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
Seeking to forget makes exile all the longer; the secret of redemption lies in remembrance.
The future will show whether my foresight is as accurate now as it has proved heretofore.
Old men delight in giving good advice as a consolation for the fact that they can no longer set bad examples.
O unfathomable depth! O Deity eternal! O deep ocean! What more could You give me than to give me Yourself?
Man is only great when he acts from passion.
Cherish your solitude. Take trains by yourself to places you have never been. Sleep out alone under the stars.
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