"May the sun bring you energy by day,

May the moon softly restore you by night,

May the rain wash away your worries,

May the breeze blow new strength into your being.

May you walk gently through the world

and know its beauty all the days of your life."

Apache Blessing

"I should never have surrendered. I should have fought until I was the last man alive." — Goyahkla a.k.a. Geronimo (1829-1909), a POW for 23 years

Never judge a book by its cover.

"My passions were all gathered together like fingers that made a fist. Drive is considered aggression today; I knew it then as purpose." ― Bette Davis

"Chess is a sport. The main object in the game of chess remains the achievement of victory." ― Max Euwe

"It is a profound mistake to imagine that the art of combination depends only on natural talent, and that it cannot be learned." ― Richard Reti

"The most powerful weapon in chess is to have the next move." ― David Bronstein

"Unadaptability is often a virtue." ― Flannery O'Connor

"Giving doesn't always involve money." ― Charmaine J. Forde

"A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes." — Mahatma Gandhi

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." — Plato

"Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." — Lao Tzu

"Happiness is like a butterfly. The more you chase it, the more it eludes you. But if you turn your attention to other things, it comes and sits softly on your shoulder." — Henry David Thoreau

"We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit." — Aristotle

Virgil's Aeneid: "Fortune favors the bold."

"You cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs" — Robert Louis Stevenson, 1897.

"Prepare for the worst but hope for the best." — The Wondrous Tale of Alroy by Benjamin Disraeli, published in 1833

"Life is what you make it: If you snooze, you lose; and if you snore, you lose more." — Phyllis George

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new." — Albert Einstein

Galatians 6:7 in the Bible "Be not deceived, God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

"those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" is often cited as originating in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde written in 1385.

"It is the part of a wise man to keep himself today for tomorrow, and not venture all his eggs in one basket." The phrase appeared in Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes, in 1615.

"To lose patience is to lose the battle." — Mahatma Gandhi

"I take things as they come and find that patience and persistence tend to win out in the end." — Paul Kane

"Patience, persistence, and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success." — Napoleon Hill

"Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for – in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it." — Ellen Goodman

"If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow." — Ancient Chinese Proverb

"Never be bullied into silence, never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life, define yourself." — Robert Frost

"Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail." — Confucius

"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light." — JK Rowling

"Not all those who wander are lost." — J. R. R. Tolkien

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do." — Mark Twain

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them." — John F. Kennedy

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly." — Albert Einstein

"We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies." — Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new." — Socrates

"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." — Eleanor Roosevelt

"In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." — Abraham Lincoln

"Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it." — Charles Swindoll

"Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them." — Dalai Lama

"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are." — John Wooden

"Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The wind cannot defeat a tree with strong roots." — The Revenant

"Win with grace, lose with dignity!" ― Susan Polgar

"What does it take to be a champion? Desire, dedication, determination, personal and professional discipline, focus, concentration, strong nerves, the will to win, and yes, talent!" ― Susan Polgar

"No matter how successful you are (or will be), never ever forget the people who helped you along the way, and pay it forward! Don't become arrogant and conceited just because you gained a few rating points or made a few bucks. Stay humble and be nice, especially to your fans!" ― Susan Polgar

"When you see a good move – WAIT! – look for a better one." ― Emanuel Lasker The Portuguese chess player and author Pedro Damiano (1480–1544) first wrote this in his book "Questo libro e da imparare giocare a scachi et de li partiti" published in Rome, Italy, in 1512.

"Capablanca didn't make separate moves - he was creating a chess picture. Nobody could compare with him in this." ― Mikhail Botvinnik

"Whether this advantage is theoretically sufficient to win or not does not worry Capablanca. He simply wins the ending. That is why he is Capablanca!" ― Max Euwe

"He (Capablanca) makes the game look easy. Art lies in the concealment of art." ― Philip W. Sergeant

"It's entirely possible that Capa could not imagine that there could be a better move than one he thought was good and he was usually right." ― Mike Franett

"Capablanca's games generally take the following course: he begins with a series of extremely fine prophylactic maneuvers, which neutralize his opponent's attempts to complicate the game; he then proceeds, slowly but surely, to set up an attacking position. This attacking position, after a series of simplifications, is transformed into a favorable endgame, which he conducts with matchless technique." ― Aaron Nimzowitsch

"What others could not see in a month's study, he (Capablanca) saw at a glance." ― Reuben Fine

"Capablanca invariably chose the right option, no matter how intricate the position." ― Garry Kasparov.

"He (Capablanca) had the totally undeserved reputation of being the greatest living endgame player. His trick was to keep his openings simple and then play with such brilliance that it was decided in the middle game before reaching the ending - even though his opponent didn't always know it. His almost complete lack of book knowledge forced him to push harder to squeeze the utmost out of every position." ― Bobby Fischer

"A passed pawn increase in strength as the number of pieces on the board diminishes." ― Jose Raul Capablanca

All that glitters is not gold – this line can be found in a text from c.1220: ‘ Nis hit nower neh gold al that ter schineth.'

A friend in need is a friend indeed – a proverb from c.1035 say this: ‘Friend shall be known in time of need.'

All's well that ends well – a line from the mid-13th century is similar: ‘Wel is him te wel ende mai.' Meanwhile, Henry Knighton's Chronicle from the late 14th-century one can read: ‘ If the ende be wele, than is alle wele.'

Hay dos maneras de hermosura: una del alma y otra del cuerpo; la del alma campea y se muestra en el entendimiento, en la honestidad, en el buen proceder, en la liberalidad y en la buena crianza, y todas estas partes caben y pueden estar en un hombre feo; y cuando se pone la mira en esta hermosura, y no en la del cuerpo, suele nacer el amor con ímpetu y con ventajas. (There are two kinds of beauty: one of the soul and the other of the body; that of the soul shows and demonstrates itself in understanding, in honesty, in good behavior, in generosity and in good breeding, and all these things can find room and exist in an ugly man; and when one looks at this type of beauty, and not bodily beauty, love is inclined to spring up forcefully and overpoweringly.) ― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616)

Cuando una puerta se cierra, otra se abre. (When one door is closed, another is opened.) ― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616)

Dijo la sartén a la caldera, quítate allá ojinegra. (The frying pan said to the cauldron, "Get out of here, black-eyed one." This is believed to be the source of the phrase "the pot calling the kettle black.") ― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

These games postpone c5.

The 20-40-40 rule in chess is a rule for players rated below 2000 that states 20% of your study should be dedicated to openings, 40% to the middlegame, and 40% to the endgame.

The Night
BY HENRY VAUGHAN
John 3.2

Through that pure virgin shrine,
That sacred veil drawn o'er Thy glorious noon, That men might look and live, as glowworms shine, And face the moon,
Wise Nicodemus saw such light
As made him know his God by night.

Most blest believer he!
Who in that land of darkness and blind eyes
Thy long-expected healing wings could see,
When Thou didst rise!
And, what can never more be done,
Did at midnight speak with the Sun!

O who will tell me where
He found Thee at that dead and silent hour?
What hallowed solitary ground did bear
So rare a flower,
Within whose sacred leaves did lie
The fulness of the Deity?

No mercy-seat of gold,
No dead and dusty cherub, nor carved stone,
But His own living works did my Lord hold
And lodge alone;
Where trees and herbs did watch and peep
And wonder, while the Jews did sleep.

Dear night! this world's defeat;
The stop to busy fools; care's check and curb; The day of spirits; my soul's calm retreat
Which none disturb!
Christ's progress, and His prayer time;
The hours to which high heaven doth chime;

God's silent, searching flight;
When my Lord's head is filled with dew, and all His locks are wet with the clear drops of night; His still, soft call;
His knocking time; the soul's dumb watch,
When spirits their fair kindred catch.

Were all my loud, evil days
Calm and unhaunted as is thy dark tent,
Whose peace but by some angel's wing or voice
Is seldom rent,
Then I in heaven all the long year
Would keep, and never wander here.

But living where the sun
Doth all things wake, and where all mix and tire Themselves and others, I consent and run
To every mire,
And by this world's ill-guiding light,
Err more than I can do by night.

There is in God, some say,
A deep but dazzling darkness, as men here
Say it is late and dusky, because they
See not all clear.
O for that night! where I in Him
Might live invisible and dim!

* 10 Best to Watch: https://www.chessjournal.com/best-c...

* 23 Opening Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-5...

* Alphabetical Glossary: https://www.chess-poster.com/englis...

* Adolf Anderssen miniatures: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...

* Are you broke? https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...

* Bearly Thinking: https://www.etsy.com/listing/972054...

* Checkmate Art: Game Collection: Art of Checkmate

* Champion miniatures: Game Collection: Champions miniature champions

* Caviar:
https://www.chess.com/article/view/...

* Chess Step-by-Step: https://www.chess.com/learn-how-to-...

* ChessBase Chess News: https://en.chessbase.com/

* Chess Resources (Instruction): https://ficheall.ie/chess-resources/

* Crouch's book: Game Collection: Chess Secrets - Attackers (Crouch)

* CFN: https://www.youtube.com/@CFNChannel

* Diagrammed Checkmate Patterns: Game Collection: Checkmate: Checkmate Patterns

* Openings, alphabetical: http://www.eudesign.com/chessops/ch...

* Black Storms: Game Collection: Tal - The Modern Benoni

* Starting Out 1d4: Game Collection: Starting Out: 1 d4!

* Starting Out: French Defense: Game Collection: Starting out : The French

* Alekhine's French Def: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/che...

* A few KIAs: Game Collection: Opening Ideas

* Advance French: Game Collection: Attacking with the French

* Black Defends: Game Collection: Opening repertoire black

* French-Dutch-Bird: Game Collection: Opening repertoire key games

* Masterful: Game Collection: FRENCH DEFENSE MASTERPIECES

* KID 0-1s: Game Collection: K.I.D B wins E98

* $1 Billion isn't chump change: https://tartajubow.blogspot.com/201...

* Best of 2017: Game Collection: Best Games of 2017

* 2018 Magazine: Game Collection: # American Chess Magazine 7

* 2019 Moscow: Aeroflot Open (2019)

* 2019 Women's World Team: World Team Chess Championship (Women) (2019)

* 2019 Men's World Team: World Team Chess Championship (2019)

* 2019 Prague Festival: Prague Chess Festival (Masters) (2019)

* St. Louis Spring Classic: Spring Chess Classic (A) (2019)

* My killer chess secret - it's not what you might think: https://www.loavesanddishes.net/old...

* US Championships in St. Louis: US Championship (2019)

* GRENKE Classic: GRENKE Chess Classic (2019)

* 10-player Tour: Grand Chess Tour Cote d'Ivoire (Rapid & Blitz) (2019)

* Norway Blitz: Norway Chess (Blitz) (2019)

* Women: Asian Continental (Women) (2019)

* GCT Elite Dozen: GCT Croatia (2019)

* Riga Knockout: Grand Prix Riga (2019)

* Dortmund, Germany: Dortmund Sparkassen (2019)

* Biel, Switzerland: Biel (2019)

* Hometown Winner! GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz (2019)

* Changsha, China: Belt and Road Hunan Open (2019)

* Abu Dhabi, UAE: Abu Dhabi Masters (2019)

* Liren 1st, Carlsen 7th?! GCT St. Louis Rapid & Blitz (2019)

* St. Louis, MO: Sinquefield Cup (2019)

* Near Moscow, Russia: Grand Prix Skolkovo (Women) (2019)

* 128-player knockout tourney: World Cup (2019)

* 11 rounds, Isle of Man: Isle of Man Grand Swiss (2019)

* 9-round Swiss: European Team Championship (2019)

* Theater chess: Grand Prix Hamburg (2019)

* Country Club chess: GCT Bucharest Rapid & Blitz (2019)

* Oh dear! Poor Levon?! GCT Kolkata Rapid & Blitz (2019)

* Tie-breaker: Grand Prix Monaco (Women) (2019)

* Too many rules and regulations: London Chess Classic GCT Finals (2019)

* Jerusalem, Israel: Grand Prix Jerusalem (2019)

* Magnus is on top of the world! World Rapid Championship (2019)

* Triple Crown Winner!!!
World Blitz Championship (2019)

* Ju Retains Her Reign!! Ju - Goryachkina Women's World Championship Match (2020)

* Caruana Tops the Stars! Tata Steel Masters (2020)

* Seven players tied for first place! Gibraltar Masters (2020)

* The ladies go at it in St. Louis, MO: 2nd Cairns Cup (2020)

* Prague: Prague Chess Festival (Masters) (2020)

* Aeroflot: Aeroflot Open (2020)

* Lausanne, Switzerland: Grand Prix Lausanne (Women) (2020)

* Nutcracker: Nutcracker Match of the Generations (2020)

* 2020 Candidates Tournament: World Championship Candidates (2020/21)

* Magnus hosts, wins internet tournament: Magnus Carlsen Invitational (2020)

* International Links: http://www.chessgameslinks.lars-bal...

* Online Nations Cup won by China: FIDE Chess.com Online Nations Cup (2020)

* Drum Beats: https://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/

* Dubov comes in 2nd place to you-know-who: FIDE Online Steinitz Memorial (2020)

* Two-day Online Blitz: Chessbrah May Invitational (2020)

* 12-player Online Super-Tournament won by Nakamura: Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge (2020)

* Clutch Chess: A new knockout format: Clutch Champions Showdown (2020)

* Bill Wall should have been on beer commercials crushing empty beer cans with his bare hands: Bill Wall

* Many gambits from all openings by ECO code: https://www.jimmyvermeer.com/openin...

* GoY's 40 Favs: Game Collection: GoY's favorite games

* Online safety: https://www.entrepreneur.com/scienc...

* Pawn Instruction: http://www.logicalchess.com/learn/l...

* Read The Planet Greenpawn - https://www.redhotpawn.com/

* John Saunder's site: http://www.saund.co.uk/britbase/

* Sports Clichés: http://www.sportscliche.com/

* Top Chessgames by ECO Code: http://schachsinn.de/gamelist.htm

* Top Games by Year: Wikipedia article: List of chess games

* Terminology: https://www.angelfire.com/games5/ch...

* TWIC: https://theweekinchess.com/

* World Chess HOF: https://worldchesshof.org/chess-hal...

* Mr. Harvey's Puzzle Challenge: https://wtharvey.com/

WTHarvey:
There once was a website named WTHarvey,
Where chess puzzles did daily delay,
The brain-teasers so tough,
They made us all huff and puff,
But solving them brought us great satisfaction today. There once was a website named WTHarvey
Where chess puzzles were quite aplenty
With knight and rook and pawn
You'll sharpen your brain with a yawn
And become a master of chess entry

There once was a site for chess fun,
Wtharvey.com was the chosen one,
With puzzles galore,
It'll keep you in store,
For hours of brain-teasing, none done.

There once was a website named WTHarvey,
Where chess puzzles were posted daily,
You'd solve them with glee,
And in victory,
You'd feel like a true chess prodigy!

Sarah wrote:

checkmate
It's like we're playing chess.
Moving strategically, testing boundaries,
all while watching each other's expression.

We all know how this games ends…
The queen destroys you and steals your heart.

"Chess is played with the mind and not with the hands." ― Renaud & Kahn

"Chess is a terrific way for kids to build self-image and self-esteem." ― Saudin Robovic

"Chess is a sport. The main object in the game of chess remains the achievement of victory." ― Max Euwe

"Life is like a chess. If you lose your queen, you will probably lose the game." ― Being Caballero

"If you wish to succeed, you must brave the risk of failure." — Garry Kasparov

"You win some, you lose some, you wreck some." — Dale Earnhardt

"In life, unlike chess the game continues after checkmate." ― Isaac Asimov

The Fly and the Ant

A fly and ant, on a sunny bank,
Discussed the question of their rank.
"O Jupiter!" the former said,
"Can love of self so turn the head,
That one so mean and crawling,
And of so low a calling,
To boast equality shall dare
With me, the daughter of the air?
In palaces I am a guest,
And even at your glorious feast.
Whenever the people that adore you
May immolate for you a bullock,
I'm sure to taste the meat before you.
Meanwhile this starveling, in her hillock,
Is living on some bit of straw
Which she has laboured home to draw.
But tell me now, my little thing,
Do you camp ever on a king,
An emperor, or lady?
I do, and have full many a play-day
On fairest bosom of the fair,
And sport myself on her hair.
Come now, my hearty, rack your brain
To make a case about your grain."
"Well, have you done?" replied the ant.
"You enter palaces, I grant,
And for it get right soundly cursed.
Of sacrifices, rich and fat,
Your taste, quite likely, is the first; –
Are they the better off for that?
You enter with the holy train;
So enters many a wretch profane.
On heads of kings and asses you may squat;
Deny your vaunting I will not;
But well such impudence, I know,
Provokes a sometimes fatal blow.
The name in which your vanity delights
Is owned as well by parasites,
And spies that die by ropes – as you soon will By famine or by ague-chill,
When Phoebus goes to cheer
The other hemisphere, –
The very time to me most dear.
Not forced abroad to go
Through wind, and rain, and snow,
My summer's work I then enjoy,
And happily my mind employ,
From care by care exempted.
By which this truth I leave to you,
That by two sorts of glory we are tempted,
The false one and the true.
Work waits, time flies; adieu:
This gabble does not fill
My granary or till."

Around the World
Riddle: What travels around the world but stays in one spot?

FACTRETRIEVER: Even though dragonflies have six legs, they cannot walk.39

Riddle Answer: A stamp.

The Hog, the Goat, and the Sheep

A goat, a sheep, and porker fat,
All to the market rode together.
Their own amusement was not that
Which caused their journey there.
Their coachman did not mean to "set them down"
To see the shows and wonders of the town.
The porker cried, in piercing squeals,
As if with butchers at his heels.
The other beasts, of milder mood,
The cause by no means understood.
They saw no harm, and wondered why
At such a rate the hog should cry.
"Hush there, old piggy!" said the man,
"And keep as quiet as you can.
What wrong have you to squeal about,
And raise this devilish, deafening shout?
These stiller persons at your side
Have manners much more dignified.
Pray, have you heard
A single word
Come from that gentleman in wool?
That proves him wise." "That proves him fool!"
The testy hog replied;
"For did he know
To what we go,
He'd cry almost to split his throat;
So would her ladyship the goat.
They only think to lose with ease,
The goat her milk, the sheep his fleece:
They're, maybe, right; but as for me,
This ride is quite another matter.
Of service only on the platter,
My death is quite a certainty.
Adieu, my dear old piggery!"
The porker's logic proved at once
Himself a prophet and a dunce.

Hope ever gives a present ease,
But fear beforehand kills:
The wisest he who least foresees
Inevitable ills.

"Friend, you don't have to earn God's love or try harder. You're precious in His sight, covered by the priceless blood of Jesus, and indwelt by His Holy Spirit. Don't hide your heart or fear you're not good enough for Him to care for you. Accept His love, obey Him, and allow Him to keep you in His wonderful freedom." ― Charles F. Stanley

Psalm 27:1
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

"Soon I was weeping---for the reservists who put their entire lives on hold when called to duty, for the military mothers who had to keep their families together all alone, for the parents, spouses, sons, and daughters who were beset with worry, for Mike, and for the soldiers who would never come home. I only meant to buy a shower curtain, and now, quite unexpectedly, right when I least wanted it, months of pent-up loneliness, fear, and frustration were pouring out in an endless churn of hot, silent tears." ― Lily Burana, I Love a Man in Uniform: A Memoir of Love, War, and Other Battles tags: military, spouses, weeping

Here's a poem a dad wrote:

<ODE TO CHESS

Ten times I charged the grim, foreboding walls

and was pitched into the pit of defeat.

But, heedless of humiliating falls,

I clambered bravely back onto my feet

and charged again, again to be down thrust

onto the scrap heap of people who lose

onto the mound of mortifying dust

whilst my opponent sat without a bruise

upon his pedestal. We changed sides

and fought again, but I was defeated

whilst he with arrogant and haughty strides

took the throne upon which I had been seated.

Ha! Win or lose, it's how you play the game.

But I would like to beat him just the same.>

"Chess is life in miniature. Chess is a struggle, chess battles." — Garry Kasparov

"Sometimes in life, and in chess, you must take one step back to take two steps forward." — IM Levy Rozman, GothamChess

So much, much, much better to be an incurable optimist than deceitful and untrustworthy.

"Don't blow your own trumpet." — Australian Proverb

Old Russian Proverb: "Scythe over a stone." (Нашла коса на камень.) The force came over a stronger force.

"Continuing to play the victim is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Blaming others for your station in life will indeed make you a victim but the perpetrator will be your own self, not life or those around you." — Bobby Darnell

Democritus and the People Of Abdera

How do I hate the tide of vulgar thought!
Profane, unjust, with childish folly fraught;
It breaks and bends the rays of truth divine,
And by its own conceptions measures mine.
Famed Epicurus' master tried
The power of this unstable tide.
His country said the sage was mad –
The simpletons! But why?
No prophet ever honour had
Beneath his native sky.
Democritus, in truth, was wise;
The mass were mad, with faith in lies.
So far this error went,
That all Abdera sent
To old Hippocrates
To cure the sad disease.
"Our townsman," said the messengers,
Appropriately shedding tears,
"Has lost his wits! Democritus,
By study spoiled, is lost to us.
Were he but filled with ignorance,
We should esteem him less a dunce.
He says that worlds like this exist,
An absolutely endless list, –
And peopled, even, it may be,
With countless hosts as wise as we!
But, not contented with such dreams,
His brain with viewless "atoms" teems,
Instinct with deathless life, it seems.
And, never stirring from the sod below,
He weighs and measures all the stars;
And, while he knows the universe,
Himself he does not know.
Though now his lips he strictly bars,
He once delighted to converse.
Come, godlike mortal, try your art divine
Where traits of worst insanity combine!"
Small faith the great physician lent,
But still, perhaps more readily, he went.
And mark what meetings strange
Chance causes in this world of change!
Hippocrates arrived in season,
Just as his patient (void of reason!)
Was searching whether reason's home,
In talking animals and dumb,
Be in the head, or in the heart,
Or in some other local part.
All calmly seated in the shade,
Where brooks their softest music made,
He traced, with study most insane,
The convolutions of a brain;
And at his feet lay many a scroll –
The works of sages on the soul.
Indeed, so much absorbed was he,
His friend, at first, he did not see.
A pair so admirably matched,
Their compliments erelong despatched.
In time and talk, as well as dress,
The wise are frugal, I confess.
Dismissing trifles, they began
At once with eagerness to scan
The life, and soul, and laws of man;
Nor stopped till they had travelled over all
The ground, from, physical to moral.
My time and space would fail
To give the full detail.

But I have said enough to show
How little It's the people know.
How true, then, goes the saw abroad –
Their voice is but the voice of God?

Riddle: The one who has it does not keep it. It is large and small. It is any shape.

Answer: A gift.

H.T. Bland. On page 207 of the December 1929 American Chess Bulletin he exalted the challenger in that year's world championship match:

Bravo ‘Bogol', you've shown pluck.
One and all we wish you luck.
Gee, some thought you'd barged between
Other players who'd have been
Less likely straightaway to lose
Just as friend Alekhine might choose;
Undaunted, ‘Bogol', you went in
Believing you'd a chance to win.
Or failing that, to make a fight,
Which you are doing as we write.

"It's not how you start that matters, it's how you finish."

Best Jean De La Bruyere Quotes
"Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its brevity." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"The unnamed should not be mistaken for the nonexistent." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"If poverty is the mother of all crimes, lack of intelligence is their father." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"As favor and riches forsake a man, we discover in him the foolishness they concealed, and which no one perceived before." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"Two persons cannot long be friends if they cannot forgive each other's little failings." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"Life is a tragedy for those who feel, and a comedy for those who think." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"We are afraid of the old age which we may never attain." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"Most men make use of the first part of their life to render the last part miserable." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"The pleasure of criticizing takes away from us the pleasure of being moved by some very fine things." ― Jean De La Bruyere

"Such a great misfortune, not to be able to be alone." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"A person's worth in this world is estimated according to the value they put on themselves." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"Generosity lies less in giving much than in giving at the right moment." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"To laugh at men of sense is the privilege of fools." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"If some persons died and others did not die death would indeed be a terrible affliction." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"Out of difficulties, grow miracles" ― Jean de La Bruyère

"Not to be able to bear with all bad-tempered people with whom the world is crowded, shows that a man has not a good temper himself." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"The same principle leads us to neglect a man of merit that induces us to admire a fool." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"There are only three events in a man's life; birth, life, and death; he is not conscious of being born, he dies in pain and he forgets to live." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its shortness. " ― Jean de La Bruyère

"The most exquisite pleasure is giving pleasure to others." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"A man is rich whose income is larger than his expenses, and he is poor if his expenses are greater than his income." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"Grief at the absence of a loved one is happiness compared to life with a person one hates." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"Many people perceive the merit of a manuscript which is read to them, but will not declare themselves in its favor until they see what success it has in the world when printed, or what intelligent men will say about it. They do not like to risk their opinion, and they want to be carried away by the crowd and dragged along by the multitude. Then they say that they were amongst the first who approved of that work, and the general public shares their opinion. Such men lose the best opportunities of convincing us that they are intelligent, clever, and first-rate critics, and can really discover what is good and what is better. A fine work falls into their hands; it is an author's first book before he has got any great name; there is nothing to prepossess anyone in his favor, and by applauding his writings one does not court or flatter the great. Zelotes, you are not required to cry out: "This is a masterpiece; human intelligence never went farther; the human speech cannot soar higher; henceforward we will judge of no one's taste but by what he thinks of this book." Such exaggerated and offensive expressions are only employed by postulants for pensions or benefices and are even injurious to what is really commendable and what one wishes to praise. Why not merely say—"That's a good book?" It is true you say it when the whole of France has approved of it, and foreigners as well as your own countrymen, when it is printed all over Europe and has been translated into several languages, but then it is too late." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"Time, which strengthens friendship, weakens love." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"If it is true that one is poor on account of all the things one wants, the ambitious and the avaricious languish in extreme poverty." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"A wise man is cured of ambition by ambition itself; his aim is so exalted that riches, office, fortune, and favor cannot satisfy him." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"There is no road too long to the man who advances deliberately and without undue haste; there are no honors too distant to the man who prepares himself for them with patience." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"The great charm of conversation consists less in the display of one's own wit and intelligence than in the power to draw forth the resources of others; he who leaves you after a long conversation, pleased with himself and the part he has taken in the discourse, will be your warmest admirer. Men do not care to admire you, they wish you to be pleased with them; they do not seek for instruction or even amusement from your discourse, but they do wish you to be made acquainted with their talents and powers of conversation, and the true man of genius will delicately make all who come in contact with him feel the exquisite satisfaction of knowing that they have appeared to advantage." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"We can recognize the dawn and the decline of love by the uneasiness we feel when alone together." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"A fool is an automaton, a machine with springs which turn him about always in one manner and preserve his equilibrium. He is ever the same and never changes. If you have seen him once you have seen him at every moment and period of his life. He is at best but as the lowing ox or the whistling blackbird. He is fixed and obstinate, I may say, by nature. What appears least in him is his soul; that has neither activity nor energy; it reposes." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"That man is good who does good to others; if he suffers on account of the good he does, he is very good; if he suffers at the hands of those to whom he has done good, then his goodness is so great that it could be enhanced only by greater sufferings; and if he should die at their hands, his virtue can go no further: it is heroic, it is perfect" ― Jean de La Bruyère

"The very essence of politeness is to take care that by our words and actions we make other people pleased with us as well as with themselves." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"Everything has been said, and we are more than seven thousand years of human thought too late." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"One seeks to make the loved one entirely happy, or, if that cannot be, entirely wretched." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"We should only endeavor to think and speak correctly ourselves, without wishing to bring others over to our taste and opinions; this would be too great an undertaking." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"That we seldom repent of talking too little and very often of talking too much is a … maxim that everybody knows and nobody practices" ― Jean de La Bruyère

"We keep a special place in our hearts for people who refuse to be impressed by us." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"Sudden love takes the longest time to be cured." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"Novice exists which does not pretend to be more or less like some virtue, and which does not take advantage of this assumed resemblance." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"When a book raises your spirit and inspires you with noble and manly thoughts, seek for no other test of its excellence. It is good and made by a good workman." ― Jean de La Bruyère

"If you want to be successful, it's just this simple. Know what you are doing. Love what you are doing. And believe in what you are doing." ― Will Rogers

"The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it in your back pocket." ― Will Rogers

"Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save." ― Will Rogers

"Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know "why" I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved." ― Will Rogers

"Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment." ― Will Rogers

"Ten men in our country could buy the whole world and ten million can't buy enough to eat." ― Will Rogers

"The more you observe politics, the more you've got to admit that each party is worse than the other." ― Will Rogers

"It takes a lifetime to build a good reputation, but you can lose it in a minute." ― Will Rogers

"An onion can make people cry, but there has never been a vegetable invented to make them laugh." ― Will Rogers

"I am not a member of any organized political party — I am a Democrat." ― Will Rogers

"You know horses are smarter than people. You never heard of a horse going broke betting on people." ― Will Rogers

"The difference between death and taxes is death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets." ― Will Rogers

"Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're actually paying for." ― Will Rogers

"There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves." ― Will Rogers

"The problem ain't what people know. It's what people know that ain't so that's the problem." ― Will Rogers

"If you want to be successful, it's just this simple. Know what you are doing. Love what you are doing. And believe in what you are doing." ― Will Rogers

"Buy land. They ain't making any more of the stuff." ― Will Rogers

"What the country needs is dirtier fingernails and cleaner minds." ― Will Rogers

"If you feel the urge, don't be afraid to go on a wild goose chase. What do you think wild geese are for anyway?" ― Will Rogers

"There are men running governments who shouldn't be allowed to play with matches." ― Will Rogers

"There is no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you." ― Will Rogers

"Most men are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." ― Will Rogers

"The income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf has." ― Will Rogers

"Lord, the money we do spend on Government and it's not one bit better than the government we got for one-third the money twenty years ago." ― Will Rogers

"You can't say civilization don't advance, in every war they kill you in a new way." ― Will Rogers

"Personally, I have always felt that the best doctor in the world is the Veterinarian. He can't ask his patients what is the matter...he's just got to know." ― Will Rogers

"It is better for some one to think you're a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." ― Will Rogers

"If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging." ― Will Rogers

"Give her a day, and then in return Momma gives you the other 364." ― Will Rogers

"It's not what we don't know that hurts. It's what we know that ain't so." ― Will Rogers

"Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." ― Will Rogers

"Never miss a good chance to shut up." ― Will Rogers

"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." ― Will Rogers

"Too many people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't want, to impress people that they don't like." ― Will Rogers

"There are three kinds of men. The ones that learn by readin'. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves." ― Will Rogers

"Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else." ― Will Rogers

"There are two theories to arguing with a woman. Neither works." ― Will Rogers

"All I know is just what I read in the papers, and that's an alibi for my ignorance." ― Will Rogers

"Rumor travels faster, but it don't stay put as long as truth." ― Will Rogers

"I never met a man that I didn't like." ― Will Rogers

"Don't let yesterday take up too much of today." ― Will Rogers

"The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking spaces." ― Will Rogers

"Common sense ain't common." ― Will Rogers

"Everyone is ignorant, only on different subjects." ― Will Rogers

"Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip." ― Will Rogers

"You know, everybody's ignorant, just on different subjects." ― Will Rogers

"When you find yourself in a hole, quit digging." ― Will Rogers

"Do the best you can, and don't take life too serious." ― Will Rogers

"When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car." ― Will Rogers

"The minute you read something that you can't understand, you can almost be sure that it was drawn up by a lawyer." ― Will Rogers

"The short memories of the American voters is what keeps our politicians in office." ― Will Rogers

"We can't all be heroes because somebody has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by." ― Will Rogers

"A man only learns in two ways, one by reading, and the other by association with smarter people." ― Will Rogers

"If pro is the opposite of con, what is the opposite of Congress?" ― Will Rogers

"If stupidity got us in this mess, how come it can't get us out." ― Will Rogers

"A fool and his money are soon elected." ― Will Rogers

"I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts." ― Will Rogers

"Always drink upstream from the herd." ― Will Rogers

"Lead your life so you wouldn't be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip." ― Will Rogers

"The trouble with practical jokes is that very often they get elected."― Will Rogers

"When you're through learning, you're through." ― Will Rogers

"I'll bet you the time ain't far off when a woman won't know any more than a man." ― Will Rogers

"Things ain't what they used to be and probably never was." ― Will Rogers

"Get all the good laughs you can." ― Will Rogers

"Liberty doesn't work as well in practice as it does in speeches." ― Will Rogers

"Even if you are on the right track, but just sit there, you will still get run over." ― Will Rogers

"The only way to beat the lawyers is to die with nothing." ― Will Rogers

"This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer." ― Will Rogers

"A man that don't love a horse, there is something the matter with him." ― Will Rogers

"People's minds are changed through observation and not through argument." ― Will Rogers

"Ignorance lies not in the things you don't know, but in the things you know that ain't so." ― Will Rogers

"The best way to make a fire with two sticks is to make sure one of them is a match." ― Will Rogers

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat." ― Will Rogers

"Plans get you into things but you've got to work your way out." ― Will Rogers

"Don't let yesterday use up too much of today." ― Will Rogers

"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education." ― Will Rogers

"Heroing is one of the shortest-lived professions there is." ― Will Rogers

"Everything is funny as long as it is happening to someone else." ― Will Rogers

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." ― Will Rogers

"An ignorant person is one who doesn't know what you have just found out." ― Will Rogers

"If you ever injected truth into politics you would have no politics." ― Will Rogers

"Lord, let me live until I die." ― Will Rogers

"Democrats never agree on anything, that's why they're Democrats. If they agreed with each other, they would be Republicans." ― Will Rogers

"I like to hear a man talk about himself because then I never hear anything, but good." ― Will Rogers

"When you find youself in a hole - stop digging." ― Will Rogers

"If you can't identify it, don't stick it in your mouth." ― Will Rogers

"You never get a second chance to make a first impression." ― Will Rogers

"The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets." ― Will Rogers

"It's almost been worth this depression to find out how little our big men know." ― Will Rogers

"I never met a person that I did not want to like." ― Will Rogers

"Three couples approached the Pearly Gates and asked permission from Saint Peter to enter. To the first husband he responded, "You may not enter heaven. All your life you've been obsessed with money. Why, you even married a woman named Penny!" He then turned to the second husband and responded, "You may not enter heaven. All your life you've been obsessed with food. Why, you even married a woman named Candy." Taking his wife gently by the hand and looking very sad, the third husband said, "Come on, Fanny, we might as well get out of here!" ― Kevin Kenworthy, The Best Jokes Minnie Pearl Ever Told:

"A couple was celebratin' their fiftieth wedding anniversary with a reception. They were standin' in line greetin' their friends and about halfway through, she hauled off and hit him! He looked surprised and said, "What was that for?" She said, "For fifty years of bad sex!" He thought about that a minute and then hauled off and hit her. Now it was her turn to look surprised and she said, "What on earth was that for?" And he answered, "For knowing the difference!" ― Kevin Kenworthy, The Best Jokes Minnie Pearl Ever Told:

"God has a plan for all of us, but He expects us to do our share of the work." ― Minnie Pearl

"So often when you start talking about kindness to animals someone comments that starving and mistreated children should come first. The issue can't be divided like that. It isn't a choice between children and animals. It's our duty to care for both. Kindness is the important thing. Kids and animals are our responsibility." ― Minnie Pearl

"Take the back roads instead of the highways." ― Minnie Pearl

"Kissing a man with a beard is a lot like going to a picnic. You don't mind going through a little bush to get there!" ― Minnie Pearl

"The doctor must have put my pacemaker in wrong. Every time my husband kisses me, the garage door goes up." ― Minnie Pearl

"Once you've gotten used to performing, you can't give it up." ― Minnie Pearl

"Show business is made up of disappointments, and it's through life's disappointments that you grow." ― Minnie Pearl

"Since religion was so much a part of my life as a child, and since my childhood was so happy and so full of laughter and joy, I associate the two. Even my concept of Jesus goes along with this association of happiness and religion." ― Minnie Pearl

"Watch out fer these fellers around here. It ain't safe fer a pretty girl. Why, I had one just now tell me I looked like a breath of spring. Well, he didn't use them words, exactly. He said I looked like the end of a hard winter." ― Minnie Pearl

"Marriage is like a hot bath; once you get used to it, it ain't so hot." ― Minnie Pearl

"We have boys now, and men, in the rock and roll business and all the show business, who have this reaction on women. They scream. They yell. They do all sorts of wild things." ― Minnie Pearl

"It's the most unglamourous glamour business in the world." ― Minnie Pearl

"Elvis said, Miss Minnie, do you think it would be out of order if I go up and speak to General Stewart? I've always been such a fan of his. So Elvis went up to speak to the Stewarts." ― Minnie Pearl

"When we got to the hotel, the Hawaiian Village, there were 500 screaming women there. The police were trying to keep the crowd back. It was very dangerous." ― Minnie Pearl

"They were taking pictures and everything. When we got down off the plane, the minute Elvis made his appearance at the door of the plane, the screaming got even worse." ― Minnie Pearl

"My husband was a pilot. He flew Elvis when Elvis first started making appearances around the country." ― Minnie Pearl

"I think Elvis loved his fans - I think that's why they loved him and still love him. Fans are very conscious and sensitive to the fact that performers love them." ― Minnie Pearl

"I knew about Elvis. Of course, everybody knew about him then." ― Minnie Pearl

"Colonel Parker asked Henry and me to come to Elvis' suite and have breakfast. There were at least five policemen stationed up there. He was talking on the telephone." ― Minnie Pearl

"Elvis couldn't leave the hotel except under heavy guard. It was incredible how they went wild over him." ― Minnie Pearl

"I've been with certain stars; some are caring and pay attention to their fans and to their fellow performers and some are too busy. Elvis never seemed too busy." ― Minnie Pearl

"That's what life is all about: remembering someone and smiling!" ― Minnie Pearl

"Getting married is a lot like getting into a tub of hot water. After you get used to it, it ain't so hot." ― Minnie Pearl

Lichess has all the same basic offerings as Chess.com: a large community, many game types, tutorials, puzzles, and livestreams. The site has a simple appearance, and it seems built to get you where you want to go in as few clicks as possible. You can create an account, but if you're not concerned with tracking your games and finding other players at your level, there's no need to log in. Just fire up a new game, try some puzzles, or watch a chess streamer play three-minute games while listening to techno and chatting with the comments section.

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." ― Martin Luther King Jr.

"Sometimes the most ordinary things could be made extraordinary, simply by doing them with the right people." ― Elizabeth Green

"Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies." ― Andy (Tim Robbins), "The Shawshank Redemption"

Psalms 31:24 - Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

Luck never gives; it only lends. ~ Scottish Proverb

The Dog That Dropped The Substance For The Shadow

This world is full of shadow-chasers,
Most easily deceived.
Should I enumerate these racers,
I should not be believed.
I send them all to Aesop's dog,
Which, crossing water on a log,
Espied the meat he bore, below;
To seize its image, let it go;
Plunged in; to reach the shore was glad,
With neither what he hoped, nor what he'd had.

French Proverb: "Il ne faut rien laisser au hasard." ― (Nothing should be left to chance.)

"There are more adventures on a chessboard than on all the seas of the world." ― Pierre Mac Orlan

"You can only get good at chess if you love the game." ― Bobby Fischer

"As long as you can still grab a breath, you fight." — The Revenant

Cada uno lleva su cruz. Everyone carries his cross. (We each have our own cross to bear.)

Wordzys:
38cry Peepy iz's perfume fumed up the room enough for three adults Moe, Larry, and Kurley fries liver attack of the three headed monster trucks stay to the right.

Why did the turtle cross the road?
To get to the Shell station.

<A wise old owl sat on an oak,

The more he saw the less he spoke,

The less he spoke the more he heard,

Why aren't we like that wise old bird?>

Give a HOOT -- don't pollute!!

Our Heavenly Father, Kind and Good
Traditional

Our Heavenly Father, kind and good,

We thank Thee for our daily food.

We thank Thee for Thy love and care.

Be with us Lord, and hear our prayer.

Amen.

Willful waste makes woeful want. ~ Scottish Proverb