
When one pushes you, the urge is to push back. This is weak.
Smart people learned - instead of opposing your small force to a bigger one - to pull a bully following his own move. The same way you turn a joke against the joker.
Remember that it is more intelligent to sail than to row.
This reminds me of a story:
One day, as the young Nasreddin sat by the gate of the village thinking up a scheme to smuggle some donkeys, a cow in the nearby field started mooing. It continued this loud activity for a long while. Two honourable villagers were also sitting by the gate, playing a game of dice. Wanting to get back at Nasreddin for making fun of them another day, they yelled: "That cow is talking to you, Hoca! Why don't you go and see what it wants?" Without a word, Nasreddin stood up and walked to the cow. He listened to it and bowed deeply towards the animal, then returned to the two jokers and said: "She told me: 'Hoca, what are you talking with those two asses? This is bad company for you.'"