I once saw a young man in the forum who could argue logic like a god but had no answer for a farmer asking why he must pay taxes. The youth grew red-faced, then sneered at the farmer’s lack of training until the crowd laughed and the farmer wept. I watched him fail because he believed his worth lay in his clever words rather than his ability to lead another soul back to reason. He treated the man as an obstacle instead of a patient waiting for guidance down the path of virtue.

Before you close your eyes tonight, take one person who seems foolish or obstinate and ask yourself what truth they need to hear right now. Do not offer them a display of your own wit or a sharp rebuke that only wounds their pride. Instead, show them the way gently as a guide would lead a lost traveler out of the woods. If you cannot do this without anger rising in your chest, then admit your own lack of skill and turn inward to fix your judgment.