You can get so well educated in America that your thoughts become detached from common sense. You can get so complicated in your thinking that the obvious isn't real to you anymore.
Peggy NoonanRead
You don't tell people who disagree with you they'd be better off somewhere else. And you don't reduce them to stereotypes; you address them as fully formed people worthy of respect. You try to persuade them.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Respecting differing opinions involves dialogue and understanding, rather than dismissal.
In this quote, Peggy Noonan emphasizes the importance of treating people who hold different opinions with respect. Instead of alienating those who disagree or simplifying their beliefs into stereotypes, the quote advocates for engaging in thoughtful conversation with the aim of persuasion and understanding, acknowledging them as complex individuals deserving of dignity.
Themes
RespectDialogueUnderstandingDisagreementPersuasion
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about politics, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of respectful discourse.
More from Peggy Noonan
All quotes →If you join government, calmly make your contribution and move on. Don't go along to get along; do your best and when you have to - and you will - leave, and be something else.
Peggy NoonanRead
Wit penetrates; humor envelops. Wit is a function of verbal intelligence; humor is imagination operating on good nature.
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Naps are nature's way of reminding you that life is nice, like a beautiful swinging hammock strung between birth and infinity.
Peggy NoonanRead
We must try again to be alive to what the people of our country really long for in our national life: forgiveness and grace, maturity and wisdom. ...Our political leaders will know our priorities only if we tell them, again and again, and if those priorities begin to show up in the polls.
Peggy NoonanRead
When everyone in America knows you're in a dreadful position, admit you're in a dreadful position. Don't lie about it and make them roll their eyes, tell the truth and make them blink.
Peggy NoonanRead
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