Some boasts cannot be properly answered in kind; they must be beaten down. You cannot rise to that kind of occasion by braggadocio, but by belligerence. Only a bellicose riposte can belittle something too big for its own britches.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
Some imaginations are so high-minded only cold, hard reality can pull them down and the more exalted they imagine themselves to be, the harder they are humbled.
"As a general rule, I hate the fashions of society, and detest conventionalities, and if I conceived it best to put my foot through a law of etiquette, I should feel gratified in having it to do. No, we are men, not slaves; and are not to relinquish our manly freedom, to be the lacqueys of those who affect gentility or boast refinement." —
C.H. Spurgeon. Letters to My Students
Some rules cannot be kicked against hard enough. There are some boasts that cannot be beaten off too belligerently. Some conventionalities require unconventional confrontation. In other words, you should always kick, but when you do, you should put your foot through it with as much force as you can muster.
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