Middle Ground Quotes

• In the minds of most men, the kingdom of opinion is divided into three territories,--the territory of yes, the territory of no, and a broad, unexplored middle ground of doubt.

  James A. Garfield

  Men, Doubt, Mind

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• The tension between what is, and what we dream of, is important. Not to discount what we have, but to hold onto that middle ground, because it's in there that the magic happens.

  Susan Branch

  Dream, Magic, Important

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• In the field of controversy I always pity the moderate party, who stand on the open middle ground exposed to the fire of both sides.

  Edward Gibbon

  Party, Fire, Fields

  Edward Gibbon, J. B. Bury (2013). “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Edited in Seven Volumes with Introduction, Notes, Appendices, and Index”, p.257, Cambridge University Press

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• Virtue lies in the middle ground.

  Jose Rizal

  Lying, Virtue, Middle

  "'Los Viajes' ('Travels')". Essay by José Rizal, La Solidaridad, May 15, 1889.

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• There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition.

  Rod Serling

  Twilight, Science, Men

  The Twilight Zone (television series), opening narration (1963)

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• I dont accept the idea that there are two sides to any issue. I think that the middle ground is to be found within most of us.

  Krista Tippett

  Thinking, Issues, Two Sides

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• There is a middle ground in things.

  Horace

  Latin, Middle

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• It was a life, she eventually concluded, that had been lived in the middle ground, where contentment and love were found in the smallest details of people's lives. It was a life of dignity and honor, not without sorrows yet fulfilling in a way that few experiences ever were.

  Nicholas Sparks

  People, Honor, Sorrow

  FaceBook post by Nicholas Sparks from Jun 20, 2012

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• The abstractionist and the materialist thus mutually exasperating each other, and the scoffer expressing the worst of materialism, there arises a third party to occupy the middle ground between these two, the skeptic, namely. He finds both wrong by being in extremes. He labors to plant his feet, to be the beam of the balance.

  Marsilio Ficino

  Party, Two, Feet

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• In my experience, you either have encapsulation and abstraction or you have neither. There is no middle ground.

  Steve McConnell

  Middle, Abstraction

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• Some people argue against both optimism and pessimism in favor of so-called realistic thinking. They distrust optimism on the grounds that it causes us to sugercoat problems, discount risks, and exaggerate the upside. Pessimism, on the other hand, is criticized as too downbeat, de-energizing, and generally damaging in its impact. This crown prefers realism as the neutral and objective middle ground.

  Price Pritchett

  Thinking, Impact, Hands

  Price Pritchett (2006). “Hard Optimism: How to Succeed in a World Where Positive Wins”, McGraw Hill Professional

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• There are two threats to reason, the opinion that one knows the truth about the most important things and the opinion that there is no truth about them. Both of these opinions are fatal to philosophy; the first asserts that the quest for truth is unnecessary, while the second asserts that it is impossible. The Socratic knowledge of ignorance, which I take to be the beginning point of all philosophy, defines the sensible middle ground between two extremes.

  Allan Bloom

  Philosophy, Ignorance, Two

  "Giants and Dwarfs". Book by Allan Bloom. Chapter: "Western Civ," p. 18, 1990.

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• Business friendly is the middle ground between being too cold and uncaring and the other extreme of being too familiar

  Garrison Wynn

  Friendly, Cold, Middle

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• At one time I was a nihilistic punk with a mohican and a ring in my nose. I think in the course of time I'll find a middle ground, but I also carry that sense of responsibility. I'm in a position to defeat stereotypes.

  Michelle Shocked

  Responsibility, Thinking, Noses

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• There's a fine line between what would characterize you as a troglodyte and what would characterize you as a brilliant, avant-garde, forward-thinking genius. There's some middle ground.

  Michael Eisner

  Thinking, Avant Garde, Genius

  "Former Disney chief Eisner touts benefits of sharing". Reuters interview, www.reuters.com. September 26, 2010.

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• I think we all recognize that one of the problems in American culture is that increasingly, there's no middle ground. That either you're a celebrity writer or a celebrity poet, or else you're nothing.

  Frederic Tuten

  Thinking, Culture, Problem

  Source: www.guernicamag.com

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• My relationships with both my mother and father are good. We spent several difficult years hashing over the problems and the past, and worked out a fairly solid middle ground. I wouldn't say my relationship with either of them - they're no longer together - is exactly typical, but that would be difficult after all we went through.

  Marya Hornbacher

  Mother, Father, Past

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• I'm a diplomat by nature. I help find the middle ground. I crack a joke and use humour to help resolve potentially vicious situations quickly. It gets things in perspective and helps everyone to see that things aren't as bad as they seem.

  Ronnie Wood

  Perspective, Cracks, Use

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• Even as we seek to be meek and to avoid contention, we must not compromise or dilute our commitment to the truths we understand. We must not surrender our positions or our values. The gospel of Jesus Christ and the covenants we have made inevitably cast us as combatants in the eternal contest between truth and error. there is no middle ground in that contest.

  Dallin H. Oaks

  Jesus, Commitment, Errors

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• If I could leave this body with one wish, it would be that we never give up that search for common ground, .. The politics of common ground will not be found on the far right, or on the far left. That is not where most Americans live. We will only find it on the firm middle ground, based on common sense and shared values.

  Tom Daschle

  Giving Up, Common Sense, Wish

  "Daschle: 'Grateful for every moment", www.cnn.com. November 19, 2004.

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• Rapping and singing are not two polar opposites. There's so much middle ground. And I think there's a lot of people who find that middle ground.

  Ezra Koenig

  Rap, Thinking, Opposites

  Biography/Personal Quotes, www.imdb.com.

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• An enormously vast field lies between "God exists" and "there is no God." The truly wise man traverses it with great difficulty. A Russian knows one or the other of these two extremes, but is not interested in the middle ground. He usually knows nothing, or very little.

  Anton Chekhov

  Wise, Lying, Men

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• One of the unfortunate consequences of the intellectualization of man's spiritual life was that the word "spirit" was lost and replaced by mind or intellect, and that the element of vitality which is present in "spirit" was separated and interpreted as an independent biological force. Man was divided into a bloodless intellect and a meaningless vitality. The middle ground between them, the spiritual soul, in which vitality and intentionality are united, was dropped.

  Paul Tillich

  Spiritual, Independent, Men

  Paul Tillich (1988). “Writings on religion”

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• Obviously, if theism is a belief in a God and atheism is a lack of a belief in a God, no third position or middle ground is possible. A person can either believe or not believe in a God. Therefore, our previous definition of atheism has made an impossibility out of the common usage of agnosticism to mean "neither affirming nor denying a belief in God."

  Gordon Stein

  Believe, Mean, Atheism

  Gordon Stein (1980). “An Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism”

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• We need an idiot middle ground, where we have to be honest and say, kids can be idiots and cops can be idiots.

  Greg Gutfeld

  Kids, Needs, Honest

  Source: www.foxnews.com

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