Enjoy this today, I certainly did!
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AVOID AN ARGUMENT BOB PROCTOR Hello there and welcome back to Six Minutes.
I’m still reading Earl Nightingale. He said, “Do you want to know how to avoid an argument? You can do it by the simple expedient of asking questions. Instead of jumping in and disagreeing before you know any more than the other party about the subject under discussion, ask that person to state his case specifically and define his terms.”
Now listen to this for a moment. He said, “People who will, at the drop of a hat, argue on any subject under the sun, are people who enjoy ruffling the feelings of others. Willis Sloane once wrote an article titled ‘Arguments Don’t Win Friends’ in which he pointed out that arguments are useless. They’re more a matter of temper than temperate conversation and discussion.” He said, “I have found that an argument, like a potential highway accident, can generally be spotted from some distance away. And it can be avoided the same way: slow down, and approach with caution. In conversation, as in driving, the worse danger is speed. It’s pretty hard to get seriously hurt going 10 miles an hour.
You can avoid a serious dispute that could lead to a lot of heartache by just being extremely careful when you come upon a situation that is likely to erupt.” Just ask questions. Arguments are dumb. They get no one anywhere. The just drive you further in the direction you don’t want to go. I want you to spend a few minutes thinking about this lesson. Think about the last argument you got into, and say to yourself, “What could I have asked? What kind of questions could I ask to avoid an argument?”
Spend a few minutes thinking on that right now. This is Bob Proctor and thank you.