--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: we have not been impressed with any…" description: "\"we have not been impressed with any attribute of the Senate other than its appearance and manners. We have heard the best speakers: they all fire off s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/709/beatrice-webb-31977_answers_we-have-not-been-impressed-with-any-attr_2897199.png" --- # we have not been impressed with any attribute of the… ![“we have not been impressed with any attribute of the Senate other than its appearance and manners. We have heard the best speakers: they all fire off speeches which deal with the entire subject in general terms and which do not attempt to debate, to answer opponents' arguments or offer new points…” quote by Beatrice Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/709/beatrice-webb-31977_answers_we-have-not-been-impressed-with-any-attr_2897199.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/709/beatrice-webb-31977_answers_we-have-not-been-impressed-with-any-attr_2897199.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/709/beatrice-webb-31977_answers_we-have-not-been-impressed-with-any-attr_2897199.png) > “we have not been impressed with any attribute of the Senate other than its appearance and manners. We have heard the best speakers: they all fire off speeches which deal with the entire subject in general terms and which do not attempt to debate, to answer opponents' arguments or offer new points for discussion. And the speeches are constantly degenerating into empty rhetoric; they abound in quotations from well-known authors or from their own former speeches.” [Beatrice Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrice-webb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The Senate is criticized for focusing on style over substance, delivering generic, unchallenged speeches that lack depth and original debate. **In simple terms:** Senate speeches are superficial and repetitive. Key Takeaway Seek genuine, substantive discourse. Themes politics communication institutional critique public discourse Mood critical reflective Type analytical commentary When to use this quote - legislative sessions - public hearings - media interviews - academic debates Key Concepts democratic process rhetoric policy analysis Questions to Reflect On - How can institutions balance decorum with rigorous debate? - What mechanisms encourage original argumentation? A Different Perspective May overlook the value of tradition and decorum in governance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Argument](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/argument/) [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Congress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/congress/) [Debate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/debate/) [Fire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fire/) [Manners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manners/) [Rhetoric](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rhetoric/) [Senate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/senate/) [Speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speech/) [Speeches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speeches/) ## Related quotes > [Perfect health, sincerity, honesty, straightforwardness, courage, disinterestedness, unselfishness, patience, endurance, perseverance, peace, calm, self control are all things that are taught infinitely better by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/perfect-health-sincerity-honesty-straightforwardness-courage/) [Sri Aurobindo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-aurobindo/) > [Speeches in our culture are the vacuum that fills a vacuum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/speeches-in-our-culture-are-the-vacuum-that-fills-a-vacuum/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [“War is always a failure of humanity. It is a collective failure of our fundamental values.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-stubb/war-is-always-a-failure-of-humanity-it-is-a-collective-failure-of-our/) [Alexander Stubb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-stubb/) > [When you make as many speeches and you talk as much as I do and you get away from the text, it's always a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-quayle/when-you-make-as-many-speeches-and-you-talk-as-much-as-i-do-and-you/) [Dan Quayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-quayle/) > [I don't like giving speeches. It makes me nervous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/i-don-t-like-giving-speeches-it-makes-me-nervous/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [My philosophy is that you don't motivate players with speeches; you have motivated players that you draft. That's where they come in, and those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-jackson/my-philosophy-is-that-you-don-t-motivate-players-with-speeches-you/) [Phil Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-jackson/) > [The only place you see a free market is in the speeches of politicians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-andreas/the-only-place-you-see-a-free-market-is-in-the-speeches-of-politicians/) [Dwayne Andreas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-andreas/) > [In 2007, early in the improbable presidential candidacy of Barack Obama, the young first-term senator began a series of foreign-policy speeches that seemed too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-abrams/in-2007-early-in-the-improbable-presidential-candidacy-of-barack/) [Elliott Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-abrams/) > [“It is your duty,' he said, 'to recover your country not by gold but by the sword. You will be fighting with all you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/it-is-your-duty-he-said-to-recover-your-country-not-by-gold-but-by/) [Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/) > [“...when President Clinton, on the anniversary of his election, spoke in the church in Tennessee where Martin Luther King, Jr., had delivered his last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-himmelfarb/when-president-clinton-on-the-anniversary-of-his-election-spoke-in/) [Gertrude Himmelfarb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-himmelfarb/) > [“Finally Marcus stepped forward. "If you insist on going through me to get him, it's your call. But I warn you, I will probably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-wells/finally-marcus-stepped-forward-if-you-insist-on-going-through-me-to/) [Dan Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-wells/) > [“Oratory is the highest form of music”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agona-apell/oratory-is-the-highest-form-of-music/) [Agona Apell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agona-apell/) > [“The Nazi salute was performed by public officials in the USA from 1892 through 1942. The researcher Dr. Rex Curry asks 'What happened to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micky-barnetti/the-nazi-salute-was-performed-by-public-officials-in-the-usa-from/) Micky Barnetti > [“To assess the quality of thoughts of people, don't listen to their words, but watch their actions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/to-assess-the-quality-of-thoughts-of-people-don-t-listen-to-their/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [“(Golden Globe acceptance speech in the style of Jane Austen's letters ): "Four A.M. Having just returned from an evening at the Golden Spheres,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-thompson/golden-globe-acceptance-speech-in-the-style-of-jane-austen-s-letters/) [Emma Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-thompson/) ## More by Beatrice Webb > [It would be curious to discover who it is to whom one writes in a diary. Possibly to some mysterious personification of one's own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrice-webb/it-would-be-curious-to-discover-who-it-is-to-whom-one-writes-in-a/) [Beatrice Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrice-webb/) > [. . . if I had been a man, self-respect, family pressure and the public opinion of my class would have pushed me into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrice-webb/if-i-had-been-a-man-self-respect-family-pressure-and-the-public/) [Beatrice Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrice-webb/) > [Renunciation - that is the great fact we all, individuals and classes, have to learn. In trying to avoid it we bring misery to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrice-webb/renunciation-that-is-the-great-fact-we-all-individuals-and-classes/) [Beatrice Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrice-webb/) > [The interruptions of the telephone seem to us to waste half the life of the ordinary American engaged in public or private business; he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrice-webb/the-interruptions-of-the-telephone-seem-to-us-to-waste-half-the-life/) [Beatrice Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrice-webb/) > [the possession of wealth, and especially the inheritance of wealth, seems almost invariably to sterilize genius.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrice-webb/the-possession-of-wealth-and-especially-the-inheritance-of-wealth/) [Beatrice Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrice-webb/) > [If I ever felt inclined to be timid as I was going into a room hill of people, I would say to myself, "You're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrice-webb/if-i-ever-felt-inclined-to-be-timid-as-i-was-going-into-a-room-hill/) [Beatrice Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrice-webb/) > [All along the line, physically, mentally, morally, alcohol is a weakening and deadening force.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrice-webb/all-along-the-line-physically-mentally-morally-alcohol-is-a-weakening/) [Beatrice Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrice-webb/) > [The middle man governs, however extreme may seem to be the men who sit on the Front Bench, in their reactionary or revolutionary opinions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrice-webb/the-middle-man-governs-however-extreme-may-seem-to-be-the-men-who-sit/) [Beatrice Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrice-webb/) > [At present I feel like a caged animal, bound up by the luxury, comfort and respectability of my position. I can't get the training…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrice-webb/at-present-i-feel-like-a-caged-animal-bound-up-by-the-luxury-comfort/) [Beatrice Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrice-webb/) > [Beneath the surface of our daily life, in the personal history of many of us, there runs a continuous controversy between an Ego that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrice-webb/beneath-the-surface-of-our-daily-life-in-the-personal-history-of-many/) [Beatrice Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrice-webb/) > [Are all Cabinets congeries of little autocrats with a super-autocrat presiding over them?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrice-webb/are-all-cabinets-congeries-of-little-autocrats-with-a-super-autocrat/) [Beatrice Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrice-webb/) > [Harris had the egotistical dogmatism of the self-made man who had painfully educated himself without contact with superior brains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrice-webb/harris-had-the-egotistical-dogmatism-of-the-self-made-man-who-had/) [Beatrice Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrice-webb/) > [If a weakly mortal is to do anything in the world besides eat the bread thereof, there must be a determined subordination of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrice-webb/if-a-weakly-mortal-is-to-do-anything-in-the-world-besides-eat-the/) [Beatrice Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrice-webb/) > [Nature still obstinately refuses to co-operate by making the rich people innately superior to the poor people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrice-webb/nature-still-obstinately-refuses-to-co-operate-by-making-the-rich/) [Beatrice Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrice-webb/) > [That part of the Englishman's nature which has found gratification in religion is now drifting into political life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrice-webb/that-part-of-the-englishman-s-nature-which-has-found-gratification-in/) [Beatrice Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrice-webb/) [Explore all 16 Beatrice Webb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrice-webb/) ## More Answers quotes > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. 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Lecturing to children is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/i-have-long-felt-that-the-way-to-keep-children-out-of-trouble-is-to/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [“As long as you keep searching,the answers will come.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-kynock/as-long-as-you-keep-searching-the-answers-will-come/) [Mitch Kynock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-kynock/) > [The answer to deep anxiety is the deep adoration of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/the-answer-to-deep-anxiety-is-the-deep-adoration-of-god/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [A dialogue is very important. 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