Quotes about play
page 47

“He got along with everyone and had a very jovial character that helped him play with a striking amount of joy and calmness. He had a great shot and he could accelerate very quickly, … all-around skilled and above all explosive.”

Ferenc Puskás (1927–2006) Hungarian-Spanish association football player

Luis Suarez http://web.archive.org/web/20080220063441/http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/17/sports/EU_SPT_SOC_Puskas_Quotes.php

Help, Joy

“And the answer, said the judge. If God meant to interfere in the degeneracy of mankind would he not have done so by now? Wolves cull themselves, man. What other creature could? And is the race of man not more predacious yet? The way of the world is to bloom and to flower and die but in the affairs of men there is no waning and the noon of his expression signals the onset of night. His spirit is exhausted at the peak of its achievement. His meridian is at once his darkening and the evening of his day. He loves games? Let him play for stakes. This you see here, these ruins wondered at by tribes of savages, do you not think that this will be again? Aye. And again. With other people, with other sons.”

Cormac McCarthy book Blood Meridian

Blood Meridian (1985)

Love, Men, God, People

“Dennis is the best player I have ever played with as a partner. It is a dream for a striker to have him in the team with you.”

Dennis Bergkamp (1969) Dutch footballer

Thierry Henry http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/5202166.stm About

Dreams

“He is without doubt the greatest player I have ever played with, he has everything. At Liverpool, he is irreplaceable. Every big club has a standard bearer, a home-grown talent, someone with a lifelong commitment to the cause. People come and go but he’s always there. It’s him and 10 others. He’s everything to the side. That’s Steven Gerrard at Liverpool. I can’t even begin to imagine the place without him.”

Steven Gerrard (1980) English footballer

Fernando Torres on Steven Gerrard, Sep 2009 ( Source http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1213814/My-idol-Steven-Gerrard-best-player-world-insists-Liverpool-star-Fernando-Torres.html)

People, Home, Imagination

“Alex Ferguson is obviously one of the most successful coaches the game has ever had. But I did find his comments about Steven Gerrard very strange. To say he is not a top player is wrong. For two or three years, Steven Gerrard was the best midfield player in the world. Even now he is playing at a high level for Liverpool and England.”

Steven Gerrard (1980) English footballer

Zinedine Zidane on Steven Gerrard, (23rd of October 2013): http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2477801/Zinedine-Zidane-rubbishes-Sir-Alex-Fergusons-Steven-Gerrard-criticism.html

World, Game, Success

“Gerrard will fit in with any club in the world. He’s one of the players in the world that have all what it takes to play for Real Madrid. I want to urge Gerrard to join Real Madrid. If you don’t play for Real Madrid you always feel that something is missing. There is nothing better than wearing Real Madrid’s jersey. This is a big opportunity for Gerrard. I’m not talking money wise, but victories wise. I’m sure that Gerrard has alot of respect towards Mourinho. Steven signing for Real Madrid will be perfect for him.”

Steven Gerrard (1980) English footballer

Kaka on Steven Gerrard, (August 2010)

Money, World, Feeling, Victory

“Contented, unambitious people are all very well in their way. They form a neat, useful background for great portraits to be painted against, and they make a respectable, if not particularly intelligent, audience for the active spirits of the age to play before.”

Jerome K. Jerome book Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow

Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1886)

People, Age, Making love, Way

“You’d be alone in the kitchen and twilight would be dwindling, and you could hear the far off cries of the other children playing nearby. You’d be alone in the kitchen because it was your special treat time, where the jelly would come out just for you, and your mother would appear at your side just as a vision of Laura Ashley print dress, smelling of magnolias and biscuits and put the jelly in front of you, and you would pull your chair in. Then the old fashioned bar of ice cream would come down, the one that had to be cut with a breadknife before the two sides were flanked with wafers. You would lift your little spoon up excitedly and winkle out that first divet of black jelly… AND THEN THE CAGE COMES DOWN! The cage with the Japanese fighting spiders inside, your mother strikes a match off her forearm and tells you to dance in the front room for money… You, you never forget that shit, I mean it never goes away.”

Dylan Moran (1971) Irish actor and comedian

Like, Totally (2006)

Money, Children, Fashion, Appearance

“I spend eight to nine months working abroad and cram in a holiday when I have the odd week off. This year, three of those months were spent in America playing gigs with my band, so we got to visit all kinds of places from Arizona to New York. After a few weeks, I really began to miss family and friends not to mention baked beans!”

Katie Melua (1984) British singer-songwriter

[York Membery, Travelling Life - Katie Melua, http://ultratravel.telegraph.co.uk/site/pages/ultra_experts/travelling_life_-_katie_melua_page1.php, The Telegraph, 2006-09-18]

Family, Holiday

“I was astonished at how well he played live. I had no idea he was that good.”

John Mayer (1977) guitarist and singer/songwriter

Eric Clapton, on seeing Mayer perform at the Crossroads Music Festival in 2004. (2005) ( From Cleaveland.com http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/friday/1128072649185000.xml&coll=2)

Idea

“It was impossible to win against Capablanca; against Alekhine it was impossible to play.”

Alexander Alekhine (1892–1946) Russian / French chess player, chess writer, and chess theoretician

Paul Keres, quoted in: Bruce Pandolfini (1992) Pandolfini's Chess Complete: The Most Comprehensive Guide. p. 208.

“I never can beat Roger, he’s too much for me… but the Senior Tour, I will beat him then! He’s the best of history and I’m very lucky to play the best player of the world.”

Roger Federer (1981) Swiss tennis player

David Ferrer, after losing to Federer in the 2014 Cincinnati Masters final. http://www.thesportreview.com/tsr/2014/08/cincinnati-masters-fearsome-federer-cuts-down-ferrer-again-for-80th-title/

World, History

“Maybe Roger Federer will rescue tennis. He plays like we did in the past.”

Roger Federer (1981) Swiss tennis player

Ilie Nastase, first ever World No.1 when rankings were introduced in 1973. http://www.playfuls.com/news_000000931_Nastase_Turns_60_Formerly_Feared_Now_Business_Man_And_Federer_Fan.html

Past

“The best way to beat him would be to hit him over the head with a racquet. Roger could win the Grand Slam if he keeps playing the way he is and, if he does that, it will equate to the two Grand Slams that I won because standards are much higher these days.”

Roger Federer (1981) Swiss tennis player

Rod Laver, speaking ahead of the 2007 Australian Open final against Fernando Gonzalez. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/6306913.stm

Way

“If he is playing very good, I have to play unbelievable. If not, it’s impossible, especially if he’s playing with good confidence. When he’s 100 percent, he’s playing in another league. It’s impossible to stop him. I fight. I fight. I fight. Nothing to say. Just congratulate him.”

Roger Federer (1981) Swiss tennis player

Rafael Nadal, after losing to Federer in the Shanghai Masters Cup semifinal, Nov. 17, 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/sports/tennis/18tennis.html?ref=sports http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21844884/

Confidence, Fight, Self-confidence

“What he’s done over the past five years has never, ever been done — and probably will never, ever happen again. Regardless if he won there or not, he goes down as the greatest ever. This just confirms it. Now that he has won in Paris, I think it just more solidifies his place in history as the greatest player that played the game, in my opinion. I’m a huge Laver fan, and he had a few years in there where he didn’t have an opportunity to win majors. But you can’t compare the eras. And in this era, the competition is much more fierce than Rod’s.”

Roger Federer (1981) Swiss tennis player

Pete Sampras, winner of 14 Grand Slams, after Federer winning 2009 French Open Final http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news?slug=ap-frenchopen-sampras&prov=ap&type=lgns

History, Game, Thinking, Past

“For me Roger is the greatest player ever who played the tennis game. It’s always good to see him play and win and we are going to see so much more of Federer in the future; he is going to win more grand slam tournaments.”

Roger Federer (1981) Swiss tennis player

Bjorn Borg, winner of 11 Grand Slams, after Federer won the 2009 French Open Final http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news?slug=reu-wimbledonborg&prov=reuters&type=lgns

Game, Future

“They made a porn movie about Sarah Palin, and the same actress, Lisa Ann, played me in the porn version of 30 Rock.”

Tina Fey (1970) American comedian, writer, producer and actress

Weirdly, of the three of us, Lisa Ann knows the most about foreign policy."
"Ask Tina" segment from NBC's 30 Rock website

“She started crying when she saw the busted colon I gave her pussy husband, so she took one of her shoes off and threw it at me. I caught the shoe between my pecs and I started to laugh like a pirate. Then she started walking towards me to take her shoe back, and there was no way I was going to let this bitch get near my chest so I body slammed her into a cactus that happened to be there. She got up and was uglier than before, so I did what I always do when women start to cry: I went back inside to play video games.”

Maddox (1978) American internet writer

Why change your car's oil when your girlfriend can do it? http://maddox.xmission.com/oil.html The Best Page in the Universe

Women, Shoe, Way, Game

“Why does the sexual appetite cause so much unspeakable joy and irrational misery, so much suicidal and homicidal madness, and so much absurd theological ranting? Because every sexual choice is going to play a role in determining the temperament and talents of the next generation, and of all future generations who will inherit the earth from us. To be simple about it for once, a single friendly fuck can fill a continent with morons or geniuses in only a few thousand years.”

Robert Anton Wilson (1932–2007) American author and polymath

The Historical Illuminatus as spoken by Sigismundo Celine

Suicide, Future, Joy, Madness

“I don’t understand writers who have to work at it. I like to play. I’m interested in having fun with ideas, throwing them up in the air like confetti and then running under them.”

Ray Bradbury (1920–2012) American writer

The Paris Review interview (2010)

Idea, Understanding

“Life was never a May-game for men: in all times the lot of the dumb millions born to toil was defaced with manifold sufferings, injustices, heavy burdens, avoidable and unavoidable; not play at all, but hard work that made the sinews sore, and the heart sore.”

Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher

1840s, Past and Present (1843)

Life, Men, Game, Suffering

“The influence of Charles Austin over me differed from that of the persons I have hitherto mentioned, in being not the influence of a man over a boy, but that of an elder contemporary. It was through him that I first felt myself, not a pupil under teachers, but a man among men. He was the first person of intellect whom I met on a ground of equality, though as yet much his inferior on that common ground. He was a man who never failed to impress greatly those with whom he came in contact, even when their opinions were the very reverse of his. The impression he gave was that of boundless strength, together with talents which, combined with such apparent force of will and character, seemed capable of dominating the world. Those who knew him, whether friendly to him or not, always anticipated that he would play a conspicuous part in public life. It is seldom that men produce so great an immediate effect by speech, unless they, in some degree, lay themselves out for it; and he did this in no ordinary degree. He loved to strike, and even to startle. He knew that decision is the greatest element of effect, and he uttered his opinions with all the decision he could throw into them, never so well pleased as when he astonished any one by their audacity.”

John Stuart Mill book Autobiography

Source: Autobiography (1873)
Source: https://archive.org/details/autobiography01mill/page/77/mode/1up pp. 77-78

Love, Life, Men, World

“Education does have a great role to play in this period of transition. But it is not either education or legislation; it is both education and legislation. It may be true that morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important also. It may be true that the law cannot change the heart, but it can restrain the heartless, and this is what we often so and we have to do in society through legislation. We must depend on religion and education to change bad internal attitudes, but we need legislation to control the external effects of those bad internal attitudes. And so there is a need for meaningful civil right legislation.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

Address at Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa (15 October 1962) https://news.cornellcollege.edu/dr-martin-luther-kings-visit-to-cornell-college/; also quoted in Wall Street Journal (13 November 1962), Notable & Quotable , p. 18 Variant: It is true that behavior cannot be legislated, and legislation cannot make you love me, but legislation can restrain you from lynching me, and I think that is kind of important. Address at Finney Chapel, Oberlin College (22 October 1964), as reported in "When MLK came to Oberlin" by Cindy Leise, The Chronicle-Telegram (21 January 2008) 1960s

Love, Bad luck, Education, Making love

“Critique of art is not only useless, it is damaging. Art is an expression of self. It is the soul played out upon this physical world. And so, you can no more critique art, than you can critique the human soul. That is why (beyond simple technique that may enable an artist to further express their perspective) I do not believe in art school, for art and school are a serious contradiction in terms.”

Teal Swan (1984) American spiritual teacher

World, School, Art, Soul

“People tend to wear the mask that shows them off in the best possible light—humble, confident, diligent. They say the right things, smile, and seem interested in our ideas. They learn to conceal their insecurities and envy. If we take this appearance for reality, we never really know their true feelings, and on occasion we are blindsided by their sudden resistance, hostility, and manipulative actions. Fortunately, the mask has cracks in it. People continually leak out their true feelings and unconscious desires in the nonverbal cues they cannot completely control—facial expressions, vocal inflections, tension in the body, and nervous gestures. You must master this language by transforming yourself into a superior reader of men and women. Armed with this knowledge, you can take the proper defensive measures. On the other hand, since appearances are what people judge you by, you must learn how to present the best front and play your role to maximum effect.”

Robert Greene (1959) American author

Chap. 3 : See Through People’s Masks
The Laws of Human Nature (2018)

Women, Men, Hostility, People

“Your task as a student of human nature is twofold: First, you must understand and accept the theatrical quality of life. You do not moralize and rail against the role-playing and the wearing of masks so essential to smooth social functioning. In fact, your goal is to play your part on the stage of life with consummate skill, attracting attention, dominating the limelight, and making yourself into a sympathetic hero or heroine. Second, you must not be naive and mistake people’s appearances for reality. You are not blinded by people’s acting skills. You transform yourself into a master decoder of their true feelings, working on your observation skills and practicing them as much as you can in daily life.”

Robert Greene (1959) American author

Chap. 3 : See Through People’s Masks
The Laws of Human Nature (2018)

Life, People, Making love, Feeling

“We humans have a deep need to think highly of ourselves. If that opinion of our goodness, greatness, and brilliance diverges enough from reality, we become grandiose. We imagine our superiority. Often a small measure of success will elevate our natural grandiosity to even more dangerous levels. Our high self-opinion has now been confirmed by events. We forget the role that luck may have played in the success, or the contributions of others. We imagine we have the golden touch. Losing contact with reality, we make irrational decisions. That is why our success often does not last. Look for the signs of elevated grandiosity in yourself and in others—overbearing certainty in the positive outcome of your plans; excessive touchiness if criticized; a disdain for any form of authority. Counteract the pull of grandiosity by maintaining a realistic assessment of yourself and your limits. Tie any feelings of greatness to your work, your achievements, and your contributions to society.”

Robert Greene (1959) American author

Chap. 11 : Know Your Limits
The Laws of Human Nature (2018)

Bad luck, Making love, Feeling, Imagination

“Your task is the following: After any kind of success, analyze the components. See the element of luck that is inevitably there, as well as the role that other people, including mentors, played in your good fortune. This will neutralize the tendency to inflate your powers. Remind yourself that with success comes complacency, as attention becomes more important than the work and old strategies are repeated.”

Robert Greene (1959) American author

Chap. 11 : Know Your Limits
The Laws of Human Nature (2018)

Bad luck, People, Success

“All of us have masculine and feminine qualities—some of this is genetic, and some of it comes from the profound influence of the parent of the opposite sex. But in the need to present a consistent identity in society, we tend to repress these qualities, overidentifying with the masculine or feminine role expected of us. And we pay a price for this. We lose valuable dimensions to our character. Our thinking and ways of acting become rigid. Our relationships with members of the opposite sex suffer as we project onto them our own fantasies and hostilities. You must become aware of these lost masculine or feminine traits and slowly reconnect to them, unleashing creative powers in the process. You will become more fluid in your thinking. In bringing out the masculine or feminine undertone to your character, you will fascinate people by being authentically yourself. Do not play the expected gender role, but rather create the one that suits you.”

Robert Greene (1959) American author

Chap. 12 : Reconnect to the Masculine or Feminine Within You
The Laws of Human Nature (2018)

Hostility, People, Sex, Way

“Middle age begins with marriage; for then work and responsibility replace carefree play, passion surrenders to the limitations of social order, and poetry yields to prose.”

Will Durant (1885–1981) American historian, philosopher and writer

Source: Fallen Leaves (2014), Ch. 3 : On Middle Age

Marriage, Age, Passion

“Happiness is the free play of the instincts, and so is youth.”

Will Durant (1885–1981) American historian, philosopher and writer

Source: Fallen Leaves (2014), Ch. 2 : On Youth

Happiness, Youth

“Childhood may be defined as the age of play; therefore some children are never young, and some adults are never old.”

Will Durant (1885–1981) American historian, philosopher and writer

Source: Fallen Leaves (2014), Ch. 1 : Our life begins

Children, Age, Childhood

“Can I Play??”

Charles Barkley (1963) American basketball player

Series of McDonald's commercials

“We went on the day on the boat train. I was 7, I had never seen a ship before. It looked very big. Everybody was very excited. We went down to the cabin and that's when my mother said to my father that she had made up her mind quite firmly that she would not go to bed in that ship. She would sit up at night. She decided that she wouldn't go to bed at night and she didn't!" I saw that ship sink, "I never closed my eyes. I didn't sleep at all. I saw it, I heard it, and nobody could possibly forget it." "I can remember the colours, the sounds, everything," she said. "The worst thing I can remember are the screams." "It seemed as if once everybody had gone, drowned, finished, the whole world was standing still. There was nothing, just this deathly, terrible silence in the dark night with the stars overhead." The band played one version of 'Nearer My God to Thee' of which there are three and the one they played was the one that was played in church."”

Eva Hart (1905–1996) Titanic survivor

"I never closed my eyes at all – I saw that ship sink. And I saw that ship break in half. Interview from 1993, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD5J43Z9AWI, quoted in New York Times, 16 February 1996

God, World, Star, Sleep

“Architects shouldn't play God.”

Denise Scott Brown (1931) American architect

"Pop Off: Reply to Kenneth Frampton"

God

“School is a place that adds to emotional pain for most children alive today. It is even more so the case for the two most isolated kids in school: 1. The social outcasts who are isolated in every way. 2. The social actors who are surrounded by other kids, but no one sees them because they are in a relationship not with them, but with the role they play.”

Teal Swan (1984) American spiritual teacher

Pain, Children, School, Way

“It turned into a creature with a life of its own.There was nothing we were doing to make it happen. We couldn’t recreate it because we never really understood how it happened. People decided they were all going to play it, and you feel like it’s disconnected from you. All we could do was stand back and take the congratulations that came.”

Tracey Thorn (1962) English singer and songwriter

On the Everything but the Girl album Amplified Heart in “TRACEY THORN ON THE HIT FACTORY” https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/tracey-thorn in Interview Magazine (2010 May 13)

Life, People, Making love, Feeling

“I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent & omnipotent God would have designedly created the Ichneumonidæ with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of caterpillars, or that a cat should play with mice.”

Charles Darwin (1809–1882) British naturalist, author of "On the origin of species, by means of natural selection"

Letter https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/DCP-LETT-2814.xml to Asa Gray, 22 May 1860 Other letters, notebooks, journal articles, recollected statements

God, Cats

“Culture plays also an important role in the life of minorities, who are generally discriminated in such societies where there is no political and religious freedom. Under these circumstances, their cultural values and symbols help them to retain their identity.”

Mubarak Ali (1941) Historian, activist, scholar

In Search of History, Chapter: Cultural Intervention and Social Change, p. 13/14
Culture

Life, Freedom, Help

“We have entered a world of great migrations and we will have more and more of it. Because the planet is in deep imbalance, we will have in the coming decades migrations due to geopolitical conflicts that will continue to play out, and we will have climate migrations... France will not be able to stem it... migratory phenomena much stronger than what we experienced with Syria."”

Emmanuel Macron (1977) 25th President of the French Republic

22 February 2017 https://www.sciencesetavenir.fr/politique/sante-handicap-et-refugies-jean-claude-ameisen-debat-avec-emmanuel-macron_110755 2017 Original: (fr) Nous sommes entrés dans un monde de grandes migrations. Et on en aura de plus en plus. Parce que la planète est en profond déséquilibre, nous auront dans les décennies qui viennent des migrations dues à des conflits géopolitiques qui vont continuer à se jouer et nous aurons des migrations climatiques... La France ne pourra pas l'endiguer... des phénomènes migratoires beaucoup plus forts que ce qu'on a vécu avec la Syrie.

World

“Although it is rarely noted in histories of the American Revolution, many of the arch-Revolutionaries came from a tradition of mystical fraternity. Except for such traces as the symbols on the reverse side of the Great Seal and the dollar bill, little evidence remains of this esoteric influence (Rosicrucian, Masonic, and Hermetic). That sense of fraternity and spiritual chisement played an important role in the intensity of the Revolutionaries and their commitment to the realization of a democracy.”

Marilyn Ferguson (1938–2008) American writer

The Aquarian Conspiracy (1980), Chapter Five, The American Matrix for Transformation

Democracy, History, Sense

“In mathematics, as in any scientific research, we find two tendencies... [T]he tendency toward abstraction seeks to crystallize the logical relations inherent in the maze of material in a systematic and orderly manner. On the other hand, the tendency toward intuitive understanding fosters a more immediate grasp of the objects... a live rapport with them... which stresses the concrete meaning of their relations. ...[I]ntuitive understanding plays a major role in geometry. ...[S]uch concrete intuition is of great value not only for the research worker, but... for anyone who wishes to study and appreciate the results of research in geometry.”

David Hilbert Geometry and the Imagination

Preface
Geometry and the Imagination (1952)

Mathematics, Understanding, Study, Relation ships

“You may ask what then will become of the fundamental principles of equity and fair play which our constitutions enshrine; and whether I seriously believe that unsupported they will serve merely as counsels of moderation. I do not think that anyone can say what will be left of those principles; I do not know whether they will serve only as counsels; but this much I think I do know — that a society so riven that the spirit of moderation is gone, no court can save; that a society where that spirit flourishes, no court need save; that in a society which evades its responsibility by thrusting upon the courts the nurture of that spirit, that spirit in the end will perish. What is the spirit of moderation? It is the temper which does not press a partisan advantage to its bitter end, which can understand and will respect the other side, which feels a unity between all citizens—real and not the factitious product of propaganda—which recognizes their common fate and their common aspirations—in a word, which has faith in the sacredness of the individual.”

Learned Hand (1872–1961) American legal scholar, Court of Appeals judge

"The Contribution of an Independent Judiciary to Civilization" (1942).
Extra-judicial writings

Fate, Faith, Feeling, Understanding

“It is true, I confess, that if a male character of my invention started across the stage to disrobe a virgin criminally (ah, euphemism to end euphemisms!), he would probably catch his foot in the piano stool and end up playing "Button Up Your Overcoat" on the black keys.”

James Thurber (1894–1961) American cartoonist, author, journalist, playwright

"The Case for Comedy", Lanterns & Lances (1961).
From Lanterns and Lances‎

“That’s the worst we’ve played in the kicking game in a year and a half.”

Bill Belichick (1952) American football coach

Postgame press conference following 29-26 overtime win over San Diego Chargers October 14, 2001, describing two missed kicks and a fumbled punt.

Game

“Define God in a sufficiently nebulous way as beauty, love, mysterious complexity, or the ethereal taste of strawberry shortcake, and most atheists become theists. Still, although one can pose as Humpty Dumpty and aver, “When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less,” others needn’t play along.”

John Allen Paulos (1945) American mathematician

Preface (p. xv; the quote is from Alice in Wonderland)
Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don’t Add Up (2008)

Love, God, Making love, Beauty

“I kind of feel like Old Darko died. Like, when I think about myself, or myself when I was playing, I feel like I’m sort of thinking about someone who is dead.”

Darko Miličić (1985) Serbian basketball player

As quoted in "Finding Darko" http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/20211833/nba-bust-darko-milicic-finds-success-back-home-serbia (8 February 2017), by Sam Borden, ESPN 2010s

Feeling, Thinking, Dead

“The great masquerade of evil has played havoc with all our ethical concepts. For evil to appear disguised as light, charity, historical necessity or social justice is quite bewildering to anyone brought up on our traditional ethical concepts, while for the Christian who bases his life on the Bible, it merely confirms the fundamental wickedness of evil. The "reasonable" people's failure is obvious. With the best intentions and a naive lack of realism, they think that with a little reason they can bend back into position the framework that has got out of joint. In their lack of vision they want to do justice to all sides, and so the conflicting forces wear them down with nothing achieved. Disappointed by the world's unreasonableness, they see themselves condemned to ineffectiveness; they step aside in resignation or collapse before the stronger party.
Still more pathetic is the total collapse of moral fanaticism. Fanatics think that their single-minded principles qualify them to do battle with the powers of evil; but like a bull they rush at the red cloak instead of the person who is holding it; they exhaust themselves and are beaten. They get entangled in non-essentials and fall into the trap set by cleverer people.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945) German Lutheran pastor, theologian, dissident anti-Nazi

Source: Letters and Papers from Prison (1967; 1997), Who Stands Fast?, p. 4

Life, People, World, Justice

“Jesus bluntly calls the evil person evil. If I am assailed, I am not to condone or justify aggression. Patient endurance of evil does not mean a recognition of its rights. That is sheer sentimentality, and Jesus will have nothing to do with it. The shameful assault, the deed of violence and the act of exploitation are still evil. … The very fact that the evil which assaults him is unjustifiable makes it imperative that he should not resist it, but play it out and overcome it by patiently enduring the evil person. Suffering willingly endured is stronger than evil, it spells death to evil.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945) German Lutheran pastor, theologian, dissident anti-Nazi

Source: Discipleship (1937), Revenge, p. 142

Death, Making love, Suffering, Evil

“Two points defined a line, but three defined the playing field.”

Daniel Abraham (1969) speculative fiction writer from the United States

The Churn (2014)

“Bankers play far too great a part in the conduct of industry...”

Henry Ford book My Life and Work

Source: My Life and Work (1922), Chapter XII, Money - Master or Servant

Parting

“I don't believe in flying saucers... The energy requirements of interstellar travel are so great that it is inconceivable to me that any creatures piloting their ships across the vast depths of space would do so only in order to play games with us over a period of decades.”

Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, known for his works of science fiction …

"On Flying Saucers" in Is Anyone There? (1967), pp. 215–216
General sources

Travel, Game, Relation ships, Flying

“Any time I'm not playing, I watch the game at home on television. That way I can relax and if I decide to make a catch off my playroom wall, nobody is the wiser.”

Willie Mays (1931) Baseball player

Regarding his decision not to attend Game 1 of the 1960 World Series, despite having been in Pittsburgh the previous day for a TV appearance; as quoted in "Change of Pace" by Bill Nunn, Jr., in The Pittsburgh Courier (October 15, 1960), p. 25

Making love, Way, Home, Game

“What I want to know is what a fellow does when he plays golf. Tell me in as few words as you can just what it's all about. -- You hit a ball with a stick until it falls into a hole.”

P.G. Wodehouse (1881–1975) English author

"The Heel of Achilles"
The Clicking Of Cuthbert (1922)

“Love and devotion, deep as any ocean
don't play by anybody's rules
With your carousel of horses
and your unforeseen forces,
you're running with the caravan of fools
Caravan of fools, caravan of fools
You're running with the caravan of fools”

John Prine (1946–2020) American country singer/songwriter

Caravan of Fools (co-written with Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin)
Song lyrics, The Tree of Forgiveness (2018)

Love, Making love, Fools, Horse

“Collectively, the more civilized men are, the more they are actors. They assume the appearance of attachment, of esteem for others, of modesty, and of disinterestedness, without ever deceiving anyone, because everyone understands that nothing sincere is meant. Persons are familiar with this, and it is even a good thing that this is so in this world, for when men play these roles, virtues are gradually established, whose appearance had up until now only been affected. These virtues ultimately will become part of the actor's disposition. To deceive the deceiver in ourselves, or the tendency to deceive, is a fresh return to obedience”

Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) German philosopher

.

Kant, Immanuel (1996), page 37
Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View (1798)

Men, World, Understanding, Appearance

“We allow American journalists in Singapore in order to report Singapore to their fellow countrymen...But we cannot allow them to assume a role in Singapore that the American media play in America, that is, that of invigilator, adversary and inquisitor of the administration.”

Lee Kuan Yew (1923–2015) First Prime Minister of Singapore

In 1984, National Day speech. Quoted in S. Balakrishna, Seventy years of secularism. 2018.
1980s

“First to go will be the world’s stock markets. They are, as Maitreya has said, about to crash. They will come down because they stand in the way of right relationship. They really bear no relation to the needs even of trade between countries. They are an anachronism, what Maitreya calls, very accurately, “gambling casinos” which have no part to play in the future time, at least in their present form.”

Benjamin Creme (1922–2016) artist, author, esotericist

The Awakening of Humanity (2008)

World, Way, Relation ships, Time

“Parents probably don’t know that they are playing favorites even when they are doing it.”

Robert A. Heinlein book Time for the Stars

Source: Time for the Stars (1956), Chapter 5, “The Party of the Second Part” (p. 54)

Parent

“Honor was in surviving, not fair play.”

Steve Perry (1947) American writer

Source: Matadora (1986), Chapter 1 (p. 4)

“Questions of identity have always played a large part in my thinking and writing; and, of course, race is a key component of identity. Certainly for me, and certainly in Britain.”

Caryl Phillips (1958) Kittian-British writer

On the recurring theme of his works in “CARYL PHILLIPS: INTERVIEW” https://mosaicmagazine.org/caryl-phillips-interview/#.Xe58ovlKjcs in Mosaic Magazine (2012 Mar 19)

Question, Thinking, Parting

“Played in, and it comes out into Landon Donovan, who strikes again. What a golden goal for the USA, if you're just joining us? There it is, the moment. Deep, deep into the match! To give the USA surely, a place in the last sixteen. It is breathtakingly exciting!”

Ian Darke (1950) British association football and boxing commentator

United States v. Algeria http://www.listenonrepeat.com/watch/?v=DALDkkXodRU (23 June 2010) 2010s, 2010, 2010 FIFA World Cup

“The way to deal with China would have been a broad coalition of countries that play by the rules. Instead, we've conveyed the message that big countries don't need no rules. And China is a very big country.”

Paul Krugman (1953) American economist

comment on Trump Is Abusing His Tariff Power, Too https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/opinion/trump-auto-tariff.html#commentsContainer (January 23, 2020) The New York Times Columns

Way, Country

“I don't like playing politics, I don't like having bosses and being told what to do, I don't like competition, I have no desire to manage other people, so I've instinctively avoided or quickly left any places that were even remotely maze-like.”

Wei Dai Cryptocurrency pioneer and computer scientist

In a discussion thread https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/a8wjKNSGCPSzdWMMa/how-to-escape-from-immoral-mazes#tggw3zpPyuGgrAttt on LessWrong, January 2020

People

“I remember the birds and the animals and going down to the river with my dog to play…My grandparents and uncles who farmed in Puerto de Luna were so beautiful, I wanted to keep them around, to contain them.”

Rudolfo Anaya (1937) Novelist, poet

On his childhood in “Rudolfo Anaya: Man of visions” https://www.abqjournal.com/1074636/man-of.html in Albuquerque Journal (2017 Oct 7)

Beauty, Dogs, Bird, Animals

“The audience I play to really is the bright 14-year-old: someone who is capable of sitting still and listening and watching and feeling for even three hours. I know, as I did at that age, they'll potentially have their lives changed.”

Ian McKellen (1939) British actor

Ian McKellen Tours with Royal Shakespeare, 2007 https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/ian-mckellen-tours-royal-shakespeare-25640/,

Age, Feeling, Change

“Let echo, too, perform her part,
Prolonging every note with art;
And in a low expiring strain,
Play all the concert o'er again.”

Joseph Addison (1672–1719) politician, writer and playwright

Ode for St. Cecilia's Day (1699), st. 4

Art, Parting

“[W]hen the law is reached... it must be tested and criticised by its discoverer in every conceivable way, till he is certain that the imagination has not played him false, and that his law is in real agreement with the whole group of phenomena...”

Karl Pearson book The Grammar of Science

Introductory
The Grammar of Science (1900)

Law, Way, Imagination, Falseness

“If a script ‘beeps’ to me, I do it...Audiences may hate these plays, but I believe in them. The only way I can explain my ‘beeps’ is that I’m no intellectual, but my instincts tell me automatically when a playwright has something.”

Ellen Stewart (1919–2011) American theater director and producer

Quoted in "Ellen Stewart, Off Off Broadway Pioneer, Dies at 91" by Mel Gussow and Bruce Weber, The New York Times, (January 13, 2011) https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/14/theater/14stewart.html.

Hate, Way

“I’m a magician who writes about ideas. I’m not a science-fiction writer. People who call me that are wrong. Most of what I write is fantasy or magic realism or plays about my Mexican-American background.”

Ray Bradbury (1920–2012) American writer

Bradbury Talk Likely to Feature the Unexpected (1994)

People, Idea, Science

“…I have discovered that plays are easier to write than novels if the writer has a certain verbal facility, a certain capacity for the colloquial, an ear for the secret cadences of the spoken word. A play can be written with more ease than a novel…”

Luis Rafael Sánchez (1936) Puerto Rican playwright and novelist

On plays versus novels in “Luis Rafael Sánchez: Counterpoints" https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00096005/00024/14j (Sargasso, 1984)

Secret

“The play is my gut's response to stories that have to do with my own bloodline. I think it is a great luxury and adventure to be able to dive into one's own history, one's own lineage, psychology and story, and illumine and at the same time fictionalize it.”

Philip Kan Gotanda (1951) American film director and playwright

On his play Yachiyo in “Family Secret Revealed on Stage / Philip Kan Gotanda tells tragic story of aunt he never knew in `Yachiyo'” https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Family-Secret-Revealed-on-Stage-Philip-Kan-3020373.php in SF Gate (1995 Nov 5)

History, Thinking, Time

“To me the play is never just the play but it’s the whole journey to it.”

Philip Kan Gotanda (1951) American film director and playwright

On the dynamic nature of writing plays in [https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/09/17/acclaimed-berkeley-playwright-philip-kan-gotanda-opens-up-about-his-mysterious-new-play/ “

“Life is infinite creative play.
Enjoyment and participation in this creative play
Is the artists profound joy.
We co-author every moment
With universal creativity.”

Alex Grey (1953) American artist

Art Psalms (2008), The Vast Expanse

Life, Universe, Joy

“It is the prayer of my innermost being
To realize my supreme identity
In the liberated play of consciousness,
The Vast Expanse.
Now is the moment,
Here is the place of Liberation.”

Alex Grey (1953) American artist

Art Psalms (2008), The Vast Expanse

“…When I was a kid, I didn’t know what I was going to do. Even when I started playing music, I had no idea that I would get to this point in my professional life…”

Pete Escovedo (1935) Mexican-American jazz musician and percussionist

On whether Escovedo knew he had staying power as a musician in “Pete Escovedo: Rhythms of Life” https://jazztimes.com/features/interviews/pete-escovedo-rhythms/ in Jazz Times (2017 Nov 23)

Life, Music, Idea

“To wear away the time, we learn to play chess,
In thousands, horses and infantry chase each other.
Move quickly into action, in attack or in retreat.
Talent and swift feet give us the upper hand.”

Ho Chi Minh (1890–1969) Vietnamese communist leader and first president of Vietnam

"Learning to Play Chess"
1950's

Learning, Time, Horse

“My friends, we have seen enough of this play.
We are going home, you can stay.”

Khwaja Mir Dard (1721–1785) Urdu writer

Ilm Ul Kitab, p. 476
Poetry

Home

“We made the mountains shake
With laughter as we played,
Hiding in our corner of the world.
Then we did the demon dance
And rushed to nevermore,
Threw away the key and locked the door.”

Ronnie James Dio (1942–2010) American singer

"Children of the Sea" on Heaven and Hell (1980)
Lyrics

World, Mountain, Laughter, Dance

“I have always loved playing around with words. I didn’t know it was called poetry. I was just an innocent kid messing around with words when an adult said ‘You’re a poet, be published or be damned’.”

Benjamin Zephaniah (1958) English poet and author

On the realization that he was a poet in “Interview with Benjamin Zephaniah” https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/writers/advice/37/a-writers-toolkit/interviews-with-authors/interview-with-benjamin-zephaniah in Writers & Artists

Love, Making love

“Nobody will play with us, we have no friends, we're the Trenchcoat Mafia.”

Chris Rock (1965) American comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer, and director

The Trenchcoat Mafia.

Hell, I saw the yearbook picture, it was six of 'em! I ain't have six friends in high school. I don't got six friends now! Shit, that's 3-on-3 with a half-court!
Bigger and Blacker (Album Version, 1999)

“I’m done with wrapping boxes
buying things that no one wanted
trying on my own to save the day
while dad plays cards and bro reads verses
mom’s in tears between the curses
I need a fucking holiday I’m not ready for Christmas.”

Alicia Witt (1975) American actress

Lyrics, I'm Not Ready For Christmas (2013)

Moms, Tear, Reading, Holiday

“I played so many oriental princesses and cowtown saloon madams after that I lost count. I broke in all the new actors, to use a phrase. I acted with Rock Hudson and Tony Curtis before they became big names.”

Yvonne De Carlo (1922–2007) Canadian-American actress, dancer, and singer

Source: As quoted in "A girl no longer, but . . . De Carlo's a beauty still" (1975)

Princess

“The wise lamb does not enrage the lion, it placates him, plays for time, and hopes for the best.”

John Wyndham book The Midwich Cuckoos

The Midwich Cuckoos (1957), Ch 21 - p.213 [Zellaby]

Hope, Time

“Somehow, acting brings out parts of your personality that maybe you didn’t know were there, or the character brings out some little part of you that has been dormant for your whole life, you know? And then when you get the chance to play these characters, some-times things come out of you that are quite surprising and that you don’t even know are inside of you. It’s an amazing thing to experience that.”

Liv Tyler (1977) American actress, producer and former model

Life, Chance, Time, Parting

“I am the Father of Lies. Over the years, my children have done me proud. I shouldn’t play favorites, but I am especially pleased with “The meek shall inherit the earth.” Likewise, I shall always retain a soft spot in my heart for “Every cloud has a silver lining.””

James K. Morrow (1947) (1947-) science fiction author

As for “Time heals all wounds” and “Whenever God closes a door, He opens a window”—they, too, make me gloat unconscionably.
Source: Blameless in Abaddon (1996), Chapter 1 (p. 13; spoken by the Devil)

Children, Heart

“My first year, my rookie year at the 49ers, I had two labrum tears. Both shoulders. I had a chance to get the surgery before the season or play ball, and I told my coaches that I wanted to play and then get the surgeries. The reason was, when I came out [of college], everybody said I was injury-prone, and I just wanted to show them how tough I was and how much I love the game. That’s what that year was about. I got the surgeries after that first year in San Francisco. Both shoulders.”

Frank Gore (1983) American football running back

On Injuries
“After the surgeries, I respected Ronnie Brown, I respected Benson, I respected Cadillac. But I told people, ‘Once I get healthy I WILL NEVER be outrushed by any of those guys. No one in my draft class will ever outrush me again. That second year I proved that.
“How I did that … I don’t know. It’s not me. It’s God. God got me here. God and hard work. Respecting the game. Love, man. Love. Love the game. Love my teammates. Every time I get ready to strap up, show the world today that no one is better.”

Love, Making love, Game, Tear

“I know what I signed up for. I do not regret anything I’ve done. I never, never wish I did not play this game.”

Frank Gore (1983) American football running back

On Early Years
"My neighborhood, Coconut Grove, we always played in the streets. It was corner against corner. We all had football teams. Different neighborhoods. My first year playing Pop Warner football, my mom had to change my birth certificate because I was too young. I was 5, I think, and you were supposed to be 6. My first time playing running back in a real game, I had eight touchdowns. I always loved football. For so long, I played against the older kids in the neighborhood. They had me really competing. I’d play corner, receiver, running back. I remember one time one of the older kids looked at me when I was playing corner, like it was a threat, and said: ‘You better not get beat.’"
"When I got to Coral Gables High, it felt like I was on a different level. You play Pop Warner, and you’re good, and all the top high schools try to get you. So I felt like I was pretty good. I got over 1,000 yards my sophomore year, but my coach got fired. At that time I wasn’t really working hard. I was good, but I didn’t lift weights. This new coach, Joe Montoya, basically called me out in our first team meeting. He didn’t give a s--- what I done to that point. He said, ‘I don’t care what you did before I got here.’ He told the guys things were gonna be different, and they better work hard, or they could get out right now. I felt like he called me out. I was about to leave. But then I met with him. He said, ‘Listen to what I say, and you’ll be a D-1 player.’"
"Good lesson. I listened to him. I got stronger and stronger, and I got faster. I was the first one at practice. I had to be first in every sprint. He had me programmed. I got better. My senior year, I rushed for 1,000 yards in my first four games. I wanted to play major-college football. Joe Montoya was really important. When I go back to Miami now, I call him. We have cookouts."

Game

“Playing with dad is like being on a roller coaster—kids are excited because they feel safe.”

Warren Farrell (1943) author, spokesperson, expert witness, political candidate

Source: The Boy Crisis (2018), pp. 142

Feeling

“The kingdom of music is not the kingdom of this world; it will accept those whom breeding and intellect and culture have alike rejected. The common place person begins to play, and shoots into the empyrean without effort, whilst we look up, marvelling how he has escaped us, and thinking how we could worship him and love him, would he but transalate his visions into human words, and his experiences into human actions.”

E.M. Forster book A Room with a View

Source: A Room with a View (1908), Ch. 3

Love, World, Making love, Music

“What's happening in the world and in the ocean has changed our time horizon. We can be incredibly pessimistic on the short term, and mourn what we lost and what we really took for granted. But we can still be optimistic on the long term, and we can still be ambitious about what we fight for and what we expect from our governments, from our planet. Corals have been living on planet Earth for hundreds of millions of years. They survived the extinction of the dinosaurs. They're badasses. An individual coral can go through tremendous trauma and fully recover if it's given a chance and it's given protection. Corals have always been playing the long game, and now so are we.”

Kristen Marhaver American marine biologist

Source: Why I still have hope for coral reefs https://www.ted.com/talks/kristen_marhaver_why_i_still_have_hope_for_coral_reefs (April 2017)

World, Game, Change, Chance

“What the hell do you think spies are? Model philosophers measuring everything they do against the word of God or Karl Marx? They’re not. They’re just a bunch of seedy, squalid bastards like me, little men, drunkards, queers, henpecked husbands, civil servants, playing cowboys and Indians to brighten their rotten little lives. Do you think they sit like monks in a cell, balancing right against wrong?”

John le Carré (1931) British novelist and spy

from a clip from the film adaptation of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, starring Richard Burton as Alec Leamas, an alcoholic cynical British spy The Spy Who Came In From the Cold (1963) Source: Quoted in “The United States of America Has Gone Mad”: John le Carré on Iraq War, Israel & U.S. Militarism, Democracy Now! https://www.democracynow.org/2020/12/25/the_united_states_of_america_has (25 December 2020)

Men, God, Hell, Thinking

“All my life I have been a pacifist. All my life I have hated war and loved peace. I have contributed to peace societies, written for peace, spoken for peace, paraded for peace. But today I seriously question whether our ways of seeking peace are not playing directly into the hands of those who love war and intend to pursue it.”

Dorothy Thompson (1893–1961) American journalist and radio broadcaster

Dorothy Thompson’s Political Guide: A Study of American Liberalism and its Relationship to Modern Totalitarian States (1938)
Source: A Study of American Liberalism and its Relationship to Modern Totalitarian States (1938)
p. 33

Love, Life, Hate, War

“The communist theory is that a world war is inevitable; that in that war, if they play their cards well, the democracies will be lined up against the fascist dictatorships, and that the result of the war will be the triumph of Communism all over the world. Their chief program now is to get the democracies so lined up.”

Dorothy Thompson (1893–1961) American journalist and radio broadcaster

War, World, Democracy, Communication

“I'm your narrator. It's my task to say
Just where and how things happen in our play,
Set the bare stage with words instead of props
And keep on talking till the curtain drops. …
It's an old task — old as the human heart,
Old as those bygone players and their art
Who, in old days when faith was nearer earth,
Played out the mystery of Jesus' birth
In hall or village green or market square
For all who chose to come and see them there,
And, if they knew that King Herod, in his crown,
Was really Wat, the cobbler of the town,
And Tom, the fool, played Abraham the Wise,
They did not care. They saw with other eyes.
The story was their own — not far away,
As real as if it happened yesterday,
Full of all awe and wonder yet so near,
A marvelous thing that could have happened here
In their own town — a star that could have blazed
On their own shepherds, leaving them amazed,
Frightened and questioning and following still
To the bare stable — and the miracle.”

Stephen Vincent Benét (1898–1943) poet, short story writer, novelist

Narrator
Source: A Child is Born (1942)

Faith, Fools, Art, Star

“Personal identity, like social identity, divides up the individual's world of others for him. The division is first between the knowing and the unknowing. The knowing are those who have a personal identification of the individual; they need only see him or hear his name to bring this information into play. The unknowing are those for whom the individual constitutes an utter stranger, someone of whom they have begun no personal biography.”

Erving Goffman book Stigma

Source: 1950s-1960s, Stigma, 1963, Ch.2 - p. 85

World, Personality

“There is a Path which leads to that which is known as Initiation, and through Initiation to the Perfecting of Man; a Path which is recognized in all the great religions, and the chief features of which are described in similar terms in every one of the great faiths of the world. You may read of it in the Roman Catholic teachings as divided into three parts: (1) The Path of Purification or Purgation; (2) the Path of Illumination; and (3) the Path of Union with Divinity. You find it among the Mussulmans in the Sufi — the mystic — teachings of Islam, where it is known under the names of the Way, the Truth and the Life. You find it further eastward still in the great faith of Buddhism, divided into subdivisions, though these can be classified under the broader outline. It is similarly divided in Hinduism; for in both those great religions, in which the study of psychology, of the human mind and the human constitution, has played so great a part, you find a more definite subdivision. But really it matters not to which faith you turn; it matters not which particular set of names you choose as best attracting or expressing your own ideas; the Path is but one; its divisions are always the same; from time immemorial that Path has stretched from the life of the world to the life of the Divine.”

Annie Besant (1847–1933) British socialist, theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator

Source: Initiation, The Perfecting of Man (1923)

Life, Truth, World, Faith

“Actresses can only play women. I'm an actor, I can play anything.”

Whoopi Goldberg (1955) American actress

Speaking on The Today Show on January 13, 1986; as quoted in Whoopi Goldberg on Stage and Screen https://www.google.com/books/edition/Whoopi_Goldberg_on_Stage_and_Screen/WTH-SHM1LrkC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22an%20actress%20can%20only%20play%20a%20woman%22 (2013) by Lisa Pertillar Brevard, p. 18.

Women

“Wish I was a millionaire
I'd play rock music and grow long hair
Tell you boys
about a new Rolls-Royce Pretty women would call on me
I'd give ‘em all the third degree
Give ‘em satin sheets
To keep ‘em off the streetsHallelujah, let me sock it to ya
Praise the Lord...”

Willis Allan Ramsey (1951) American singer-songwriter

Satin sheets

Women, Music, Boy

Quotes about play page 47

Quotes about play
page 47