On Conversation (1782) [ Concepts ]
… 'tis equally in vain, Your thread of argument is snapp'd again; The wrangler, rather than accord with you, Will judge himself deceived, and prove it too. Vociferated logic kills me quite, A noisy man is always in the right, I twirl my thumbs, … remote conclusions at a jump: Their own defect, invisible to them, Seen in another, they at once condemn; And, though self-idolised in every case, Hate their own likeness in a brother's face. The cause is plain, and not to be denied, The … resort, What makes some sick, and others à-la-mort , An argument of cogence, we may say, Why such a one should keep himself away. A graver coxcomb we may sometimes see, Quite as absurd, though not so light as he: A shallow brain behind a …
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