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Debate Quotes
"You have your ideology and I have mine."
52
"It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it."
34
"Freedom is hammered out on the anvil of discussion, dissent, and debate."
28
"We've become more tolerant because we're tired of the debate."
22
"Let's leave behind the predictable and stale debate between liberals and conservatives. Let's take the resources that we have, and prioritize, and manage, and focus our energy on just doing things that count - on real results."
18
"I heard Dennis Kucinich say in a debate, 'When I'm president... and I just wanted to stop him and say, 'Dude.'"
17
"There is zero debate about whether the world is getting warmer. That is a fact, a measured fact. There is some debate, although not much anymore, about what's causing the world to get warmer. And the consensus, by far is that it's us."
17
"Political debate with liberals is basically impossible in America today because liberals are calling names while conservatives are trying to make arguments."
17
"There is an ongoing debate about the reform of the U.N. system."
16
"What we have to do... is to find a way to celebrate our diversity and debate our differences without fracturing our communities."
16
"I enjoyed debate on the floor but it's not really debate in the same way."
16
"The national debate on Social Security has been cheapened by demagoguery on all sides."
15
"After Nashville sushi and a long debate on Bob Dylan, we went into Woodland Studios at 10 pm that night for a look around, and jammed for 5 hours solid."
15
"Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled."
14
"Every candidate goes into every debate hoping that they can own a particular moment."
14
"One can always debate questions back and forth."
14
"But the reporter has the responsibility to determine, number one, whether that is true, and number two, to make a judgment as to whether it's in the public interest and whether or not it should be part of the debate."
14
"I take the debate on the method of promoting democracy seriously."
14
"To be sure, debates will linger about whether Medicare is too large or too small. Debates remain about the allocation of Medicare dollars. But December 8, 2003, demonstrated that there is no debate about this most fundamental fact: Medicare must survive."
12
"Another example of the educational inequality is the current debate over publicly financed school vouchers which will provide educational opportunities to a privileged handful, but deprive public schools of desperately needed resources."
12
"When I am in the Scottish Parliament chamber, I often feel the need to sit for the entire debate. It's only courteous to listen to what everyone has to say, although I often find myself desperate to say something but too scared to stand up in case I regret it."
12
"What passes for real debate in Washington often seems more like an echo chamber, with politicians talking at politicians."
12
"If we don't believe in moral absolutes and then we get into a cultural-political debate, how are we going to win?"
12
"Open debate and full discourse on the topic of torture is a double-edged sword."
11
"The dinner table is a lively debate, and everybody weighs in in a different way. I like that, though."
10
"I am bound to furnish my antagonists with arguments but not with comprehension."
10
"I can assure you we are all strong-willed, forceful personalities and the president encourages vigorous debate."
10
"Defining the terms of the debate generally dictates who's gonna' win it."
10
"Information, usually seen as the precondition of debate, is better understood as its by-product."
10
"We should not use special budget procedures to jam through legislation to drill in the Arctic Refuge. This topic is too important to the public to address it in such a back-door manner. We should be having a full, open discussion of the issue during an energy debate."
10
"No matter how you cut it, this real debate on personal accounts is about the legitimacy of Social Security; it's not about the solvency of Social Security."
9
"But, also, before I even go on the Medicare prescription drug debate, I always tell the folks in rural Illinois, and I represent 30 counties south of Springfield down to Indiana and Kentucky, that in this bill is the best rural package for hospitals ever passed."
9
"There's a bit of debate about that; some say it was really Matthew, but the popular consensus is that Mark was the first one, so that's why I did that one first. And I was planning on doing all four."
9
"I don't really feel like I have to have a debate with my husband over issues."
8
"The job of the press is to encourage debate, not to supply the public with information."
8
"When making a point, there are 2 types of people who may disagree with you: those who can support their reasons, and the childish ones who are too worried about being told what to do."
8
"Debates should always move in the direction of understanding."
8
"It is a difference of opinion which does not admit of proof. We each begin probably with a little bias towards our own sex, and upon that bias build every circumstance in favour of it which has occurred within our own circle."
7
"The most important event I covered was the Panama Canal debate, which dragged on for months."
6
"Some of the most polished ideas are discovered through healthy, honest debate, so if you don't argue with yourself every once in a while, other people will gladly point out if, in any sense, you missed a spot."
6
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