Slow Havamal: 125

In verse 125, Odin counsels Loddfafnir not to speak so much as three words with a worse man. A better man often loses the fight.

We’ve recently heard many reasons not to consort with people of low character. If you needed one more, it’s that being a better person doesn’t guarantee that you will come out on top in a scuffle. That can be a verbal argument, or a fist fight. Either way, the good tend to play to the level of the opponent. An ornery soul can bring out the worst in us, and our efforts to defeat him fall prey to our passions and sheer bad luck.( Read more... )