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A Rulebook for Arguments QUOTES

A Rulebook for Arguments QUOTES

1 " If Churchill recommends optimism, who are you or I to quibble? "

― , A Rulebook for Arguments

2 " It is not a mistake to have strong views. The mistake is to have nothing else. "

― , A Rulebook for Arguments

3 " you must use arguments to explain how you arrived at your conclusion. That is how you will convince others: by offering the reasons and evidence that convinced you. It is not a mistake to have strong views. The mistake is to have nothing else. "

― , A Rulebook for Arguments

4 " Truly informed sources rarely expect others to accept their conclusions simply because they assert them. "

― , A Rulebook for Arguments

5 " Typically we learn to “argue” by assertion. That is, we tend to start with our conclusions—our desires or opinions—without a whole lot to back them up. And it works, sometimes, at least when we’re very young. What could be better? Real argument, by contrast, takes time and practice. Marshaling our reasons, proportioning our conclusions to the actual evidence, considering objections, and all the rest—these are acquired skills. We have to grow up a little. "

― , A Rulebook for Arguments

6 " Airy elaboration just loses everyone in a fog of words. "

― , A Rulebook for Arguments

7 " Generally, people advocate a position for serious and sincere reasons. Try to figure out their view— try to understand their reasons—even if you disagree entirely. For example, people who question a new technology are probably not in favor of “going back to the caves.” (What are they in favor of? Maybe you need to ask.) Likewise, a person who believes in evolution is not claiming that her grandparents were monkeys. (And again: what does she think?) In general, if you can’t imagine how anyone could hold the view you are attacking, you probably just don’t understand it yet. "

― , A Rulebook for Arguments

8 " In general, if you can’t imagine how anyone could hold the view you are attacking, you probably just don’t understand it yet. "

― , A Rulebook for Arguments

9 " Arguing face to face can be a powerful thing, and done deftly and persistently, it can reinforce and build respect itself, even across major differences. "

― , A Rulebook for Arguments

10 " Be ready to be surprised. Be ready to hear evidence and arguments for positions you may not like. Be ready, even, to let yourself be swayed. True thinking is an open-ended process. The whole point is that you don’t know when you start where you’ll find yourself in the end. "

― , A Rulebook for Arguments

11 " Come to a rousing end. End in style, with flair or a flourish. "

― , A Rulebook for Arguments

12 " Planning is important. Your paper has limits: don’t fence more land than you can plow. "

― , A Rulebook for Arguments

13 " Don’t jump in with two feet where truly informed people tread with care. "

― , A Rulebook for Arguments

14 " No matter how well you argue from premises to conclusion, your conclusion will be weak if your premises are weak. "

― , A Rulebook for Arguments

15 " People take in their car for servicing and checkups every few months without complaint. Why shouldn’t they take similar care of their bodies?4 "

― , A Rulebook for Arguments

16 " Note that an informed source need not fit our general stereotype of an “authority”—and a person who fits our stereotype of an authority may not even be an informed source. "

― , A Rulebook for Arguments