Quotes Library

April 26, 2025

It’s better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it.

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824), French essayist, moralist, attributed, Jay p.200

Which do you prefer?

He’s right. Dictators can do the latter anytime. Democracy is so slow a form of government because seemingly unending debate is often the norm…and sometimes saves the day.


More Quotes

August 23, 2025
To think contrary to one’s era is heroism. But to speak against it is madness.
August 18, 2025
Politicians who wish to succeed must be prepared to dissemble, at times to lie.
October 10, 2025
All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure, because that is the nature of politics and of human affairs.
Page 112 of 123