I believe in magic ... There is magic in the creative faculty such as great poets and philosophers conspicuously possess, and equally in the creative chessmaster.

When you see a good move, look for a better one.

Education in Chess has to be an education in independent thinking and judging. Chess must not be memorized.

On the chessboard, lies and hypocrisy do not survive long. The creative combination lays bare the presumption of a lie; the merciless fact, culminating in the checkmate, contradicts the hypocrite.

The hardest game to win is a won game

Without error there can be no brilliancy

I keep on fighting as long as my opponent can make a mistake.

By some ardent enthusiasts Chess has been elevated into a science or an art. It is neither; but its principal characteristic seems to be - what human nature mostly delights in - a fight.

The laws of chess do not permit a free choice: you have to move whether you like it or not.

The combination player thinks forward; he starts from the given position, and tries the forceful moves in his mind

I have added these principles to the law: get the Knights into action before both Bishops are developed

Is there anything in life so disenchanting as attainment?

Life is made up of moments, small pieces of glittering mica in a long stretch of gray cement.

So far any one shuns evils, so far as he does good.

When people like me, they like me "in spite of my color." When they dislike me; they point out that it isn't because of my color. Either way, I am locked in to the infernal circle.

If Chevy Chase had not been an actor, he might have been a very popular guy in advertising or whatever field he would have gone into, because of his charisma.

...Life is nothing but trading smells.

I was in the back of the book [in the The Reporter] doing music.

Don't ever write anything you don't like yourself and if you do like it, don't take anyone's advice about changing it. They just don't know.

Life helps those who help themselves.

Nick subjected him to a long, judgmental stare. "There's something very wrong with you," he said at last. "I thought you should know.