In open positions the safety of the King should be the first consideration.

The scheme of a game is played on positional lines; the decision of it, as a rule, is effected by combinations.

It is the aim of the modern school, not to treat every position according to one general law, but according to the principle inherent in the position

Those chess lovers who ask me how many moves I usually calculate in advance, when making a combination, are always astonished when I reply, quite truthfully, 'as a rule not a single one'

A knowledge of combinations is the foundation of positional chess.

The essential disadvantage of the isolated pawn ... lies not in the pawn itself, but in the square in front of the pawn.

Chess is a fighting game which is purely intellectual and includes chance.

The pleasure to be derived from a chess combination lie in the feeling that a human mind is behind the game, dominating the inanimate pieces ... and giving them breath of life.

Chess was Capablanca's mother tongue.

No one has ever played these endgames with such elegant ease as Capablanca.

What man wants does not matter.

Striving for excellence motivates you striving for perfection is demoralizing.

I'm not a big pet fan. I remember the school used to have a hamster, and you used to take it home for a week at a time. I did that. I probably got bored of it within a day.

Revolt and revolution both wind up at the same crossroads: the police, or folly.

Beware when any idea is promoted primarily because it is "bold, exciting, innovative, and new." There are many ideas that are "bold, exciting, innovative and new," but also foolish.

I guess in general, people tend to not eat the cute animals.

I'm a very good sleeper.

Do not think that saintliness comes from occupation; it depends rather on what one is. The kind of work we do does not make us holy, but we may make it holy.

The more insecure you are, the more prone you are to create crises.

My life and his were twisted into a single strand. Cut one, and you cut both. If he were gone, I would not be able to live through that. If I were gone, he wouldn't live through it, either.