions t... BERTRAND RUSSELL Its a chicken-and-egg argument as to which comes first. JOE GILL There is only one way to defeat the enemy, and that is to write as well as one can. The best argum... SAUL BELLOW There is only one way to defeat the enemy, and that is to write as well as one can. The best argumen... SAUL BELLOW I got into an argument with my original publisher. They wanted me to do 'Kitty' and nothing ... CARRIE VAUGHN Argument, as usually managed, is the worst sort of conversation, as in books it is generally the wor... JONATHAN SWIFT As much as any secular atheist or new ager wants to claim how wonderfully loving humans are, and how... JUSTIN STECKBAUER ...the argument for liberty is not an argument against organization, which is one of the most powerf... F.A. HAYEK Their ideological argument that government shouldn't do anything the private sector does makes about... ADINA LEVIN You can't talk about peace nor agreement while terror is used as the main argument, ALBERTO FUJIMORI The God excuse, the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument. GEORGE CARLIN This is an interesting twist on an argument that the Air Force has been pursuing for some time on th... LOREN THOMPSON It's the longest argument I've ever heard. It's a filibuster. As long as he is talking, I can't talk... RICHARD WRIGHT The argument of the broken window pane is the most valuable argument in modern politics. EMMELINE PANKHURST Don't raise your voice, improve your argument." [Address at the Nelson Mandela Foundat... DESMOND TUTU Anything that is exclusive will be accused of elitism; living one’s dreams will be called pretenti... FENNEL HUDSON Your "Not To Do" list is also important. MANI S. SIVASUBRAMANIAN The secret of happiness is very simply this: let your interests be as wide as possible, and let your... BERTRAND RUSSELL And if you can’t shape your life the way you want, at least try as much as you can not to degrade ... CONSTANTINOS P. CAVAFIS One of the things I try to do - and I always regret when I'm not doing it - is I try to read as ... ALEXANDRA PETRI A successful argument for a government manufacturing policy has to go beyond the feeling that it'... CHRISTINA ROMER Neither irony or sarcasm is argument. SAMUEL BUTLER Neither irony or sarcasm is argument. RUFUS CHOATE The argument that someone is a bad man is an inadequate argument for war and certainly an inadequate... JOHN MAJOR There is little you can do about the wild birds, especially the migratory ones, it's very difficult ... ALBERT OSTERHAUS A moral argument about whether censorship is good or bad deteriorates quickly into accusations about... REBECCA MACKINNON He who desires to become rich, wishes to become so as quickly as
possible. UNKNOWN This is too much reality for a Friday. AS GOOD AS IT GETS To be or not to be. That's not really a question. JEAN-LUC GODARD You're not going to become a great manager overnight. You're not going to become a great pub... DREW HOUSTON The argument about zoning and the presidency of Nigeria is like the philosophical argument of the eg... GOODLUCK JONATHAN Some people would rather lose the relationship than the argument. MICHAEL LIPSEY
More Christopher Hitchens
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They don... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS The one unforgivable sin is to be boring CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS To describe this film as a piece of crap would be to run the risk of a discourse that would never ag... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Terrorism is the tactic of demanding the impossible, and demanding it at gunpoint. CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS I'm not particularly a feminist, but if you get women off the animal cycle of reproduction and g... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS A faction willing to take the risks of making war on the ossified status quo in the Middle East can ... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS It would be nice to think that the menacing aspects of North Korea were for display also, that the b... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS It is notorious that the news of the Emancipation Proclamation was kept from the people of Texas and... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS George Bush made a mistake when he referred to the Saddam Hussein regime as 'evil.' Every li... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS The worst days are when you feel foggy in the head - chemo-brain they call it. It's awful becaus... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS I sometimes wish I were suffering in a good cause, or risking my life for the good of others, instea... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS My father had died, and very swiftly, too, of cancer of the esophagus. He was 79. I am 61. In whatev... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Well, to the people who pray for me to not only have an agonising death, but then be reborn to have ... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS I took part in what was actually the last eruption of Marxist internationalism. CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS As I never tire of saying, heat is not the antithesis of light but rather the source of it. CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS British diplomats and Anglo-American types in Washington have a near-superstitious prohibition on ut... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Attempts to locate oneself within history are as natural, and as absurd, as attempts to locate onese... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Though he never actually joined it, he was close to some civilian elements of the Democratic Front f... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Every November of my boyhood, we put on red poppies and attended highly patriotic services in rememb... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS The Islamists will try to spoil everything for everyone. CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS She's got no charisma of any kind [but] I can imagine her being mildly useful to a low-rank porn dir... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS One has children in the expectation of dying before them. In fact, you want to make damn sure you di... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS I have nowhere claimed nor even implied that unbelief is a guarantee of good conduct or even an indi... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Now, I have always wanted to agree with Lady Bracknell that there is no earthly use for the upper an... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS There can be no progress without head-on confrontation. CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS I vote and I do jury duty. CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS The search for Nirvana, like the search for Utopia or the end of history or the classless society, i... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS The Koran shows every sign of being thrown together by human beings, as do all the other holy books. CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS I want to give just a slight indication of the influence the book has had. I knew that CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS The human wish to credit good things as miraculous and to charge bad things to another account is ap... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS At least two important conservative thinkers, Ayn Rand and Leo Strauss, were unbelievers or nonbelie... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS My children, to the extent that they have found religion, have found it from me, in that I insist on... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS There is a noticeable element of the pathological in some current leftist critiques, which I tend to... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Reading his autobiography many years later, I was astonished to find that Edward since boyhood had�... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS I still think like a Marxist in many ways. CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS I think the materialist conception of history is valid. CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS A terrible thing has now happened to religion. Except in the places where it can still enforce itsel... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS In this way he will draw men to him by the strong cords of their passions, made reason-proof by bein... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS The many instances of forged miracles, and prophecies, and supernatural events, which, in all ages, ... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Religion, then, partakes of equal elements of the canine and the feline. It exacts maximum servility... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Civilization has little to fear from educated people and brain-workers. CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS I have often wondered, that persons who make a boast of professing the Christian religion, namely, l... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS only while under the dominion of fear do men fall a prey to superstition; that all the portents ever... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Thus it is brought prominently before us, that superstition’s chief victims are those persons who ... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS All religions must, at their core, look forward to the end of this world and to the longed-for momen... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS A saving grace of the human condition (if I may phrase it like that) is a sense of humor. Many write... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Finally, I want to come to the question of sex. If anything proves that religion is not just man-mad... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS The pre-history of our species is hag-ridden with episodes of nightmarish ignorance and calamity, fo... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS It is certain, that, in every religion, however sublime the verbal definition which it gives of its ... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Believing then … that human life is actually worth living, one can combat one’s natural pessimis... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS In January 1821, Thomas Jefferson wrote John Adams to “encourage a hope that the human mind will s... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS But there is a reason why religions insist so much on strange events in the sky, as well as on less ... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS How sad to be a woman—not to know Aught of the glory of this breast of snow, All unconcerned to co... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Arguments for atheism can be divided into two main categories: those that dispute the existence of g... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS If we stay with animal analogies for a moment, owners of dogs will have noticed that, if you provide... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS The basis of irreligious criticism is: Man makes religion, religion does not make man. In other word... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS To be charitable, one may admit that the religious often seem unaware of how insulting their main pr... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Religion invents a problem where none exists by describing the wicked as also made in the image of g... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS The only position that leaves me with no cognitive dissonance is atheism. It is not a creed. Death i... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS There are, after all, atheists who say they wish the fable were true but are unable to suspend the r... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS [R]eligion was the race's first (and worst) attempt to make sense of reality. It was the best the sp... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS I have met some highly intelligent believers, but history has no record to say that [s]he knew or un... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS The Bible may, indeed does, contain a warrant for trafficking in humans, for ethnic cleansing, for s... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Our belief is not a belief. Our principles are not a faith. We do not rely soley upon science and re... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS [E]xceptional claims demand exceptional evidence. CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS I could not do what I do, and teach a class, and never miss a deadline, never be late for anything i... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS In Sarajevo in 1992, while being shown around the starved, bombarded city by the incomparable John B... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS So, whenever the subject of Iraq came up, as it did keep on doing through the Clinton years, I had n... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Remaining for a moment with the question of legality and illegality: United Nations Security Council... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS There's a certain amount of ambiguity in my background, what with intermarriages and conversions, bu... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS One of the questions asked by al-Balkhi, and often repeated to this day, is this: Why do the childre... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS All questions of right to one side, I have never been able to banish the queasy inner suspicion that... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS I have always found it quaint and rather touching that there is a movement [Libertarians] in the US ... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS I find something repulsive about the idea of vicarious redemption. I would not throw my numberless s... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS If you were offered the chance to live your own life again, would you seize the opportunity? The onl... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS The quality you most admire in a man? Courage moral and physical: 'anima'—the ability to th... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS I had real plans for my next decade and felt I'd worked hard enough to earn it. Will I really no... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS People spoke to foreigners with an averted gaze, and everybody seemed to know somebody who had just ... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Religions and states and classes and tribes and nations do not have to work or argue for their adher... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS [Said during a debate when his opponent asserted that atheism and belief in evolution lead to Naz... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS The great thing about the United States and the historically magnetic effect it has had on a lot of ... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Thus, though I dislike to differ with such a great man, CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Kissinger projects a strong impression of a man at home in the world and on top of his brief. But th... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS The noble old synagogue had been profaned and turned into a stable by the Nazis, and left open to th... CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Everybody does have a book in them, but in most cases that's where it should stay. CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS When the late Pope John Paul II decided to place the woman so strangely known as CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS