It is a thing of no great difficulty to raise objections against another man's oration, it is a very easy matter; but to produce a better in it's place is a work extremely troublesome.
Interpretation
Critiquing others is easy, but creating something better is challenging.
This quote by Plutarch highlights the ease of criticizing or challenging the ideas presented by others compared to the difficulty of coming up with superior alternatives. It serves as a reminder that while it's simple to point out flaws in someone else's work, true wisdom and contribution come from the effort to create something that enhances or surpasses what is already there.
In practice
During a debate, one could use this quote to encourage constructive contributions rather than mere criticism.
Sometimes small incidents, rather than glorious exploits, give us the best evidence of character. So, as portrait painters are more exact in doing the face, where the character is revealed, than the rest of the body, I must be allowed to give my more particular attention to the marks of the souls of men.
It were better to have no opinion of God at all than such a one as is unworthy of him; for the one is only belief - the other contempt.
Come back with your shield - or on it
The richest soil, if uncultivated, produces the rankest weeds.
For the correct analogy for the mind is not a vessel that needs filling, but wood that needs igniting.
Our senses through ignorance of Reality, falsely tell us that what appears to be, is. FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real
And I realized that sometimes the greatest triumphs in your life come in on little cat feet and sit on silent haunches and it's up to you to see it before it moves on.
We pay a heavy price for our fear of failure. It is a powerful obstacle to growth. It assures the progressive narrowing of the personality and prevents exploration and experimentation. There is no learning without some difficulty and fumbling. If you want to keep on learning, you must keep on risking failure-all your life.
Get work, get work; Be sure 'tis better than what you work to get.
God will never reveal more truth about himself until you have obeyed what you know already
It is a good rule never to look into the face of a man in the morning till you have looked into the face of God.
Wherever the invitation of men or your own occasions lead you, speak the very truth, as your life and conscience teach it, and cheer the waiting, fainting hearts of men with new hope and new revelation.
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