Picking a fight you can’t win isn’t brave. It’s just a donation to the other side.

Courage and pride look identical from the inside, and pride is the one that starts arguments it cannot finish. Walking into a losing fight for the feeling of having gone in mostly hands the other side a win and a story to retell. That is different from standing up for something that matters, where the scoreboard was never the point.

Before the next confrontation, ask what changes if you go in. If the answer is nothing except your reputation for going in, keep it. If somebody is getting hurt, the question is different, and you do not have to carry that one alone.