“Oh, I have lost some of the fights I’ve been in, some sudden little dustups for which I wasn’t well-prepared and a couple of larger ones in which I was mostly just involved as a bit player. If you really want to win you can always be certain to pick in advance a much weaker opponent and crush him, but that’s bullying. Or you can take on someone who outclasses you and really deserves a good beating, and wait for a chance when he’s not in his best shape, though you may have a long wait.
But I’ve never lost a scrap with an opponent whose pants were on fire, while he was swatting at angry hornets buzzing around his mouth and eyes, and while rattlesnakes nipped at his ankles. The trick is to be ready for the hornets, snakes and assorted secondary fires yourself.
By the way: this also applies to political fights on a national scale as much as it does to one in the parking lot behind the local roadhouse….” – H.J. Halterman, Along the Way, 2009