The pinnacle of human strength, you don't even have to lift a finger

Better a patient man than a warrior,
 a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.
Proverbs 16:32

Challenge your concept as to what is really a strong person's response to conflict. 

Warriors are always depicted as the hero in our stories, the picture of a real man.  It seems counter cultural to suggest otherwise.  Yet this proverb proposes that it is the bigger 'man' who walks away from a fight.

The power of this concept was really highlighted to me when teaching the kids from the commission flats to make good life choices.  These kids face serious confrontations everyday, whether it be due to race, religion or even the estate in which they live.  As a kid, the world tells them to fight back and stand up for themselves because no one else will.

When you tell these kids that it takes more strength to keep your mouth shut and walk away because it is only the weak who retaliate, suddenly the game changes.  I have seen a kid fired up ready to start swinging, a worker gets in their face and starts challenging them as to whether they are weak or strong.  The strong person controls their anger and walks away, this becomes the new benchmark that the kids strive for.

The challenge this proverb puts forward is next time you feel yourself getting fired up and you're justifying your anger, remember that it is only a weak person who retaliates.  The strong bite their tongue, just like my mother always told me 'If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all'.