I think I've discovered a paradox...

[Atatürk]

Two men, Bob and Dave, are in a bar and commence conversation.

Bob: Dave, you're stubborn.
Dave: No, I'm not.
Bob: Yes, you are.
Dave: No, I'm not.
Bob: Then why can't you admit it?
Dave: Because if I admit it, I'm stubborn. If I refuse to admit it, I'm stubborn. There's nothing I can do.
Bob: Admit it!
Dave: No.
Bob: Just admit that you're stubborn!
Dave: I'm not stubborn.
Bob: Yes you are, you're refusing to admit that you're stubborn.
Dave: But I'm not stubborn.
Bob: Yes, you are.
Dave: No, I'm not.
Bob: Yes, you are. Just admit it.
...

Dave is in a situation where he cannot escape being stubborn. His ass like persistence at refusing to admit that he's stubborn make him very stubborn. But if he admits to being stubborn, despite the possibility of not having started as such, then he's also stubborn.

[Biggreenfellow]

Bob: You're stubborn.
Dave: Only when I'm stubborn.

Problem solved.

[Atatürk]

Bob: You're stubborn.
Dave: Only when I'm stubborn.

Bob: You're always stubborn.

[Biggreenfellow]

Bob: You're always stubborn.

Dave: No-one is always stubborn. How could one be stubborn, for instance, when they are asleep?

Or, much more fun:

Dave: Prove it.

[Atatürk]

Dave: Prove it.

Bob: Stop being so stubborn.

[vlach]

Bob: you're stubborn
Dave: i slept with your wife

the end

[Biggreenfellow]

Bob: Stop being so stubborn.

Dave: That is not prove. It's very stubborn of you to keep saying I'm stubborn while refusing to expand on it. In fact, I've noticed that a lot about you... You are very stubborn. Yes you are. Yes you are. YES YOU ARE!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH *machinegun firing, women and children screaming, the world exploding*

[Ariovistus Maximus]

Dave: I'm not sure; maybe you're right but I've never thought of myself that way.

[SigniferOne]

The simple answer is that when the stubborn guy acknowledges he is stubborn, by that fact alone he gets less stubborn.

[chriscase]

Works the same for "You're in denial!", "No, I'm not!" etc.

[Ariovistus Maximus]

Works the same for "You're in denial!", "No, I'm not!" etc.

DISOBEY ME!!!

[Nefarious]

Two men, Bob and Dave, are in a bar and commence conversation.

They are in a drinking establishment. Any claims of absolute are to be taken with a sip of...Absolut.

Bob: Dave, you're stubborn.
Dave: No, I'm not.
Bob: Yes, you are.

Others unwillingness to agree with one's views is not stubborn, merely individualistic free thought.

Dave: No, I'm not.
Bob: Then why can't you admit it?
Dave: Because if I admit it, I'm stubborn. If I refuse to admit it, I'm stubborn. There's nothing I can do.

Bob pushes an untenable case whilst Dave swings and misses at a simple home run pitch.
They have both, quite obviously, imbibed too much.

Bob: Admit it!
Dave: No.
Bob: Just admit that you're stubborn!
Dave: I'm not stubborn.

Anger, resentment, passive-aggressive responses. Might someone call a taxi, please?

Bob: Yes you are, you're refusing to admit that you're stubborn.
Dave: But I'm not stubborn.
Bob: Yes, you are.
Dave: No, I'm not.
Bob: Yes, you are. Just admit it.

With this, the tavern matriarch is left with no recourse other than the removal of the two miscreants.
One cannot take rejection and failure, the other has no opinion of even himself.
They are both to be summarily removed from civilization until they learn to be, well, civil.

Dave is in a situation where he cannot escape being stubborn.

Dave's escape from the situation is only two bar stools away. Move away from the aggressor. And moving will show he is not so stubborn as to stay in an adversarial conversation.

His ass like persistence at refusing to admit that he's stubborn make him very stubborn.

No, it makes him stupid. He is falling into a cyclical drunken rambling without the intellect to escape.
Dave is not stubborn. Dave is dense.

But if he admits to being stubborn, despite the possibility of not having started as such, then he's also stubborn.

No. If he admits it then he is weak. Weak people, such as Dave, cannot afford to be stubborn.

Good riddance to them both.
Now that the mental midgets have been removed from the premises, perhaps we can all return to our respective games of chess and darts.
I hear it may rain later this evening.
Sarah. Over here, love.
I should like to buffer myself against the oncoming chill with another glass of The Macallan, please.

(slowly removes tongue from cheek)

[General George Monck]

Dear Atatürk,

This is not a paradox but a contradiction in language that forces the interlocutor to state the opposite, otherwise called a linguistic puzzle. A paradox must be an essential contradiction, but since language is contingent then the contradiction is merely a necessary condition of its existence.

If Dave agrees that he is stubborn he instantiates the opposite (he is then either lying or wrong).

If Dave disagrees that he is stubborn he substantiates the accusation (again he is then either lying or wrong).

Dave is either lying or wrong in his statements but he is not forced to be stubborn in his essence.

What do you think?

GGM

[CamilleBonparte]

Dave is in a situation where he cannot escape being stubborn.

So if Dave says "Yes, I am stubborn" then he is automatically stubborn? Does that mean I can say "I have 3 arms", and from then on be known as the three-armed wonder?

No. Saying something doesn't make it so. There is no paradox here.

[SigniferOne]

Saying "I am stubborn" in fact makes a person not stubborn, because he acknowledges the fact and reduces the stubbornness which would've led someone else to deny the claim. So he accepts the label, and by accepting it, makes it mean little when applied to himself. This is why apologies and acceptances of blame work in human society; although you accept it, you actually make it not true in the same breath.

[iudas]

Is the answer to this question 'no'?

[Ariovistus Maximus]

Is the answer to this question 'no'?

The answer is "52."

[General George Monck]

The answer is "52."

No, no, my friend, it's quite obviously 42. It's just the question we have to discover.

GGM

[Fev]

Reminds me when I did some sort of personality test where I had to judge whether or nor I can judge myself well.

[KillThatPenguin]

If only to shut Bob up, Dave could just say that he was stubborn whilst not actually being stubborn