--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Fancy what a game of chess would be if…" description: "\"Fancy what a game of chess would be if all the chessmen had passions and intellects, more or less small and cunning; if you were not only uncertain abo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a85/george-eliot-84_adversaries_fancy-what-a-game-of-chess-would-be-if-a_985011.png" --- # Fancy what a game of chess would be if all the chessmen… ![“Fancy what a game of chess would be if all the chessmen had passions and intellects, more or less small and cunning; if you were not only uncertain about your adversary's men, but a little uncertain also about your own. You would be especially likely to be beaten, if you depended arrogantly on…” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a85/george-eliot-84_adversaries_fancy-what-a-game-of-chess-would-be-if-a_985011.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a85/george-eliot-84_adversaries_fancy-what-a-game-of-chess-would-be-if-a_985011.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a85/george-eliot-84_adversaries_fancy-what-a-game-of-chess-would-be-if-a_985011.png) > “Fancy what a game of chess would be if all the chessmen had passions and intellects, more or less small and cunning; if you were not only uncertain about your adversary's men, but a little uncertain also about your own. You would be especially likely to be beaten, if you depended arrogantly on your mathematical imagination, and regarded your passionate pieces with contempt. Yet this imaginary chess is easy compared with a game a man has to play against his fellow-men with other fellow-men for instruments.” [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote warns that overreliance on logic and contempt for emotional complexity leads to misjudgment in human interactions. **In simple terms:** Relying only on logic and ignoring feelings causes failure. Key Takeaway Balance reason with empathy. Themes logic emotion human interaction humility strategy Mood reflective cautious thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - teamwork - leadership - conflict resolution - negotiation - personal growth Key Concepts cognitive bias emotional intelligence self-awareness Questions to Reflect On - How can you honor both intellect and feeling? - What assumptions do you make about others' motives? A Different Perspective If you dismiss others' emotions, you may misread their motives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adversaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adversaries/) [Chess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chess/) [Contempt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contempt/) [Fellow man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fellow-man/) [Games](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/games/) [Human condition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-condition/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Intellect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellect/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passion/) [Passionate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passionate/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) ## Related quotes > [I would say, you have a unique chance of learning more about the game of chess with your computer than Bobby Fischer, or even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-kasparov/i-would-say-you-have-a-unique-chance-of-learning-more-about-the-game/) [Garry Kasparov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-kasparov/) > [The placing of the centre pawns determines the "topography" of a game of chess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-kotov/the-placing-of-the-centre-pawns-determines-the-topography-of-a-game/) [Alexander Kotov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-kotov/) > [No One has ever won a Game of 'Chess' . By moving Forward Only . Sometimes U have to move . Backwards to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/no-one-has-ever-won-a-game-of-chess-by-moving-forward-only-sometimes/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [Weaknesses of character are normally shown in a game of chess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-kasparov/weaknesses-of-character-are-normally-shown-in-a-game-of-chess/) [Garry Kasparov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-kasparov/) > [The game of Chess is not merely an idle amusement; several very valuable qualities of the mind are to be acquired and strengthened by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/the-game-of-chess-is-not-merely-an-idle-amusement-several-very/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [I play my enemies like a game of chess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauryn-hill/i-play-my-enemies-like-a-game-of-chess/) [Lauryn Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauryn-hill/) > [“Like they say, the game is chess, it damn sure ain't checkers. Every move I make is so that I can conquer and destroy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wahida-clark/like-they-say-the-game-is-chess-it-damn-sure-ain-t-checkers-every/) Wahida Clark > [“Alienor glanced across at the girls who were still oblivious of their fate as they sat over their game of chess. They had been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-chadwick/alienor-glanced-across-at-the-girls-who-were-still-oblivious-of-their/) [Elizabeth Chadwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-chadwick/) > [It's the horsey-shape piece that moves in an L shape. It's what makes chess complicated, and why stupid people can't play chess. Go play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-love/it-s-the-horsey-shape-piece-that-moves-in-an-l-shape-it-s-what-makes/) [Courtney Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-love/) > [Never Be 'Proud' Nor 'Depressed' For What You Are And 'The Position' You Hold In Society. Remember, After The Game Of Chess,,, The 'King'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pacifiersucker/never-be-proud-nor-depressed-for-what-you-are-and-the-position-you/) Pacifiersucker > [Life is like a game of chess...there are many moves possible, but each move determines your next move...where you wind up is the sum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mort-walker/life-is-like-a-game-of-chess-there-are-many-moves-possible-but-each/) [Mort Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mort-walker/) > [Life is like a game of chess. Undesirable conditions will try to beat you by two and a half gimmick. Through to the patience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/life-is-like-a-game-of-chess-undesirable-conditions-will-try-to-beat/) Mak\_786 > [Each life is a game of chess that went to hell on the seventh move(...)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/each-life-is-a-game-of-chess-that-went-to-hell-on-the-seventh-move/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [It's very encouraging that the game of chess is growing in the U.S. and is becoming more popular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hikaru-nakamura/it-s-very-encouraging-that-the-game-of-chess-is-growing-in-the-u-s/) [Hikaru Nakamura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hikaru-nakamura/) > [“Who the hell let you animals into my office? I'll have you know I was playing a VERY unimportant game of chess right now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-fraction/who-the-hell-let-you-animals-into-my-office-i-ll-have-you-know-i-was/) [Matt Fraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-fraction/) ## More by George Eliot > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-the-effect-of-her-being-on-those-around-her-was-incalculably/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Scepticismcan never be thoroughly applied, else life would come to a standstill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/scepticismcan-never-be-thoroughly-applied-else-life-would-come-to-a/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Under every guilty secret there is hidden a brood of guilty wishes, whose unwholesome infecting life is cherished by the darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/under-every-guilty-secret-there-is-hidden-a-brood-of-guilty-wishes/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [The most powerful movement of feeling with a liturgy is the prayer which seeks for nothing special, but is a yearning to escape from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/the-most-powerful-movement-of-feeling-with-a-liturgy-is-the-prayer/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [ “\[W\]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves-to-the-discovery-that-some-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Mr. Casaubon had never had a strong bodily frame, and his soul was sensitive without being enthusiastic: it was too languid to thrill out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/mr-casaubon-had-never-had-a-strong-bodily-frame-and-his-soul-was/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“... she took her husband's jokes and joviality as patiently as everything else, considering that "men would be so", and viewing the stronger sex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/she-took-her-husband-s-jokes-and-joviality-as-patiently-as-everything/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [What is opportunity to the man who can't use it? An unfecundated egg, which the waves of time wash away into nonentity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/what-is-opportunity-to-the-man-who-can-t-use-it-an-unfecundated-egg/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [And, of course men know best about everything, except what women know better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/and-of-course-men-know-best-about-everything-except-what-women-know/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But let the wise be warned against too great readiness at explanation: it multiplies the sources of mistake, lengthening the sum for reckoners sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-let-the-wise-be-warned-against-too-great-readiness-at-explanation/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But any one watching keenly the stealthy convergence of human lots, sees a slow preparation of effects from one life on another, which tells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-any-one-watching-keenly-the-stealthy-convergence-of-human-lots/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Perspective, as its inventor remarked, is a beautiful thing. What horrors of damp huts, where human beings languish, may not become picturesque through aerial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/perspective-as-its-inventor-remarked-is-a-beautiful-thing-what/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Sane people did what their neighbours did, so that if any lunatics were at large, one might know and avoid them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/sane-people-did-what-their-neighbours-did-so-that-if-any-lunatics/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [even those who call themselves 'intimate' know very little about each other - hardly ever know just how a sorrow is felt, and hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/even-those-who-call-themselves-intimate-know-very-little-about-each/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) [Explore all 1,492 George Eliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## More Adversaries quotes > [In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/in-all-matters-of-opinion-our-adversaries-are-insane/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Inanimate objects are sometimes parties to litigation. A ship has a legal personality, a fiction found useful for maritime purposes. The corporation sole -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-o-douglas/inanimate-objects-are-sometimes-parties-to-litigation-a-ship-has-a/) [William O. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-o-douglas/) > [There were various aspects of Sun Tzu's approach that appealed to Ho Chi Minh: a) to learn to understand both the enemy and yourself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-duiker/there-were-various-aspects-of-sun-tzu-s-approach-that-appealed-to-ho/) [William J. Duiker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-duiker/) > [Marriage, in my view, should be a balanced stalemate between equal adversaries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/marriage-in-my-view-should-be-a-balanced-stalemate-between-equal/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If an adversary didn't target our power plants but they did target the core routers, the backbones that tie our internet connections together, entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/if-an-adversary-didn-t-target-our-power-plants-but-they-did-target/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [It's like I'm married to the silencer, Until I file for divorce and release my ex-calibers. Do art with your arteries, place that for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pharoahe-monch/it-s-like-i-m-married-to-the-silencer-until-i-file-for-divorce-and/) [Pharoahe Monch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pharoahe-monch/) > [Educational exchange can turn nations into people, contributing as no other form of communication can to the humanizing of international relations. Man's capacity for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/educational-exchange-can-turn-nations-into-people-contributing-as-no/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) > [Obama is hardly the first president to seek rapprochement with our adversaries and reconciliation with our enemies, of course. But his determination to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-f-hayes/obama-is-hardly-the-first-president-to-seek-rapprochement-with-our/) [Stephen F. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-f-hayes/) > [It is better to make friends than adversaries of a conquered race.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-haydon/it-is-better-to-make-friends-than-adversaries-of-a-conquered-race/) [Benjamin Haydon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-haydon/) > [“The most courageous act in politics is to try to understand your opponent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-most-courageous-act-in-politics-is-to-try-to-understand-your/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [My adversary is the world of finance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-hollande/my-adversary-is-the-world-of-finance/) [Francois Hollande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-hollande/) > [Often GOP political strategy seems like the human wave theory of the Chinese military translated to politics. Where Beijing uses masses of soldiers to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-morris/often-gop-political-strategy-seems-like-the-human-wave-theory-of-the/) [Dick Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-morris/) > [Our ability to fall in love requires enough comfort with our masculinity to join it with someone's femininity and feel enhanced. .. . If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-pittman/our-ability-to-fall-in-love-requires-enough-comfort-with-our/) [Frank Pittman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-pittman/) > [You negotiate in bad faith if you do not forgive your adversary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/you-negotiate-in-bad-faith-if-you-do-not-forgive-your-adversary/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [We should seek after spiritual gifts. They can lead us to God. They can shield us from the power of the adversary. They can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallin-h-oaks/we-should-seek-after-spiritual-gifts-they-can-lead-us-to-god-they-can/) [Dallin H. Oaks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallin-h-oaks/) [Browse all 446 Adversaries quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adversaries/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Fancy what a game of chess would be if all the chessmen had passions and intellects, more or less small and cunning; if you were not only uncertain about your adversary's men, but a little uncertain also about your own. You would be especially likely to be beaten, if you depended arrogantly on your mathematical imagination, and regarded your passionate pieces with contempt. 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