Better give your path to a dog, than be bitten by him in contesting for the right

No man resolved to make the most of himself can spare time for personal contention. Still less can he afford to take all the consequences, including the vitiating of his temper and loss of self-control. Yield larger things to which you can show no more than equal right; and yield lesser ones, though clearly your own. Better give your path to a dog than be bitten by him in contesting for the right. Even killing the dog would not cure the bite.

Abraham Lincoln, letter to Frank Blair

Lincoln was so unusual in actually living up to these words. I wish we had a few politicians ready to try this themselves.