Wit is cheap, and anger is cheap, but if you cannot argue or explain yourself to the other party, cleave to the truth, against me, against thee, and you gain a situation from which you cannot be dislodged. The other party will forget the words that you spoke, but the part you took continues to plead for you.
From Worship, Essays, The Conduct of Life, by Ralph Waldo Emerson
In the heat of an argument, there is often nothing worse than a witty counter remark when you are trying to make a point. If you respond in anger, the other party may likely protest that you can't take a joke.
The wisdom of this quote to me is that it is usually easier to speak the plain truth. Not only is the truth easier to remember, but it usually doesn't have to be enhanced.
I read somewhere that it is useful to consider why a person says something in a particular way. Was the communication intended to provoke a specific response - as a provocation of some sort? The passage I read suggested that the way someone addresses another is how that person expects to be addressed in return. That a sarcastic remark is expected in return for a sarcastic remark - disrespect for disrespect - which results in confusion. In other words, a person who speaks with disrepect to others wants to be spoken to with disrepect.
On occasion, remembering this keeps me from descending down a path I know in my bones that I will regret. Taking those words (the exact words I do not remember) to heart, I try to take a breath when confronted with untruth.
Wit and anger are cheap substitutes for the truth.
