great piece of advice i got awhile back from a century-old philosophy book:

"'Nothing is more provoking, when we are arguing against a man with reasons and explanations, and taking all pains to convince him, than to discover at last that he will not understand, that we have to do with his will.' [—Schopenhauer]

Hence the uselessness of logic: no one ever convinced anybody by logic; and even logicians use logic only as a source of income. To convince a man, you must appeal to his self-interest, his desires, his will."

—Will Durant, from The Story of Philosophy