Walk a fine line between flexibility and consistency. A strategist must have faith in his strategy and the courage to follow it through, and still be open-minded enough to realize when a change of course is required.
Garry Kasparov
“Then came the Autumne all in yellow clad …“
“Then came October full of merry glee …”
The Faerie Queene (1590) by Edmund Spenser
Suffer no exceptions to the program, and maintain momentum. It’s critical to know what motivates, how to push that extra mile.
Stick to a regimen. To stay engaged, new challenges are needed. Repetition or comfort means it’s time to find a new target for one’s energy.
Garry Kasparov
Live on, survive, for the earth gives forth wonders. It may swallow your heart, but the wonders keep on coming. You stand before them bareheaded, shriven. What is expected of you is attention.
Salman Rushdie
Spend some time in your mind. Sit down, close eyes, palms upward on knees. What an empty cavern! Fill it with the realization that without your mind, you would be just another sack. Then think of something else.
2 + 2 = 5 always gets me
Human thought is still best described by metaphor, poetry, & other literary devices to express what we do not fully understand. Experience is a matter of sensibility & intuition, of seeing & hearing the significant things, of paying attention at the right moments.
Garry Kasparov
It is an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem.
For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much – the wheel, New York, wars, and so on – whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time.
But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man – for precisely the same reasons.
So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish by Douglas Adams (1999)
Time of great explorers has passed but there are still precious territories to discover. We can explore the boundaries of our own lives. But before we go exploring we’ll need a map telling which areas of mind are still uncharted.
Garry Kasparov
To all Explorers:
How Life Imitates Chess by Garry Kasparov
- Plan the route
- Marshal resources, discarding any excess
- Maintain a sharp tactical eye, never back away unless certain
- Remain alert for dangers, aware of changes in environment
- Energize with new confidence and inspiration