You can never win against a smiling man

A stance one takes in an argument to smile, remain calm, collected and to focus on the argument's topic at hand without referring to falling back on snide remarks or insults of the opposing side.

During an argument, you sit back with a smile, keeping your cool and staying confident, picking your words carefully, even admitting defeat at certain points if the other is right.

Most of the time, the opposition will be backed into a corner after being at a loss for words for you being completely correct and unless they are a competitive person who refuses to admit defeat or that they are wrong (which most people are), then they will resort to other means of winning the argument, in which case they have lost regardless.

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Do you want to win the argument, or make a difference

So much of our current social and political discourse is based on proving the other wrong i.e. winning the argument. We don't demonstrate enough empathy to understand where the "other" is coming from and the merits of their point. A black and white world is a construct of our own imagination and our desire to imprint our views on to others. It ignores the beauty that the synthesis or fusion of diverse ideas enables.

John had made a life out of proving people wrong. He took pride in being able to argue against any position and win. He was a talk show host. One night when he was grilling a guest who was making a point around having improved gun controls in place. John, barely let she finish her sentences, was adversarial and was not listening. At the end of the segment the guest said; "John, do you want to win the argument, or make a difference".