Anne

You can't win an argument

You can't win an argument. You can't because if you lose
it, you lose it;
and if you win it, you lose it. Well, suppose you triumph
over the other
man and shoot his arguments full of holes and prove that he
is a non compos
mentis. Then what? You will feel fine. But what about
him? You have made
him feel inferior. You have hurt his pride. He will resent
your triumph."

Sometimes when you are dealing with people, actually all the
time, you have
to ignore the little things. It is difficult to lead people
if they don't
like you and it is difficult for people to like you if you
are always trying
to prove them wrong. Not only can petty arguments cause you
difficulty in
attracting new friends it can also assist you in losing old
ones. So unless
it is absolutely vital, stay away from petty arguments!

This excerpt is from "How to Win Friends & Influence People"
by Dale Carnegie