--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Never pick a fight with people who buy…" description: "\"Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel.\" — Mark Twain" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63b/mark-twain-22_barrel_never-pick-a-fight-with-people-who-buy-i_704029.png" --- # Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel. ![“Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel.” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63b/mark-twain-22_barrel_never-pick-a-fight-with-people-who-buy-i_704029.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63b/mark-twain-22_barrel_never-pick-a-fight-with-people-who-buy-i_704029.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63b/mark-twain-22_barrel_never-pick-a-fight-with-people-who-buy-i_704029.png) > “Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel.” [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Avoid confronting those who profit from endless conflict. **In simple terms:** Don’t fight people who thrive on disputes. Key Takeaway Choose battles wisely. Themes conflict strategy self‑preservation Mood cautious strategic Type practical philosophical When to use this quote - business negotiations - political debates - personal relationships - legal disputes Key Concepts power dynamics resource control social tactics Questions to Reflect On - Who benefits from your conflicts? - How can you defuse a volatile situation? A Different Perspective Sometimes confrontation is necessary to stop exploitation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fight/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [My pappy told me never to bet my bladder against a brewery or get into an argument with people who buy ink by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lane-kirkland/my-pappy-told-me-never-to-bet-my-bladder-against-a-brewery-or-get/) [Lane Kirkland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lane-kirkland/) > [If I play badly I'll pick a fight in the third, just to get into a fight. I'll break a guy's leg to win,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-sanderson/if-i-play-badly-i-ll-pick-a-fight-in-the-third-just-to-get-into-a/) [Derek Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-sanderson/) > [“I will fight for my people, but will they do the same for me?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mihailo-petrovic/i-will-fight-for-my-people-but-will-they-do-the-same-for-me/) Mihailo Petrovic > [I fight for other people better than I fight for myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eartha-kitt/i-fight-for-other-people-better-than-i-fight-for-myself/) [Eartha Kitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eartha-kitt/) > [“She wouldn't pick up a fight him just because she was bored.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainbow-rowell/she-wouldn-t-pick-up-a-fight-him-just-because-she-was-bored/) [Rainbow Rowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainbow-rowell/) > [Sometimes you fight what you are, and sometimes you give in to it. And some nights you just don’t want to fight yourself anymore,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/sometimes-you-fight-what-you-are-and-sometimes-you-give-in-to-it-and/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [You don't want to pick a fight with a wrestler.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-brands/you-don-t-want-to-pick-a-fight-with-a-wrestler/) [Tom Brands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-brands/) > [“You can't always pick where you fight, or who you fight...or even... how you fight. But do the picking...whenever you can.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cinda-williams-chima/you-can-t-always-pick-where-you-fight-or-who-you-fight-or-even-how/) [Cinda Williams Chima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cinda-williams-chima/) > [I'm the first guy to jump on somebody and pick a fight with them, at least verbally, I try to do it with some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-shamrock/i-m-the-first-guy-to-jump-on-somebody-and-pick-a-fight-with-them-at/) [Frank Shamrock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-shamrock/) > [Some guys may try to pick a fight with you because you're different. Take the high road and just walk away. It's that easy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/some-guys-may-try-to-pick-a-fight-with-you-because-you-re-different/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There's so much myth and baloney. Like a 80-year-old man able to manhandle a 300-pounder with his little finger. Ridiculous. Or this matter of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-lee/there-s-so-much-myth-and-baloney-like-a-80-year-old-man-able-to/) [Bruce Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-lee/) > [Never pick a fight with an ugly person, they've got nothing to lose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/never-pick-a-fight-with-an-ugly-person-they-ve-got-nothing-to-lose/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [“I don’t have time for this I’ve got to go pick a fight with a muscular stranger.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spongebob-authors/i-don-t-have-time-for-this-i-ve-got-to-go-pick-a-fight-with-a/) Spongebob authors > [You can't pick a fight with anyone doing something with your sound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mustard/you-can-t-pick-a-fight-with-anyone-doing-something-with-your-sound/) Mustard > [When you win, you get to pick someone in front of you to fight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-gaethje/when-you-win-you-get-to-pick-someone-in-front-of-you-to-fight/) [Justin Gaethje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-gaethje/) ## More by Mark Twain > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-creator-sat-upon-the-throne-thinking-behind-him-stretched-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [It's easy to quit smoking. I've done it hundreds of times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-s-easy-to-quit-smoking-i-ve-done-it-hundreds-of-times/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It is never wrong to do the right thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-never-wrong-to-do-the-right-thing/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-man-accustomed-to-american-food-and-american-domestic-cookery-would/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [There is nothing training can't cannot do. Nothing is above its reach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-is-nothing-training-can-t-cannot-do-nothing-is-above-its-reach/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-never-write-metropolis-for-seven-cents-because-i-can-get-the-same/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The higher animals get their teeth without pain or inconvenience. Man gets his through months and months of cruel torture; he will never get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-higher-animals-get-their-teeth-without-pain-or-inconvenience-man/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“As far as I can see, Italy, for fifteen hundred years, has turned all her energies, all her finances, and all her industry to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/as-far-as-i-can-see-italy-for-fifteen-hundred-years-has-turned-all/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Begin with the determination to succeed and the work is half done already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/begin-with-the-determination-to-succeed-and-the-work-is-half-done/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Many public-school children seem to know only two dates—1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/many-public-school-children-seem-to-know-only-two-dates-1492-and-4th/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If we could imagine such a man, that is a man who could invent the fly and send him out on his mission and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-we-could-imagine-such-a-man-that-is-a-man-who-could-invent-the-fly/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [You perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. You perceive that they are pure and puerile insanities, the silly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/you-perceive-now-that-these-things-are-all-impossible-except-in-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/lord-save-us-all-from-a-hope-tree-that-has-lost-the-faculty-of/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) [Explore all 3,277 Mark Twain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## More Barrel quotes > [It's good to find the barrel of the bat again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chase-utley/it-s-good-to-find-the-barrel-of-the-bat-again/) [Chase Utley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chase-utley/) > [Let me make it clear: The Disbursement Allocation Program is not pork barrel. Of the DAP releases in 2011 and 2012, only nine percent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benigno-aquino-iii/let-me-make-it-clear-the-disbursement-allocation-program-is-not-pork/) [Benigno Aquino III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benigno-aquino-iii/) > [“Political power grows out of the barrel of the gun...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-tse-tung/political-power-grows-out-of-the-barrel-of-the-gun/) [Mao Tse-tung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-tse-tung/) > [I'm kind of a bottom-of-the-barrel guy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dabo-swinney/i-m-kind-of-a-bottom-of-the-barrel-guy/) [Dabo Swinney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dabo-swinney/) > [How do you deliver democracy to a country? You don't do it down the barrel of a gun. That's not how you deliver it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moore/how-do-you-deliver-democracy-to-a-country-you-don-t-do-it-down-the/) [Michael Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moore/) > [In this business, you can be at the top of the world and at the bottom of the barrel, and you're grape juice. I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-basinger/in-this-business-you-can-be-at-the-top-of-the-world-and-at-the-bottom/) [Kim Basinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-basinger/) > [You're just trying to work on things in Spring Training, try to put the barrel on the ball and not peak too early.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-rendon/you-re-just-trying-to-work-on-things-in-spring-training-try-to-put/) [Anthony Rendon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-rendon/) > [Russia does not have a modern economy: it's a petro-power. The only thing it sells that the world wants to buy is oil and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-troia-mcfarland/russia-does-not-have-a-modern-economy-it-s-a-petro-power-the-only/) [Kathleen Troia McFarland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-troia-mcfarland/) > [“Tough to part; lock, stock and barrel. Something remains, like recognizable tastes and smells, which kindle the faculty of memory, yea-pricks the soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aporvakala/tough-to-part-lock-stock-and-barrel-something-remains-like/) APORVAKALA > [“Two of the deadliest people the Barrel had to offer and they could barely touch each other without both of them keeling over.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-bardugo/two-of-the-deadliest-people-the-barrel-had-to-offer-and-they-could/) [Leigh Bardugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-bardugo/) > [If a war started, the oil price probably would go up, as you said, maybe $5, $6 a barrel until you saw other oil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-yergin/if-a-war-started-the-oil-price-probably-would-go-up-as-you-said-maybe/) [Daniel Yergin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-yergin/) > [The Federal Reserve - all of them - could be sitting on a barrel of dynamite, and then pouring gasoline on top of it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-faber/the-federal-reserve-all-of-them-could-be-sitting-on-a-barrel-of/) [Marc Faber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-faber/) > [All you need is a double barrel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-biden/all-you-need-is-a-double-barrel/) [Joe Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-biden/) > [Do not let friars enter your wine cellars for fear they will bless every barrel and change the wine into blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wycliffe/do-not-let-friars-enter-your-wine-cellars-for-fear-they-will-bless/) [John Wycliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wycliffe/) > [Simon Monjack had nothing to do with 'Factory Girl.' He filed a frivolous lawsuit against us... making bogus claims that we had stolen his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-hickenlooper/simon-monjack-had-nothing-to-do-with-factory-girl-he-filed-a/) [George Hickenlooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-hickenlooper/) Browse all 69 Barrel quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Twain" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/never-pick-a-fight-with-people-who-buy-ink-by-the-barrel/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Barrel" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/never-pick-a-fight-with-people-who-buy-ink-by-the-barrel/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63b/mark-twain-22_barrel_never-pick-a-fight-with-people-who-buy-i_704029.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63b/mark-twain-22_barrel_never-pick-a-fight-with-people-who-buy-i_704029.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/63b/mark-twain-22_barrel_never-pick-a-fight-with-people-who-buy-i_704029.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel.” — Mark Twain", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Mark Twain", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Never pick a fight with people...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/never-pick-a-fight-with-people-who-buy-ink-by-the-barrel/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/never-pick-a-fight-with-people-who-buy-ink-by-the-barrel/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```