Life & Wisdom Quote by Matthew Prior

Prior’s line is a neat piece of social arithmetic that flatters the reader while quietly indicting them. The opening clause admits a truth people love when they’re trying to sound fair: conflict is co-authored. “It takes two” spreads responsibility, punctures the martyr narrative, and makes room for the possibility that you’re not purely a victim. Then comes the pivot: “only one to end it.” Suddenly the symmetry collapses. The quote offers a dignified escape hatch from the addictive loop of being “right.”

The subtext is less kumbaya than power-aware. Ending a quarrel isn’t portrayed as a mutual epiphany; it’s an act of will. That framing matters because it smuggles in a moral challenge: if you can stop it alone, continuing is a choice, not a fate. It also reframes “backing down” as agency rather than surrender. Prior, a poet and diplomat steeped in courtly maneuvering, understood that public disputes aren’t just emotional storms; they’re performances with reputational stakes. In that world, the person who can disengage first isn’t weaker - they’re strategically literate.

There’s a sly pragmatism here, too. Quarrels persist because they offer rewards: attention, leverage, the pleasure of righteous indignation. Prior’s sentence breaks the spell by making exit sound simple, almost procedural. One person can end it - by refusing escalation, changing the subject, offering a face-saving concession, or withholding the next clever retort. The line’s elegance is its trap: once you accept the logic, you lose the alibi.