Ill NATURES, the more you ask them the more they stick

Insights

Stubbornness as Defense

Suggests that individuals with unpleasant temperaments often respond to requests or persuasion with increased resistance, interpreting pressure as a challenge to their autonomy or control.

Resistance to Soft Appeals

Highlights the futility of appealing to the better nature of those whose dispositions are fundamentally obstinate, implying that kindness or persistence is ineffective against ingrained hostility.

Reinforcement of Negativity

Proposes that pressing those with ill will only reinforces their negativity, suggesting a self-perpetuating cycle of resentment and defiance.

Moral Psychology

The proverb reflects a psychological truth: those who harbor deep-seated resentment or pride may react to appeals or correction with defensive stubbornness, indicating how personality traits resist external modulation.

Social Cautionary Tale

Acts as a warning to avoid over-engaging with combative or bitter individuals, recognizing that pressure may backfire, escalating rather than resolving tension.

Historical Echo of Social Hierarchy

Historically, the phrase may reflect the frustrations of dealing with intractable individuals in hierarchical or servile roles, such as servants or subordinates, where obedience was expected and defiance—'sticking'—was noted as a character flaw.

Rhetorical Devices

Antithesis

Contrasts the action of 'asking' with the reaction of 'sticking,' highlighting the contradiction between reasonable request and unreasonable resistance.

Irony

Carries an ironic twist in that the more you try to elicit cooperation, the more entrenched the opposition becomes—a reversal of expected outcomes.

Colloquial Diction

The use of 'stick' in this idiomatic sense adds earthy immediacy and emotional realism, anchoring the proverb in everyday speech and experience.