Stoic Wisdoms

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Stoic Wisdoms
Winning Arguments, Losing Friends

Winning Arguments, Losing Friends

Learn to recognize when your ego is sabotaging your relationships and how to choose connection over winning.

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Stoic Wisdoms
Feb 27, 2025
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Stoic Wisdoms
Stoic Wisdoms
Winning Arguments, Losing Friends
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A few years ago, I had a normal Sunday dinner with my family. My sister mentioned something about a historical event that I was certain she had wrong. I immediately corrected her, citing facts I remembered from a documentary I'd watched. She disagreed, insisting her version was correct.

What should have been a trivial moment turned into a full-blown argument. I pulled out my phone to prove I was right. My voice got louder. I interrupted her repeatedly. I called her "ridiculous" for believing something so obviously wrong.

When I finally found the information that proved me correct, I felt that rush of satisfaction we all know too well. I smiled smugly and held up my phone like a trophy.

But then I looked around the table.

The room had gone quiet. My sister looked hurt and embarrassed. My parents seemed uncomfortable. And for what? So I could be right about a fact that, in the grand scheme of things, didn't matter at all?

In that moment, I realized I had "won" the argument but lost something…

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