A defeatist spirit must inevitably lead to disaster.

The middlegame I repeat is chess itself, chess with all its possibilities, its attacks, defences, sacrifices, etc.

Haste is never more dangerous than when you feel that victory is in your grasp.

It is not a move, even the best move that you must seek, but a realizable plan

Avoidance of mistakes is the beginning, as it is the end, of mastery in chess.

It would be idle, and presumptuous, to wish to imitate the achievements of a Morphy or an Alekhine; but their methods and their manner of expressing themselves are within the reach of all.

All conceptions in the game of chess have a geometrical basis.

... though combinations are without number, the number of ideas are limited.

Haste, the great enemy.

We should praise, rather, the courage of the player who, relying only on his intuition, plunges into a brilliant combination of which the issue does not appear to him too clear.

Chess is a game of understanding and not of memory.

Now, ' Elias said, 'if only I didn't have to go home to my lousy wife. I married her in 1929. A lot of things've changed since 1929.' He sighed. 'What's a woman?' he asked. 'A Woman is a trap.

Love may start out as a good feeling, but to love someone long-term is an act of the will.

biography is essentially a collaborative art, the latest biographer collaborating with all those who wrote earlier.

I can get up at 8am and be rested... or I can get up at 5am and be President.

The oldest and most important currency is debt.

I always felt like Broadway was not for me - in terms of ticket price, in terms of what was on there. I never saw myself reflected in the mirror of the Great White Way.

Live for the moments you can't put into words

Why do all your friends talk like books?

I honestly believe that with a strong mind, you can literally 'will' the ball into the hole.

I love the role that men play in our lives.