then be the type of person who has the courage to call someone an "asshole" to his or her* face. Don't be the sniffling, wimpy, cowardly person who calls someone an "asshole" under his breath, or yells it from his car, for after he has distanced himself far enough from the person to negate the possibility of a physical response. Have the courage of your convictions!
True, of course, often times the assholes in our lives have some sort of social power over us. They are, for example, our employers, managers, teachers, parents, the police, our customers, some mindless bureaucrats, and so on. In that context, discretion is perhaps the better part of valor. So I suggest that one master the art of language such that one may call a person an asshole without him or her being really sure whether you have or not. Read your Shakespeare. Old William had his characters call many another an asshole, yet the recipients were often unsure and well as the readers/audiences.
Needless to say, one should try to reduce the instances where oneself is the asshole. And sometimes, just sometimes, calling another person an asshole is itself assholely behavior. Be careful. Be selective. Be circumspect. Don't become what you hate.
* Until recently, I never thought of women as asshole material. But now as gender lines have been blurred, and women have become more masculine (and men more feminine), more and more women are behaving like asshole (as more men are acting like bitches).
