The Art of Always Being Right (Arthur Schopenhauer)

Schopenhauer, the great thinker, had a motto in life: vitam impendere vero, dedicate life to truth. In his later years though, he began avoiding discussions with the common ruck of people for fear of being tempted into sophism when being frustrated by their ignorance. With a black cynic vein growing in his mind he describes people in their innate vanity arguing with an eye toward victory, irrespective of the truth, "A man may objectively be in the right, but in the eyes of bystanders, and sometimes his own, he may come off worst." So with tongue in-cheek Schopenhauer finally decided to write a dirty, deceitful, and manipulative guide on how to argue.

The 38 types of tricks described in this book range from sophisticated and tactical, to simple unabashed chicanery. I read through this book in one evening but will make sure to re-read it several times just to remind myself of these mischievous and fun tricks. On almost half of them I laughed out loud because of how flagrant and shameless they were. I will only summarize two which I particularly enjoyed:

- This is beyond me

If you know that you have no reply to the arguments which your opponent advances, you can by a fine stroke of irony insinuate to the bystanders that what your opponent says is simply nonsense, and declare him an idiot. Note however, that this trick can only be used when the audience thinks much better of you than your opponent and is a particularly malicious assertion of one's own authority. For instance, a professor might use it on his student. The counter-trick is to say: "I beg your parton; but, with your penetrating intellect, it must be very easy for you to understand anything; and it can only be my poor statement of the matter that is at fault."; and then go on to rub it into him.

- Claim victory despite defeat

This impudent trick is played when the opponent has asked you several questions which have not turned out to be favorable to the conclusion at which you were going to aim for. Before he has a chance to close his argument, advance your desired conclusion to him and the audience (although it might not in the least follow) as though it was just proven, and proclaim victory triumphantly. If your opponent is shy or stupid and you have a good voice the trick will easily work in your favor.