#argument

I'm sorry you don't like coming back here," her mother often said, to cap whatever petty dust-up they'd had. How could Emily explain: it wasn't her mother or Kersey she'd disowned, but her earlier self, that strange, ungrateful girl who strove to be first at everything and threw tantrums when she failed. ↗

— Stewart O'Nan

#arguments #coming-home #daughters #family #fights

Go beyond science, into the region of metaphysics. Real religion is beyond argument. It can only be lived both inwardly and outwardly. ↗

— Swami Sivananda

#beyond #both #go #into #inwardly

Most people are not prepared to have their minds changed," he said. "And I think they know in their hearts that other people are just the same, and one of the reasons people become angry when they argue is that they realize just that, as they trot out their excuses." "Excuses, eh?" Well, if this ain't cynicism, what is?" Erens snorted. "Yes, excuses," he said, with what Erens thought might just have been a trace of bitterness. "I strongly suspect the things people believe in are usually just what they instinctively feel is right; the excuses, the justifications, the things you're supposed to argue about, come later. They're the least important part of the belief. That's why you can destroy them, win an argument, prove the other person wrong, and still they believe what they did in the first place." He looked at Erens. "You've attacked the wrong thing. ↗

— Iain M. Banks

#belief #erens #excuses #instinct #justifications

The immoral woman in Luke 7 has the faith to anticipate Christ's forgiveness. She can act in love with no words to justify. ↗

— Jenn Thoman

#forgiveness #justification #worship #faith

He was a conservative all right, but invariably he gave the impression that he was a conservative because he was surrounded by liberals; that he had been a revolutionist if that had been required in order to be socially disruptive. ↗

— William F. Buckley

#contrarian #ideologue #freedom

Any woman who is sure of her own wits, is a match, at any time, for a man who is not sure of his own temper. ↗

— Wilkie Collins

#control #dispute #empowerment #intelligence #men

It's often a bad sign when people defend themselves against charges which haven't been made. ↗

— Christopher Hitchens

#defensiveness #noam-chomsky #september- #iraq

When a man who is drinking neat gin starts talking about his mother he is past all argument. ↗

— C.S. Forester

#argument #drinking #gin #mothers #alcohol

Those who plead their cause in the absence of an opponent can invent to their heart's content, can pontificate without taking into account the opposite point of view and keep the best arguments for themselves, for aggressors are always quick to attack those who have no means of defence. ↗

— Christine de Pizan

#deceit #defenselessness #double-standards #falsehood #hypocrisy

I remember having an argument with Alan, I said the Queen's not just going to call the guy up and send him out to do it. And Alan says, well, how would a monarch give orders to her assassin. ↗

— Eddie Campbell

#argument #assassin #call #give #going