One of the early presidents of Harvard College wrote a dissertation on the question, "Whether angels speak any language; if so, whether it is Hebrew." Much futile discussion on such questions has at various times brought debating into ill repute. A question should offer something more than an ingenious exercise; it should offer the chance of arriving at some conclusion regarded by the particular audience or disputants as of some practical importance. It should be discarded if, like the proposition, "The pen is mightier than the sword/' it offers no possibility of arriving at reasonably sound conclusions through the process of argument.


p. 4-5; as cited in: Branham (2013, p. 32-33) - Argumentation and debating, 1908

William Trufant Foster Quotes

One of the early presidents of Harvard College wrote a dissertation on the question, Whether angels speak any language; if so, whether it is Hebrew....

One of the early presidents of Harvard College wrote a dissertation on the question, Whether angels speak any language; if so, whether it is Hebrew....

One of the early presidents of Harvard College wrote a dissertation on the question, Whether angels speak any language; if so, whether it is Hebrew....

One of the early presidents of Harvard College wrote a dissertation on the question, Whether angels speak any language; if so, whether it is Hebrew....