--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The higher powers of the reflective…" description: "\"The higher powers of the reflective intellect are more decidedly and more usefully tasked by the unostentatious game of draughts than by all the elabor..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88c/edgar-allan-poe-315_chess_the-higher-powers-of-the-reflective-inte_589980.jpg" --- # The higher powers of the reflective intellect are more… ![“The higher powers of the reflective intellect are more decidedly and more usefully tasked by the unostentatious game of draughts than by all the elaborate frivolity of chess.” quote by Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88c/edgar-allan-poe-315_chess_the-higher-powers-of-the-reflective-inte_589980.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88c/edgar-allan-poe-315_chess_the-higher-powers-of-the-reflective-inte_589980.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88c/edgar-allan-poe-315_chess_the-higher-powers-of-the-reflective-inte_589980.jpg) > “The higher powers of the reflective intellect are more decidedly and more usefully tasked by the unostentatious game of draughts than by all the elaborate frivolity of chess.” [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The intellect benefits more from simple, strategic games than from complex, ornamental ones. **In simple terms:** Simple games sharpen the mind better than elaborate ones. Key Takeaway Choose straightforward challenges to develop thinking. Themes strategy intellect simplicity Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - board games - educational activities - team building - problem solving Key Concepts cognitive development focus Questions to Reflect On - Do you prioritize simplicity over complexity in learning? - How can modest games improve strategic thinking? A Different Perspective Complex games can be time‑consuming and may not yield proportional mental gains. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chess/) [Frivolity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frivolity/) [Games](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/games/) [Higher power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/higher-power/) [Intellect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellect/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [Reflection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reflection/) ## Related quotes > [“The faculty of re-solution is possibly much invigorated by mathematical study, and especially by that highest branch of it which, unjustly, and merely on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/the-faculty-of-re-solution-is-possibly-much-invigorated-by/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [Chess is far too complex to be definitively solved with any technology we can conceive of today. However, our looked-down-upon cousin, checkers, or draughts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-kasparov/chess-is-far-too-complex-to-be-definitively-solved-with-any/) [Garry Kasparov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-kasparov/) > [At the ches with me she (Fortune) gan to pleye; With her false draughts (pieces) dyvers/She staal on me, and took away my fers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/at-the-ches-with-me-she-fortune-gan-to-pleye-with-her-false-draughts/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [Mathematics is like draughts in being suitable for the young, not too difficult, amusing, and without peril to the state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/mathematics-is-like-draughts-in-being-suitable-for-the-young-not-too/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [What Americans call cross-ventilation, the English call draughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermione-gingold/what-americans-call-cross-ventilation-the-english-call-draughts/) [Hermione Gingold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermione-gingold/) > [“Aion is a child at play, playing draughts; the kingship is a child's.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heraclitus/aion-is-a-child-at-play-playing-draughts-the-kingship-is-a-child-s/) [Heraclitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heraclitus/) > [“Time is a child playing a game of draughts; the kingship is in the hands of a child.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heraclitus/time-is-a-child-playing-a-game-of-draughts-the-kingship-is-in-the/) [Heraclitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heraclitus/) > [“Eternity is like a child playing at draughts; the kingdom belongs to a child.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heraclitus/eternity-is-like-a-child-playing-at-draughts-the-kingdom-belongs-to-a/) [Heraclitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heraclitus/) > [I inhale great draught of space...the east and west are mine...and the north and south are mine...I am grandeur than I thought...I did not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/i-inhale-great-draught-of-space-the-east-and-west-are-mine-and-the/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Draught excluders at the front door make a huge difference as does covering an old Chubb lock key hole. That stops the whistling wind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-clarke/draught-excluders-at-the-front-door-make-a-huge-difference-as-does/) [George Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-clarke/) > [One receives as reward for much ennui, despondency, boredom -such as a solitude without friends, books, duties, passions must bring with it -those quarter-hours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-receives-as-reward-for-much-ennui-despondency-boredom-such-as-a/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Our Adonais has drunk poisonoh! What deaf and viperous murderer could crown Life's early cup with such a draught of woe?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/our-adonais-has-drunk-poisonoh-what-deaf-and-viperous-murderer-could/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Compliments of congratulation are always kindly taken, and cost nothing but pen, ink and paper. I consider them as draughts upon good breeding, where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/compliments-of-congratulation-are-always-kindly-taken-and-cost/) [Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/) > [When the milk of human kindness turns sour, it is a singularly unpalatable draught.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/when-the-milk-of-human-kindness-turns-sour-it-is-a-singularly/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [Fatigue is the safest sleeping draught.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/fatigue-is-the-safest-sleeping-draught/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) ## More by Edgar Allan Poe > [“From childhood’s hour I have not been As others were—I have not seen As others saw—I could not bring My passions from a common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/from-childhood-s-hour-i-have-not-been-as-others-were-i-have-not-seen/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [There is no passion in nature so demoniacally impatient, as that of him who, shuddering upon the edge of a precipice, thus meditates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/there-is-no-passion-in-nature-so-demoniacally-impatient-as-that-of/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [To vilify a great man is the readiest way in which a little man can himself attain greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/to-vilify-a-great-man-is-the-readiest-way-in-which-a-little-man-can/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“A skillful literary artist has constructed a tale. If wise, he has not fashioned his thoughts to accommodate his incidents; but having conceived, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/a-skillful-literary-artist-has-constructed-a-tale-if-wise-he-has-not/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“For eyes we have no models in the remotely antique.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/for-eyes-we-have-no-models-in-the-remotely-antique/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/during-the-whole-of-a-dull-dark-and-soundless-day-in-the-autumn-of/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who dream only at night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/those-who-dream-by-day-are-cognizant-of-many-things-that-escape-those/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“I have said that the sole effect of my somewhat childish experiment—that of looking down within the tarn—had been to deepen the first singular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/i-have-said-that-the-sole-effect-of-my-somewhat-childish-experiment/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [And all my days are trances, And all my nightly dreams Are where thy dark eye glances, And where thy footstep gleams-- In what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/and-all-my-days-are-trances-and-all-my-nightly-dreams-are-where-thy/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“Other friends have flown before — On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.” Quoth the raven, “Nevermore.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/other-friends-have-flown-before-on-the-morrow-he-will-leave-me-as-my/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“To the right and left, as far as the eye could reach, there lay outstretched, like ramparts of the world, lines of horridly black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/to-the-right-and-left-as-far-as-the-eye-could-reach-there-lay/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [Men die nightly in their beds, wringing the hands of ghostly confessors ... on account of the hideousness of mysteries which will not suffer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/men-die-nightly-in-their-beds-wringing-the-hands-of-ghostly/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [And the Raven, never flitting, Still is sitting, still is sitting On the pallid bust of Pallas Just above my chamber door; And his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/and-the-raven-never-flitting-still-is-sitting-still-is-sitting-on-the/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [I was forced to fall back upon the unsatisfactory conclusion, that while, beyond doubt, there are combinations of very simple natural objects which have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/i-was-forced-to-fall-back-upon-the-unsatisfactory-conclusion-that/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise but i feel the bright…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/for-the-moon-never-beams-without-bringing-me-dreams-of-the-beautiful/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) [Explore all 615 Edgar Allan Poe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) ## More Chess quotes > [I have known many chess players, but among them there has been only one genius - Capablanca!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emanuel-lasker/i-have-known-many-chess-players-but-among-them-there-has-been-only/) [Emanuel Lasker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emanuel-lasker/) > [Real chessplayers think about chess more or less 24 hours a day. It is a passion and a fate that one has to live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simen-agdestein/real-chessplayers-think-about-chess-more-or-less-24-hours-a-day-it-is/) Simen Agdestein > [It's interesting that the greatest minds of computer science, the founding fathers, like Alan Turing and Claude Shannon and Norbert Wiener, they all looked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-kasparov/it-s-interesting-that-the-greatest-minds-of-computer-science-the/) [Garry Kasparov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-kasparov/) > [“Relationships are chess for women," he said. "They can see the whole board, plan way ahead. They're the queens, after all. We're the kings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-lippman/relationships-are-chess-for-women-he-said-they-can-see-the-whole/) [Laura Lippman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-lippman/) > [The election of Trump threw the chess board up. The pieces are all over the place. That's upsetting to a lot of people, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-rubin/the-election-of-trump-threw-the-chess-board-up-the-pieces-are-all/) [Dave Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-rubin/) > [Playing for complications is an extreme measure that a player should adopt only when he cannot find a clear and logical plan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-alekhine/playing-for-complications-is-an-extreme-measure-that-a-player-should/) [Alexander Alekhine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-alekhine/) > [“the shadows. “Why do you think they invented chess?” “He’s got you there,” said the captain, following Fletcher. Jake jogged slightly to catch up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-blake/the-shadows-why-do-you-think-they-invented-chess-he-s-got-you-there/) [Russell Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-blake/) > [ \[Photographer Julian Wasser\] had this great idea that I should play chess naked with Marcel Duchamp and it seem to be such a great… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-babitz/photographer-julian-wasser-had-this-great-idea-that-i-should-play/) [Eve Babitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-babitz/) > [Chess is a good mistress but a bad master.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-abrahams/chess-is-a-good-mistress-but-a-bad-master/) [Gerald Abrahams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-abrahams/) > [I am not some sort of freak. I might be very good at chess but I'm just a normal person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/magnus-carlsen/i-am-not-some-sort-of-freak-i-might-be-very-good-at-chess-but-i-m/) [Magnus Carlsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/magnus-carlsen/) > [Some sacrifices are sound; the rest are mine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-tal/some-sacrifices-are-sound-the-rest-are-mine/) [Mikhail Tal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-tal/) > [My parents were very supportive of my chess. 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Use it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-steinitz/the-king-is-a-fighting-piece-use-it/) [Wilhelm Steinitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-steinitz/) [Browse all 2,003 Chess quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chess/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The higher powers of the reflective intellect are more decidedly and more usefully tasked by the unostentatious game of draughts than by all the elaborate frivolity of chess.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edgar Allan Poe" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/the-higher-powers-of-the-reflective-intellect-are-more-decidedly-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Chess" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/the-higher-powers-of-the-reflective-intellect-are-more-decidedly-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88c/edgar-allan-poe-315_chess_the-higher-powers-of-the-reflective-inte_589980.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88c/edgar-allan-poe-315_chess_the-higher-powers-of-the-reflective-inte_589980.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88c/edgar-allan-poe-315_chess_the-higher-powers-of-the-reflective-inte_589980.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The higher powers of the reflective intellect are more decidedly and more usefully tasked by the…” — Edgar Allan Poe", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Edgar Allan Poe", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The higher powers of the reflective...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/the-higher-powers-of-the-reflective-intellect-are-more-decidedly-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/the-higher-powers-of-the-reflective-intellect-are-more-decidedly-and/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```