
“All argument is against it; but all belief is for it.”
On the subject of ghosts, March 31, 1778, p. 373
Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), Vol III
Source: Towing Jehovah (1994), Chapter 8, “Famine” (p. 213)
“All argument is against it; but all belief is for it.”
On the subject of ghosts, March 31, 1778, p. 373
Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), Vol III
“Only virtue has powerful arguments against pessimism.”
Sólo la virtud tiene argumentos poderosos contra el pesimismo.
Source: Leopoldo Alas (1975) Solos de Clarín.; Also attributed without citation at Frases Célebres http://frasescelebresmajo.blogspot.com/2011/09/leopoldo-alas-clarin.html
“Parmenides' influential arguments against the concept of empty space”
Source: The Book of Nothing (2009), chapter one "Zero—The Whole Story"<!-- p. 40-->
Context: The Greek tradition was a complete contrast to that of the Far East.... the Greeks placed logic at the pinnacle of human thinking. Their sceptical attitude towards the wielding of 'non-being' as some sort of 'something' that could be subject to logical development was exemplified by Parmenides' influential arguments against the concept of empty space.... He maintained that you can only speak about what is: what is not cannot be thought of, and what cannot be thought of cannot be.... more unexpected was the further conclusion that time, motion nor change could exist either.
“The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter”
Attribution debunked in Langworth's Churchill by Himself. First known appearance is in a 1992 usenet post https://groups.google.com/forum/message/raw?msg=rec.arts.comics.misc/EMj3ZowKq1U/E0dsEBwdZEgJ.
Misattributed
Source: Google books link https://books.google.com/books?id=vbsU21fEhLAC&q=average+voter#v=snippet&q=average%20voter&f=false
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
“Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.”
Tweeted on June 20, 2020 https://twitter.com/michaelmalice/status/1274452143886553091, repeated subsequently.
Source: Complexity and Postmodernism (1998), p. 86
Source: A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis