308. Argument; Ouch!!!
Johnson having argued for some time with a pertinacious
gentleman; his opponent, who had talked in a very puzzling
manner, happened to say, "I don't understand you, Sir;" upon
which Johnson observed, "Sir, I have found you an argument; but
I am not obliged to find you an understanding."
Boswell: Life
Link
529. Anger; Argument; Obstruction;
Posturing
"He that finds his knowledge narrow, and his arguments weak, and
by consequence his suffrage not much regarded, is sometimes in
hope of gaining that attention by 
his
clamours which he cannot
otherwise obtain, and is pleased with remembering that at last he
made himself heard, that he had the power to interrupt those whom
he could not confute, and suspend the decision which he could not
guide."
Johnson: Rambler #11 (April 24, 1750)
Link
705. Argument; Friendsip; Politics;
Religion
"It cannot but be extremely difficult to preserve private
kindness in the midst of public opposition, in which it will
necessarily be involved a thousand incidents, extending their
influence to conversation and privacy. Men engaged, by moral or
religious motives, in contrary parties will generally look with
different eyes upon every man, and decide almost every question
upon different principles. When such occasions of dispute
happen, to comply is to betray our cause, and to maintain
friendship by ceasing to deserve it; to be silent is to lose the
happiness and dignity of independence, to live in perpetual
constraint, and to desert, if not to betray; and who shall
determine which of two friends shall yield, where neither
believes himself mistaken, and both confess the importance of
their question? What then remains but contradiction and debate?
and from those what can be what can be expected but acrimony and
vehemence, the insolence of triumph, the vexation of defeat, and,
in time, a weariness of contest, and an extinction of
benevolence? Exchange of endearments and intercourse of civility
may continue, indeed, as boughs may for a while be verdant when
the root is wounded; but the poison of discord is infused, and
though the countenance may preserve its smile, the heart is
hardening and contracting."
Johnson: Rambler #64 (October 27, 1750)
Link
719. Argument
"Sir, you are giving a reason for it, but that will not make it
right."
Boswell: Life
Link
787. Argument
"It is common for controversists, in the heat of disputation, to
add one position to another till they reach the extremities of
knowledge, where truth and falsehood lose their distinction."
Johnson: Idler #19 (August 19, 1758)
Link
922. Argument
"Controversies merely speculative are of small importance in
themselves, however they may have sometimes heated a disputant,
or provoked a faction."
Johnson: Rambler #81 (December 25, 1750)
Link
982. Argument; Inconclusiveness;
Mediocrity; Ouch!!!
Johnson, for sport perhaps, or from the spirit of contradiction,
eagerly maintained that Derrick had merit as a writer. Mr.
Morgan argued with him directly, in vain. At length he had
recourse to this device. "Pray, Sir, (said he,) whether do you
reckon Derrick or Smart the best poet?" Johnson at once felt
himself rouzed; and answered, "Sir, there is no settling the
point of precedency between a louse and a flea."
Boswell: Life of Johnson
Link
1,293. Argument; Op-Ed
"Controvertists cannot long retain their kindness for each
other."
Johnson: Addison (Lives of the Poets)
Link
1,330. Argument; Inconclusiveness;
Truth
"All the force of reason and all the charms of language are
indeed necessary to support positions which every man hears with
a wish to confute them. Truth finds an easy entrance into the
mind when she is introduced by desire, and attended by pleasure;
but when she intrudes uncalled, and brings only fear and sorrow
in her train, the passes of the intellect are barred against her
by prejudice and passion; if she sometimes forces her way by
the batteries of argument, she seldom long keeps possession of
her conquests, but is ejected by some favoured enemy, or at
best obtains only a nominal sovereignty, without influence and
without authority."
Johnson: Rambler #165 (October 15, 1751)
Link
1,562. Argument; Sophistry
"A man heated in talk, and eager of victory, takes advantage of
the mistakes or ignorance of his adversary, lays hold of
concessions to which he has no right, and urges proofs likely to
prevail on his opponent, though he knows himself that they have
no force."
Johnson: Adventurer #85 (August 28, 1753)
Link
1,870. Argument
"Treating your adversary wth respect is striking soft in battle."
Boswell: Tour of the Hebrides
Link
