Debate Quotes - Page 30

• Politically, I don't care what party you're from, offer a point of view and let's see what happens and really debate the issues rather than use personal attacks. Really talk about it, talk about immigration, talk about education, talk about pollution.

  Robin Williams

  Party, Views, Issues

  "Robin Williams Interview License To Wed". Wild About Movies Interview, www.wildaboutmovies.com.

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• As far as I know, the question of whether and how it could be strategically or morally justified was never the subject of open debate in Germany after 1945, no doubt mainly because a nation which had murdered and worked to death millions of people in its camps could hardly call on the victorious powers to explain the military and political logic that dictated the destruction of the German cities.

  W. G. Sebald

  Military, Cities, People

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• These self-appointed deacons in the Church of Latter-Day American Literature seem to regard generosity (of words) with suspicion, texture with dislike, and any broad literary stroke with outright hate. The result is a strange and arid literary climate where a meaningless little fingernail paring like Nicholson Baker's Vox becomes an object of fascinated debate and dissection, and a truly ambitious American novel like Matthew's Heart of the Country is all but ignored.

  Stephen King

  Country, Hate, Heart

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• People have had certain ­assumptions in the past about ­Conservative governments, partly because of some of the things that happened in the 1980s, and partly because of the tone of some of the debate in the 1980s that appeared to say public spending on the arts was something you might want to progressively ­reduce.

  Jeremy Hunt

  Art, Past, Government

  "Shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt: 'It is going to be tough'". Interview with Charlotte Higgins, www.theguardian.com. February 22, 2010.

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• It is a striking example of modern conservatism's emphasis on the moral worth of the individual. ... When I look at the debate over Elian...I have to say that rarely have I been prouder of my fellow conservatives.

  Ramesh Ponnuru

  Example, Looks, Moral

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• Lost in much of the national debate about immigration reform is how Democrats ultimately stand to gain electorally with any legislation or executive action that would put the newly legalized residents on a path to voting.

  Aaron Klein

  Voting, Immigration, Reform

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• We should all oppose - as Darwin did - views manifestly in conflict with the evidence, such as creationism... But we shouldn't set up this debate as 'religion v science'; instead we should strive for peaceful coexistence with at least the less dogmatic strands of mainstream religions, which number many excellent scientists among their adherents.

  Martin Rees

  Views, Numbers, Peaceful

  "Martin Rees: Atheists should drop anti-religion campaigns" by Ian Sample, www.theguardian.com. April 24, 2011.

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• Before the thunderous clamor of political debate or war set loose in the world, love insisted on its promise for the possibility of human unity: between men and women, between blacks and whites, northerners and southerners, haves and have-have-nots, self and self.

  Aberjhani

  War, Men, Self

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• Scientists themselves are of surprisingly little help. They find it difficult to talk of what they do because they tend to assume detailed knowledge is required for generalities to be understood. They find it hard to grasp the concept of the meaning of their work, assuming this to be a debate that takes place at a lower level than the specialized discussions with their colleagues. When they do generalize, - or "popularize" as it is usually called with a noticeable degree of contempt - they tend to reveal a startling philosophical naiveté.

  Bryan Appleyard

  Philosophical, Levels, Littles

  Bryan Appleyard (2004). “Understanding the Present: An Alternative History of Science”, p.18, Tauris Parke Paperbacks

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• President Bush said yesterday that it was appropriate for the White House to invoke Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers's religion in making the case for her to skeptical conservatives, triggering a debate over what role, if any, her evangelical faith should play in the confirmation battle.

  Peter Baker

  White, Yesterday, Play

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• When there is information, there is enlightenment. When there is debate, there are solutions.

  Atifete Jahjaga

  Accountability, Enlightenment, Information

  "Kosovar President Atifete Jahjaga: the Four Key Ingredients for Peace". thehill.com. June 14, 2012.

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• John Kerry says that he wants to debate President Bush once a month until the election. This could be a risky move for Senator Kerry. If Bush doesn't show up for the debates, John Kerry may end up debating an empty chair. And that could be pretty much a toss up as to which one has the better personality.

  Jay Leno

  Moving, Personality, President

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• During the Democratic presidential debate Howard Dean started off by apologizing to the crowd for having a cold. Then John Kerry apologized for once having a cold while serving his country in Vietnam.

  Conan O'Brien

  Country, Presidential, Vietnam

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• The debate analysis in the media is rampant with contest analogies of war, baseball, boxing, football; you name it. Any testosterone contest imaginable is fair game.

  Jonathan Raymond

  Baseball, Football, War

  "McCain Acts Like A Tough-Guy; We Need A Gentleman" by Jon Raymond, www.huffingtonpost.com. October 28, 2008.

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• Big news from last night's Republican debate, you guys. It turns out George Bush was actually the smart Texas governor.

  Jimmy Fallon

  Smart, Night, Texas

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• Tonight was the CNN primary debate with the four remaining candidates. It was kind of a change for Newt Gingrich. Usually when he's arguing with three people at once, it's his wife, his ex-wife, and his mistress.

  Jay Leno

  Cnn, Wife, People

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• The first presidential debate was down in Florida. Residents spent all day putting plywood on their televisions.

  David Letterman

  Florida, Presidential, Television

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• The internet's perfect for all manner of things, but productive discussion ain't one of them. It provides scant room for debate and infinite opportunities for fruitless point-scoring: the heady combination of perceived anonymity, gestated responses, random heckling and a notional “live audience” quickly conspire to create a “perfect storm” of perpetual bickering.

  Charlie Brooker

  Opportunity, Perfect, Storm

  Charlie Brooker (2009). “Dawn of the Dumb”, p.164, Faber & Faber

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• There is still much debate about whether torture has been effective in eliciting information - the assumption being, apparently, that if it is effective, then it may be justified.

  Noam Chomsky

  Information, May, Assumption

  Noam Chomsky (2016). “Who Rules the World?”, p.39, Metropolitan Books

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• A group of women who valued motherhood, but valued it on their own timetable, began to make a new claim, one that had never surfaced in the abortion debate before this, that abortion was a woman's right. Most significantly, they argued that this right to abortion was essential to their right to equality -- the right to be treated as individuals rather than as potential mothers.

  Kristin Luker

  Mother, Abortion, Groups

  Kristin Luker (1985). “Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood”, p.92, Univ of California Press

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• I think the American people expect more from us than cries of indignation and attack. The times are too grave, the challenge too urgent, and the stakes too high - to permit the customary passions of political debate.

  John F. Kennedy

  Passion, Thinking, People

  Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech, en.wikisource.org. July 15, 1960.

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• That there is a continuous link from humans to gorillas, with the intermediate species merely long dead, is beyond the understanding of speciesists. Tie the label Homo sapiens even to a tiny piece of insensible embryonic tissue, and its life suddenly leaps to infinite, incomputable value.... Self-styled pro-lifers, and others that indulge in footling debates about exactly when in its development a foetus becomes human, exhibit the same discontinuous mentality. Human, to the discontinuous mind, is an absolutist concept. There can be no half measures. And from this flows much evil.

  Richard Dawkins

  Self, Indulge In, Ties

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• We really have no choice but to pray and encourage a return to an America steeped in Judeo-Christian values. It is either that or taking our chances in a society with no values at all. For all Americans the former carries certain risks, but the latter spells certain doom. For now, we should not be deflected by theological debate from the life-saving tasks awaiting us. There is work to be done. We must ensure that America will continue to be part of God's plan for the world.

  Daniel Lapin

  Christian, America, Choices

  Rabbi Daniel Lapin (2012). “America's Real War”, p.526, Multnomah

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• I think that markets classically fail in cases where there are public goods that provide benefits that people cannot capture. The big debate is how big these public goods are, where they exist, things of that sort.

  Peter Thiel

  Thinking, People, Benefits

  Interview with Victoria Brown, bigthink.com. November 15, 2010.

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• The thing that surprised me the most is just how much money women that weren't rich were paying for their hair. When you're in a beauty parlor in Harlem next to abandoned buildings and somebody's paying five grand for a weave, that's a bit much. I think this is, in a weird way, part of the health care debate. It's like, hmm, there's people with $2000 weaves that could have bought health care with that weave money.

  Chris Rock

  Thinking, Hair, People

  Source: www.avclub.com

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