Quote of the Week...from Mark Twain

Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference. 
                                                                      ---Mark Twain.

This quote indirectly came to me from a friend's post on Facebook as he related his workplace experience arguing some points with someone...somebody else showed him a paraphrase of Twain's above quote. Actually, the great American author may have derived his own saying from a Proverbs verse...more on that and its interesting accompanying verse later.  First of all, I don't think anyone is completely a fool...each of us has areas in our lives in which we behave foolishly or entertain foolish thoughts. But the quote pertains when someone we encounter is in the midst of their particular foolishness...the temptation to react and correct them can be overwhelming.  But if their beliefs are irrationally and/or emotionally based and, after a bit of back-and-forth exchange with them, it is obvious that nothing positive is coming out of the discussion, it is better to politely step back out of it without trying to hammer your own points onto the other.  Else, as Twain said, onlookers may not be able to discern who is the greater fool...

As to the verses found in the Old Testament book of Proverbs, we look in Chapter 26, first at Verse 4: Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him.  Good, that seems to reflect the sentiment of this article, doesn't it?  But wait...read on what it says in Verse 5: Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.  So the Bible seems to be giving us a choice: which is more important, not looking like a fool to others or convincing another of his own error?  I say it's okay to express my disagreement with someone by expressing my case as being my own sentiments, not making it all sound like some kind of immutable universal law that must be obeyed and believed, and then change the subject or walk away. That way, I've at least planted a seed in his or her mind as well as those of any onlookers.  By the way, graciously letting the "fool" have the last word is a good idea as well, although for a lot of us that may be pretty difficult...