Defending ourselves by engaging in arguments with actively drinking or otherwise irrational people is as fruitless as donning armor to protect ourselves from a nuclear explosion. Only a Power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity. ~ Family Groups, Al-Anon. Courage to Change—One Day at a Time in Al‑Anon II. Al-Anon Family Groups. Kindle Edition.

Arguing destroys your peace,
strips you of serenity.
And if you hold in what
you want to say, never communicate
your irritation, it’s a smoldering fire
ready to ignite. Claim your peace,
declare it yours, “God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.”
And, serenity claimed, pass peace on
by loving the thing, the person,
you cannot change…by loving!!