Catherine the Great Quotes

Men are never so likely to settle a question rightly as when they discuss it freely. A government can interfere in discussion only by making it less free than it would otherwise be. Men are most likely to form just opinions when they have no other wish than to know the truth.

We're going to hear a lot of spirited discussion about the President's plan in the next few days and weeks and that's fine as long as everyone comes ready to talk and not just snipe, complain and argue.

We mistake politics for legislative debate. You can be passionate without being personal.

Public discussion demands at least the profession of good faith.

It does not good to shout anyone down….There will be no shouting.

We can argue and we can disagree, but we don’t need to poke our fingers in each other’s eyes in order to get our points across.

Dad knew how to disagree without being disagreeable or rude.

You should be able to voice your opinion and respect the voice of the other side. You should be willing to educate yourself and know what it is you're dealing with.

We can be fervent in our disagreements without being factitious with our beliefs.

I'm plain incapable of getting angry with Angela Merkel and likewise.

Be calm in arguing; for fierceness makes error a fault, and truth discourtesy.

The world I want to live in is a world where everybody is a bit more uncertain about their arguments and is a bit more open to other people's arguments. I think that we can engage ideas without ad hominem attacks.

I think that you can disagree with people and debate over their positions with issues without engaging in the politics of personal destruction.

Moral teaching should always be used as a gift and not a cudgel.... It is important that we all be able to share our moral viewpoints without hurting each other. That is what is wrong with political discourse today.

Soft words and hard arguments.

I don’t attack people. I attack ideas. And some very good people can have some very bad ideas.

The greatest respect you can give your political adversaries is to give them your undivided attention. If you want them to hear you, you have to be willing to hear them.

Drawing forceful distinctions and being civil are not mutually exclusive.

History is a table around which we can still sit and have a civil discourse.

When I am contradicted it arouses my attention, not my wrath. I move toward the man who contradicts me: he is instructing me. The cause of truth ought to be common to both of us.

There's a certain time that when somebody asks you a question, you answer them. I don't think I said anything with venom. If you can express yourself without anger and make it as palatable as you can, that's what you do.

As it happens in relationships that are open and frank and based on mutual respect, you say things as you think them, and this doesn't mean that you don't work together in a constructive way.

Sometimes, we feel like we don't want to offend people, but there are times that we need to express ourselves without fear that somebody is going to shut us down simply because we have differing opinions. That's how we grow.

I'm not hostile. I'm passionate.

If you let things devolve into a shouting match, then it's really difficult to have a discussion, a serious discussion.