In all private quarrels the duller nature is triumphant by reason of dullness.

— George Eliot

REFLECTION

WHAT THIS MEANS

Whoever cares least, or notices least, tends to win a domestic argument, because they can keep going while the other person is still feeling the last exchange. Sensitivity is a disadvantage in a contest of attrition. That is a reason to avoid contests of attrition, not a reason to become less sensitive.

If you keep losing the same argument at home, the problem may be format rather than content. Move it to writing, or to a set time with an ending, where being quick and unbothered stops counting as an advantage. Some conversations cannot be had in a doorway.

A QUESTION TO SIT WITH

Which argument did you lose by being the more reasonable one?

MORE IN MEANING & PERSPECTIVE

Free, with nothing to buy inside it.