Don't take the wrong side just because the other side got ahead of you and took the right side.

Don't take the wrong side just because the other side got ahead of you and took the right side.

cxlii

Never take the wrong side out of compulsion because the other side has gone ahead and taken the right side.

You begin the fight already defeated and soon must flee in shame. One can never win with a bad weapon. It is wise for the opponent to get the good one first; it is foolish for him to come late with the bad one. Such stubbornness is more dangerous in action than in words. This is because actions involve more danger than words. The common fault of the obstinate is that by refuting they lose the true, and by quarreling they lose the useful. The wise man never puts himself on the side of passion, but upholds the right cause, either discovering it first or improving it later. If the enemy is a fool, in such a case he will turn the other way, to take the wrong path. Therefore, the only way to drive him from the better path is to take it himself. For his folly will compel him to abandon it, and his obstinacy will punish him for doing so.

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