About this quote

Shutting down disagreement usually says more about the person doing it than the argument they mean to defend. A position held with real confidence can sit calmly beside dissent; the need to silence others tends to grow from an unspoken fear of being wrong.

When to use it

• A manager who ridicules any employee that questions the plan in a meeting.
• An online argument where someone answers a fair point with insults instead of reasons.
• A parent who forbids a teenager from ever asking why a family rule exists.