--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: An opinion can be argued with; a…" description: "\"An opinion can be argued with; a conviction is best shot. The logical end of a war of creeds is the final destruction of one, and Salammbo is the class..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5b/t-e-lawrence-10943_best-shot_an-opinion-can-be-argued-with-a-convicti_2171155.png" --- # An opinion can be argued with; a conviction is best shot… ![“An opinion can be argued with; a conviction is best shot. The logical end of a war of creeds is the final destruction of one, and Salammbo is the classical text-book instance.” quote by T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5b/t-e-lawrence-10943_best-shot_an-opinion-can-be-argued-with-a-convicti_2171155.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5b/t-e-lawrence-10943_best-shot_an-opinion-can-be-argued-with-a-convicti_2171155.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5b/t-e-lawrence-10943_best-shot_an-opinion-can-be-argued-with-a-convicti_2171155.png) > “An opinion can be argued with; a conviction is best shot. The logical end of a war of creeds is the final destruction of one, and Salammbo is the classical text-book instance.” [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A belief that can be debated is weak, whereas a deep conviction is decisive; wars of ideology end in total annihilation, exemplified by the classic tale of Salammbo. **In simple terms:** Debatable opinions are fragile; strong convictions dominate and ideological wars end in ruin. Key Takeaway Choose convictions over fleeting opinions. Themes conviction conflict ideology war literature Mood serious reflective Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - political debate - personal decision making - conflict resolution - strategic planning Key Concepts philosophy political theory historical analogy Questions to Reflect On - What convictions guide your actions? - When should you question a strong belief? A Different Perspective Convictions can become dogma and suppress dialogue. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Best shot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best-shot/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Conviction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conviction/) [Creeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creeds/) [Creeds Final](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creeds-final-4649628/) [Destruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction/) [Ends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ends/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Finals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finals/) [Instance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instance/) [Logical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/logical/) [Opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinion/) [Opinion Argued](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinion-argued-4649627/) [Salammbo Classical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/salammbo-classical-4649630/) [Shots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shots/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [War Creeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war-creeds-4649629/) ## Related quotes > [I hit Damian Fuller with a left hook that left him laid out for 30-45 minutes. They brought oxygen to him, they couldn't wake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diego-corrales/i-hit-damian-fuller-with-a-left-hook-that-left-him-laid-out-for-30-45/) [Diego Corrales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diego-corrales/) > [“As far as I’m concerned you have to give every relationship your all because if you’re going to get hurt, you’re going to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-green/as-far-as-i-m-concerned-you-have-to-give-every-relationship-your-all/) [Jane Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-green/) > [Give it your best shot. Go for it. If it's what you really want to do, go for it. 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One single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-elton/we-ve-just-lost-our-way-that-s-all-but-what-if-you-could-give-us-a/) [Ben Elton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-elton/) > [Life is too short to spend your precious time trying to convince the person who wants to live in gloom and doom otherwise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zig-ziglar/life-is-too-short-to-spend-your-precious-time-trying-to-convince-the/) [Zig Ziglar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zig-ziglar/) > [Competing for Wales in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne 2006 at the age of 16 was daunting for me. It was my first major…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jazmin-carlin/competing-for-wales-in-the-commonwealth-games-in-melbourne-2006-at/) [Jazmin Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jazmin-carlin/) > [Many shots are spoiled at the last instant by efforts to add a few more yards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-jones/many-shots-are-spoiled-at-the-last-instant-by-efforts-to-add-a-few/) [Bobby Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-jones/) > [Life is not rehearsal, each day is a new show , no repeat no rewind, so give your best shot in all your acts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-not-rehearsal-each-day-is-a-new-show-no-repeat-no-rewind-so/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If things don't work out, it's fine as long as I've given my best shot, done all the preparations and put in the maximum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mayank-agarwal/if-things-don-t-work-out-it-s-fine-as-long-as-i-ve-given-my-best-shot/) [Mayank Agarwal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mayank-agarwal/) > [ The debate was a chance for senator \[Bernie\] Sanders to have a game-changing moment to recapture the news cycle and build momentum going into… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-harris-perry/the-debate-was-a-chance-for-senator-bernie-sanders-to-have-a-game/) [Melissa Harris-Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-harris-perry/) > [“Whatever it is you are thinking of trying, go for it. Give it your best shot!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niklaus-mikaelson/whatever-it-is-you-are-thinking-of-trying-go-for-it-give-it-your-best/) [Niklaus Mikaelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niklaus-mikaelson/) > [The mind messes up more shots than the body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-bolt/the-mind-messes-up-more-shots-than-the-body/) [Tommy Bolt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-bolt/) ## More by T. E. Lawrence > [It is difficult to keep quiet when everything is being done wrong, but the less you lose your temper the greater your advantage. Also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/it-is-difficult-to-keep-quiet-when-everything-is-being-done-wrong-but/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [Some of the evil of my tale may have been inherent in our circumstances. For years we lived anyhow with one another in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/some-of-the-evil-of-my-tale-may-have-been-inherent-in-our/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [Your success will be proportioned to the amount of mental effort you devote to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/your-success-will-be-proportioned-to-the-amount-of-mental-effort-you/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [Club Secretary: I say, Lawrence. You are a clown! Lawrence: We can't all be lion tamers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/club-secretary-i-say-lawrence-you-are-a-clown-lawrence-we-can-t-all/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [He feared his maturity as it grew upon him with its ripe thought, its skill, its finished art; yet which lacked the poetry of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/he-feared-his-maturity-as-it-grew-upon-him-with-its-ripe-thought-its/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [I've been and am absurdly over-estimated. There are no supermen and I'm quite ordinary, and will say so whatever the artistic results. In that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/i-ve-been-and-am-absurdly-over-estimated-there-are-no-supermen-and-i/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [“Do not try to do too much with your own hands. Better the Arabs do it tolerably than that you do it perfectly. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/do-not-try-to-do-too-much-with-your-own-hands-better-the-arabs-do-it-2/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [Arab civilizations had been of an abstract nature, moral and intellectual rather than applied; and their lack of public spirit made their excellent private…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/arab-civilizations-had-been-of-an-abstract-nature-moral-and/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [We lived many lives in those whirling campaigns, never sparing ourselves; yet when we achieved, and the new world dawned, the old men came…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/we-lived-many-lives-in-those-whirling-campaigns-never-sparing/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [Bedouin ways were hard even for those brought up to them, and for strangers, terrible: a death in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/bedouin-ways-were-hard-even-for-those-brought-up-to-them-and-for/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [“In my case, the effort for these years to live in the dress of Arabs, and to imitate their mental foundation, quitted me of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/in-my-case-the-effort-for-these-years-to-live-in-the-dress-of-arabs/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [A first difficulty of the Arab movement was to say who the Arabs were. Being a manufactured people, their name had been changing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/a-first-difficulty-of-the-arab-movement-was-to-say-who-the-arabs-were/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [A thick headcloth forms a good protection against the sun, and if you wear a hat your best Arab friends will be ashamed of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/a-thick-headcloth-forms-a-good-protection-against-the-sun-and-if-you/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [If I could talk it like Dahoum, you would never be tired of listening to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/if-i-could-talk-it-like-dahoum-you-would-never-be-tired-of-listening/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [There is an ideal standard somewhere and only that matters and I cannot find it. Hence the aimlessness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/there-is-an-ideal-standard-somewhere-and-only-that-matters-and-i/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) [Explore all 62 T. E. Lawrence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) ## More Best shot quotes > [I hit Damian Fuller with a left hook that left him laid out for 30-45 minutes. They brought oxygen to him, they couldn't wake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diego-corrales/i-hit-damian-fuller-with-a-left-hook-that-left-him-laid-out-for-30-45/) [Diego Corrales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diego-corrales/) > [“Whatever it is you are thinking of trying, go for it. Give it your best shot!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niklaus-mikaelson/whatever-it-is-you-are-thinking-of-trying-go-for-it-give-it-your-best/) [Niklaus Mikaelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niklaus-mikaelson/) > [ The debate was a chance for senator \[Bernie\] Sanders to have a game-changing moment to recapture the news cycle and build momentum going into… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-harris-perry/the-debate-was-a-chance-for-senator-bernie-sanders-to-have-a-game/) [Melissa Harris-Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-harris-perry/) > [If things don't work out, it's fine as long as I've given my best shot, done all the preparations and put in the maximum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mayank-agarwal/if-things-don-t-work-out-it-s-fine-as-long-as-i-ve-given-my-best-shot/) [Mayank Agarwal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mayank-agarwal/) > [Life is not rehearsal, each day is a new show , no repeat no rewind, so give your best shot in all your acts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-not-rehearsal-each-day-is-a-new-show-no-repeat-no-rewind-so/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Many shots are spoiled at the last instant by efforts to add a few more yards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-jones/many-shots-are-spoiled-at-the-last-instant-by-efforts-to-add-a-few/) [Bobby Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-jones/) > [Competing for Wales in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne 2006 at the age of 16 was daunting for me. It was my first major…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jazmin-carlin/competing-for-wales-in-the-commonwealth-games-in-melbourne-2006-at/) [Jazmin Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jazmin-carlin/) > [Life is too short to spend your precious time trying to convince the person who wants to live in gloom and doom otherwise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zig-ziglar/life-is-too-short-to-spend-your-precious-time-trying-to-convince-the/) [Zig Ziglar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zig-ziglar/) > [“We've just lost our way, that's all. But what if you could give us a chance to do better? Just one chance? 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Levitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-d-levitt/) > [Give it your best shot. Go for it. If it's what you really want to do, go for it. Even if you don't make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carmen-rasmusen/give-it-your-best-shot-go-for-it-if-it-s-what-you-really-want-to-do/) [Carmen Rasmusen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carmen-rasmusen/) > [“As far as I’m concerned you have to give every relationship your all because if you’re going to get hurt, you’re going to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-green/as-far-as-i-m-concerned-you-have-to-give-every-relationship-your-all/) [Jane Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-green/) > [The mind messes up more shots than the body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-bolt/the-mind-messes-up-more-shots-than-the-body/) [Tommy Bolt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-bolt/) [Browse all 95 Best shot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best-shot/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "An opinion can be argued with; a conviction is best shot. 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