Contention Quotes

• The moment we want to believe something, we suddenly see all the arguments for it, and become blind to the arguments against it.

  George Bernard Shaw

  Believe, Want, Belief

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• Contention in our families drives the Spirit of the Lord away. It also drives many of our family members away. Contention ranges from a hostile spoken word to worldwide conflicts. The scriptures tell us that "Only by pride cometh contention".

  Ezra Taft Benson

  Pride, Scripture, Spirit

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• The more arguments you win, the less friends you will have

  E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax

  Winning, Argument

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• Contention, like a horse,
  Full of high feeding, madly hath broke loose,
  And bears down all before him.

  William Shakespeare

  Horse, Bears, Broke

  William Shakespeare, William Dodd (1842). “The Beauties of Shakspeare: Regularly Selected from Each Play : with a General Index Digesting Them Under Proper Heads”, p.123

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• Let the long contention cease! / Geese are swans, and swans are geese.

  Matthew Arnold

  Swans, Long, Geese

  'The Last Word' (1867)

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• Pride does not look up to God and care about what is right. It looks sideways to man and argues who is right. Pride is manifest in the spirit of contention. Was it not through pride that the devil became the devil? Christ wanted to serve. The devil wanted to rule. Christ wanted to bring men to where He was. The devil wanted to be above men. Christ removed self as the force in His perfect life. It was not my will, but thine be done

  Ezra Taft Benson

  Life, Pride, Men

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• Where two discourse, if the anger of one rises, he is the wise man who lets the contest fall.

  Plutarch

  Wise, Fall, Men

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• Religious contention is the devil's harvest.

  Jean de La Fontaine

  Religious, Devil, Argument

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• Quarrel not at all. No man resolved to make the most of himself can spare time for personal contention.

  Abraham Lincoln

  Life, Past, Men

  Abraham Lincoln, Bob Blaisdell (2005). “The Wit and Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln: A Book of Quotations”, p.7, Courier Corporation

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• But curb thou the high spirit in thy breast, for gentle ways are best, and keep aloof from sharp contentions.

  Homer

  Way, Spirit, Argument

  Homer (1871). “The Iliad of Homer”, p.231

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• In an hundred elles of contention, there is not an inch of love.

  George Herbert

  Hundred, Inches

  George Herbert (1874). “The Complete Works of George Herbert: Prose”, p.355

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• If there was strife and contention in the home, very little else in life could compensate for it.

  Lawana Blackwell

  Home, Littles, Conflict

  Lawana Blackwell (2007). “Courtship of the Vicar's Daughter, The”, p.67, Bethany House

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• Where the heart is full of kindness which seeks no injury to another, either in act or thought or wish, this full love creates an atmosphere of harmony, whose benign power touches with healing all who come within its influence. Peace in the heart radiates peace to other hearts, even more surely than contention breeds contention.

  Patanjali

  Kindness, Healing, Heart

  Patanjali (2015). “The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali”, p.63, Simon and Schuster

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• Digital piracy needs to be addressed. Without content protection, investment in content can't be supported. We need secure distribution. If you (telecommunications equipment and software makers) help us, we will make it easier for you to distribute our content.

  Bob Iger

  Contentment, Digital, Needs

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• It is my contention that civil disobediences are nothing but the latest form of voluntary association, and that they are thus quite in tune with the oldest traditions of the country.

  Hannah Arendt

  Country, Tunes, Association

  Hannah Arendt (1972). “Crises of the Republic: Lying in Politics; Civil Disobedience; On Violence; Thoughts on Politics and Revolution”, p.106, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• The cable operators are paying to show content. The most important content you have is the broadcast stations. They take the position that over the air is free to people, so it should be free to them.

  Bill Vaughan

  Air, People, Contentment

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• I am tired of a life of contention, and of being the personal object for the hatred of every man, who hates the present state of things.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Hate, Tired, Men

  Thomas Jefferson, Jerry Holmes (2002). “Thomas Jefferson: A Chronology of His Thoughts”, p.208, Rowman & Littlefield

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• When individuals approach one another with deep purposes on both sides they seldom come at once to the matter which they have most at heart. They dread the electric shock of a too sudden contact with it.

  Nathaniel Hawthorne

  Heart, Electric Shock, Purpose

  Nathaniel Hawthorne (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Nathaniel Hawthorne (Illustrated)”, p.1018, Delphi Classics

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• And the combat ceased, for want of combatants.

  Pierre Corneille

  Want, Combat

  Pierre Corneille (2009). “Le Cid”, p.79, The Floating Press

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• Contentions fierce, Ardent, and dire, spring from no petty cause.

  Walter Scott

  Spring, Causes, Fierce

  Walter Scott, Sir Walter Scott (1841). “The Poetical Works of Sir Walter Scott, Bart”, p.700

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• Great contest follows, and much learned dust Involves the combatants; each claiming truth, And truth disclaiming both.

  William Cowper

  Dust, Contests

  'The Task' (1785) bk. 3 'The Garden' l. 161

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• Contention is inseparable from creating knowledge. It is not contention we should try to avoid, but discourses that attempt to suppress contention.

  Joyce Appleby

  Creating, Trying, Should

  Joyce Appleby (2007). “A Restless Past: History and the American Public”, p.106, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

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  There are no contests in the Art of Peace. A true warrior is invincible because he or she contests with nothing. Defeat means to defeat the mind of contention that we harbor within.

  Morihei Ueshiba

  Art, Peace, Mean

  Morihei Ueshiba (2005). “The Art of Peace”, p.94, Shambhala Publications

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• In real life, it is the hare who wins. Every time. Look around you. And in any case it is my contention that Aesop was writing for the tortoise market. Hares have no time to read. They are too busy winning the game.

  Anita Brookner

  Real, Writing, Winning

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• I don't think nationalism is alone holding the field; it's in contention with a lot of different things.

  Peter Singer

  Thinking, Different, Fields

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