Argument Quote by Abraham Lincoln
““Lincoln characterized Stephen Douglas's argument as "a specious and fantastic arrangement of words, by which a man can prove a horse chestnut to be a chestnut horse.””
About This Quote
Source Speech: Congressional Debate, 1858, United States Senate
Lincoln mocked Douglas's argument as a clever but deceptive use of language that pretends to prove the obvious.
In simple terms: He called the argument a fancy trick that pretends to prove something obvious.
Key Takeaway
Beware of arguments that sound impressive but lack substance.
Themes
critical thinking
logic
political rhetoric
Mood
skeptical
analytical
Type
political
philosophical
critical.
When to use this quote
- debates
- legal arguments
- media analysis
- public speaking
Key Concepts
sophistry
semantic manipulation
fallacy
Questions to Reflect On
- How can you tell when language is disguising weak reasoning?
- What strategies help you expose sophistry?
A Different Perspective
The quote may overlook that some complex ideas genuinely require nuanced language.
![“Senator [Stephen] Douglas is of world-wide renown. All the anxious politicians of his party, or who have been of his party for years past, have been looking upon him as certainly, at no distant day, to be the President of the United States. They have seen in his round, jolly, fruitful face, post…” quote by Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ad4/abraham-lincoln-88_anxious_senator-stephen-douglas-is-of-world-wide_2804348.jpg)
![“I affect no contempt for the high eminence he [Senator Stephen Douglas] has reached. So reached, that the oppressed of my species,might have shared with me in the elevation, I would rather stand on that eminence, than wear the richest crown that ever pressed a monarch's brow.” quote by Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/0d1/abraham-lincoln-88_ambition_i-affect-no-contempt-for-the-high-eminen_2296058.jpg)
![“He [Stephen Douglas] is blowing out the moral lights around us, when he contends that whoever wants slaves has a right to hold them; that he is penetrating, so far as lies in his power, the human soul, and eradicating the light of reason and the love of liberty, when he is in every possible way…” quote by Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/85e/abraham-lincoln-88_human-soul_he-stephen-douglas-is-blowing-out-the-mo_512193.jpg)
![“Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. Before then [these?], any man might instantly use what another had invented; so that the inventor had no special advantage from his own invention. The patent system changed this…” quote by Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/449/abraham-lincoln-88_adoption_next-came-the-patent-laws-these-began-in_1828.jpg)
