But in stating prudential rules for our government
in society I must not omit the important
one of never entering into dispute or argument
with another. I never saw an instance of one
of two disputants convincing the other by argument.
I have seen many, on their getting warm,
becoming rude, and shooting one another. Conviction
is the effect of our own dispassionate
reasoning, either in solitude, or weighing within
ourselves, dispassionately, what we hear from
others, standing uncommitted in argument ourselves.
It was one of the rules which, above all
others, made Doctor Franklin the most amiable
of men in society "never to contradict anybody."
If he was urged to announce an opinion, he did
it rather by asking questions, as if for information,
or by suggesting doubts. When I hear another
express an opinion which is not mine, I
say to myself he has a right to his opinion, as
I to mine; why should I question it? His error
does me no injury, and shall I become a Don
Quixote, to bring all men by force of argument
to one opinion? If a fact be misstated, it is
probable he is gratified by a belief of it, and I
have no right to deprive him of the gratification.
If he wants information, he will ask it, and then
I will give it in measured terms; but if he still
believes his own story, and shows a desire to
dispute the fact with me, I hear him and say
nothing. It is his affair, not mine, if he prefers
error.
There are two classes of disputants most frequently
to be met with among us. The first is
of young students, just entered the threshold of
science, with a first view of its outlines, not yet
filled up with the details and modifications which
a further progress would bring to their knowledge.
The other consists of the ill-tempered and
rude men in society, who have taken up a passion
for politics. (Good humor and politeness
never introduce into mixt society a question on
which they foresee there will be a difference of
opinion.) From both of those classes of disputants,
my dear Jefferson, keep aloof as you
would from the infected subjects of yellow fever
or pestilence. Consider yourself, when with
them, as among the patients of Bedlam, needing
medical more than moral counsel. Be a listener
only, keep within yourself, and endeavor to establish
with yourself the habit of silence, especially
on politics. In the fevered state of our
country no good can ever result from any attempt
to set one of these fiery zealots to rights, either
in fact or principle. They are determined as to
the facts they will believe, and the opinions on
which they will act. Get by them, therefore, as
you would by an angry bull; it is not for a man
of sense to dispute the road with such an animal.
in society I must not omit the important
one of never entering into dispute or argument
with another. I never saw an instance of one
of two disputants convincing the other by argument.
I have seen many, on their getting warm,
becoming rude, and shooting one another. Conviction
is the effect of our own dispassionate
reasoning, either in solitude, or weighing within
ourselves, dispassionately, what we hear from
others, standing uncommitted in argument ourselves.
It was one of the rules which, above all
others, made Doctor Franklin the most amiable
of men in society "never to contradict anybody."
If he was urged to announce an opinion, he did
it rather by asking questions, as if for information,
or by suggesting doubts. When I hear another
express an opinion which is not mine, I
say to myself he has a right to his opinion, as
I to mine; why should I question it? His error
does me no injury, and shall I become a Don
Quixote, to bring all men by force of argument
to one opinion? If a fact be misstated, it is
probable he is gratified by a belief of it, and I
have no right to deprive him of the gratification.
If he wants information, he will ask it, and then
I will give it in measured terms; but if he still
believes his own story, and shows a desire to
dispute the fact with me, I hear him and say
nothing. It is his affair, not mine, if he prefers
error.
There are two classes of disputants most frequently
to be met with among us. The first is
of young students, just entered the threshold of
science, with a first view of its outlines, not yet
filled up with the details and modifications which
a further progress would bring to their knowledge.
The other consists of the ill-tempered and
rude men in society, who have taken up a passion
for politics. (Good humor and politeness
never introduce into mixt society a question on
which they foresee there will be a difference of
opinion.) From both of those classes of disputants,
my dear Jefferson, keep aloof as you
would from the infected subjects of yellow fever
or pestilence. Consider yourself, when with
them, as among the patients of Bedlam, needing
medical more than moral counsel. Be a listener
only, keep within yourself, and endeavor to establish
with yourself the habit of silence, especially
on politics. In the fevered state of our
country no good can ever result from any attempt
to set one of these fiery zealots to rights, either
in fact or principle. They are determined as to
the facts they will believe, and the opinions on
which they will act. Get by them, therefore, as
you would by an angry bull; it is not for a man
of sense to dispute the road with such an animal.