Civil Debate Quotes

You have to learn to have discourse with people you don't necessarily agree with.

My thing is this: You've got to talk about politics because it's out there. But I try to respect the fact that even if you don't have my views, I still respect your view. I may dog your view, but I'll respect that you have that view. And it's OK to come back at me to defend your view.

I don't mind people trying to pick apart my policies, and that's fine and that's fair game. But, you know, I don't think we're serving our nation well by allowing the discourse to become so uncivil that people use words that they shouldn't be using.

It shouldn't take a constitutional crisis or an attack on the nation to create honest dialogue in the Senate.

I would just encourage everybody to just talk your opinion more, allow other people and fight for other people to [express theirs].

Elected officials need to stop with the name calling and hateful statements.

Healthy disagreement, debate, leading to compromise has always been the American way.

Being respected by people on both sides of the aisle is really important to me - even in an age when giving a hearing to 'both sides' is considered a smear in some corners.

I full well realize that politics is a rough and tumble business, but politics should not be reduced to lobbing partisan hand grenades. Politics is not war. Terrorism is.

I invite a variety people on my show with wide-ranging opinions - sometimes even my jaw hits the floor, too - but I let them speak. Whether it's left, right, or center, I want to expose my viewers to other perspectives. Agree with them or not, the nation needs to listen.

Years ago on my radio show, I used to say, 'I'm a conservative, but I'm not in a bad mood about it.' I've always believed that civility in heavy doses is essential in self-government.

My ideal picture of citizenship will always be an argument, not a sing-along.

It is an excellent rule to be observed in all disputes, that men should give soft words and hard arguments; that they should not so much strive to vex as to convince each other.

It is important in a democracy to respect contrary opinion without impugning the motives or maligning the character of ones opponents. To view it any other way is to encourage the same type of sickness in public life that leads to assassinations.

Among the responsibilities of each citizen in a participatory democracy is keeping ourselves sufficiently informed so that we can participate effectively, argue our positions honorably, and hopefully, forge sufficient consensus to understand each other and then to govern.

Somewhere in this we got into impugning people's character and motives if we didn't like their ideas. We gotta get back to just debating ideas.

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

The country's in significant danger, and I think we need people who are thoughtful. We're gonna have sharp differences, but we need to debate those in a way that's constructive and civil. I think President Obama is governing as a movement liberal. I don't think that rises to the level of being a socialist.

People can make arguments from the Bible if they want to. But I want them to see that they should also give arguments that all reasonable citizens might agree to.