--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The game had to be played the same way…" description: "\"“The game had to be played the same way every day or the pieces would fall to the floor, the board would collapse, and the illusion that you were shapi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a78/kevin-brockmeier-11982_change_the-game-had-to-be-played-the-same-way-e_774166.png" --- # The game had to be played the same way every day or the… ![“The game had to be played the same way every day or the pieces would fall to the floor, the board would collapse, and the illusion that you were shaping your own life, that you were in control, would break.” quote by Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a78/kevin-brockmeier-11982_change_the-game-had-to-be-played-the-same-way-e_774166.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a78/kevin-brockmeier-11982_change_the-game-had-to-be-played-the-same-way-e_774166.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a78/kevin-brockmeier-11982_change_the-game-had-to-be-played-the-same-way-e_774166.png) > ““The game had to be played the same way every day or the pieces would fall to the floor, the board would collapse, and the illusion that you were shaping your own life, that you were in control, would break.”” [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Routine creates an illusion of control; breaking it reveals chaos and loss of agency. **In simple terms:** Daily routines mask true control. Key Takeaway Maintain flexibility in habits. Themes control illusion routine Mood thoughtful reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - daily planning - career management - personal growth Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What routines give you a false sense of control? - How can you balance structure and spontaneity? A Different Perspective Rigid routines can stifle creativity and adaptability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Control](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/control/) [Habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habits/) ## Related quotes > [It is best to wait for pieces to fall into place to form the perfect picture, than it is for you to force the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-withers/it-is-best-to-wait-for-pieces-to-fall-into-place-to-form-the-perfect/) Will Withers > [Yes, my works... are enshrined in museums, but I don't care if the pieces fall apart in 20 years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmar-polke/yes-my-works-are-enshrined-in-museums-but-i-don-t-care-if-the-pieces/) [Sigmar Polke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmar-polke/) > [Sometimes with these things all the pieces fall into place. I mean, we've been talking about this for years and we don't have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-kosinski/sometimes-with-these-things-all-the-pieces-fall-into-place-i-mean-we/) [Joseph Kosinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-kosinski/) > [“It may be expedient to take stock of all the affecting pieces that might shatter in the wake of an emotional earthquake, once red…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/it-may-be-expedient-to-take-stock-of-all-the-affecting-pieces-that/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [Bobby just drops the pieces and they fall on the right squares](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-najdorf/bobby-just-drops-the-pieces-and-they-fall-on-the-right-squares/) [Miguel Najdorf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-najdorf/) > [Sometimes you just have to watch the broken pieces fall to the ground and walk away, no matter how much you want to fix…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/sometimes-you-just-have-to-watch-the-broken-pieces-fall-to-the-ground/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [Sometimes in life you have to take step back in order to see where all the pieces fall...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-in-life-you-have-to-take-step-back-in-order-to-see-where/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Little by little, the old world crumbled, and not once did the king imagine that some of the pieces might fall on him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-donnelly/little-by-little-the-old-world-crumbled-and-not-once-did-the-king/) [Jennifer Donnelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-donnelly/) > [The game was very, very good to me. I felt like I was equally as good to the game the way I played it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chauncey-billups/the-game-was-very-very-good-to-me-i-felt-like-i-was-equally-as-good/) [Chauncey Billups](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chauncey-billups/) > [So, I just kind of played the way I played and then eventually we kind of figured out what worked best for the band.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-cameron/so-i-just-kind-of-played-the-way-i-played-and-then-eventually-we-kind/) [Matt Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-cameron/) > [We played well all the way until, like, the second quarter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lebron-james/we-played-well-all-the-way-until-like-the-second-quarter/) [LeBron James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lebron-james/) > [We just set it up and recorded it the way we played it. But that was the way we played it then.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-cooper/we-just-set-it-up-and-recorded-it-the-way-we-played-it-but-that-was/) [Alice Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-cooper/) > [I never heard my music played the way I heard it in my head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-mingus/i-never-heard-my-music-played-the-way-i-heard-it-in-my-head/) [Charles Mingus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-mingus/) > [I've always played it my way. I failed media training, for example.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charli-xcx/i-ve-always-played-it-my-way-i-failed-media-training-for-example/) [Charli XCX](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charli-xcx/) > [The way I played, the way my body was all over the place, not thinking about being careful for the next game or anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manu-ginobili/the-way-i-played-the-way-my-body-was-all-over-the-place-not-thinking/) [Manu Ginobili](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manu-ginobili/) ## More by Kevin Brockmeier > [Worry is a mean-faced dwarf who beats on your heart like a kettledrum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/worry-is-a-mean-faced-dwarf-who-beats-on-your-heart-like-a-kettledrum/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [“If I could, I would work my way backward, paring away the years. I would reel my life arouond the wheel of this longing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/if-i-could-i-would-work-my-way-backward-paring-away-the-years-i-would/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [“The incident made her remember the story she had heard about the girl who was raised in a room with no horizontal lines. She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/the-incident-made-her-remember-the-story-she-had-heard-about-the-girl/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [“Sometimes I remember the way I used to be," she said as we sat across the table from each other, "and I'm surprised nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/sometimes-i-remember-the-way-i-used-to-be-she-said-as-we-sat-across/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [A successful song comes to sing itself inside the listener. It is cellular and seismic, a wave coalescing in the mind and in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/a-successful-song-comes-to-sing-itself-inside-the-listener-it-is/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [What I wanted was to write a memoir that was immersive rather than reflective, to resurrect a long-gone version of my own consciousness. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/what-i-wanted-was-to-write-a-memoir-that-was-immersive-rather-than/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [Sometimes they rose up inside her, these moments of fierce happiness, kindling out of their own substance like a spark igniting a mound of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/sometimes-they-rose-up-inside-her-these-moments-of-fierce-happiness/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [It's like you're born with all these blessings, only you don't realize they're blessings until you lose them. And if you're thick-headed enough, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/it-s-like-you-re-born-with-all-these-blessings-only-you-don-t-realize/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [“The street lamps and illuminated signs were all extinguished, and on impulse everybody looked into the sky. The frogs and crickets fell quiet to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/the-street-lamps-and-illuminated-signs-were-all-extinguished-and-on/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [You have a pet theory, one you have been turning over for years, that life itself is a kind of Rube Goldberg device, an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/you-have-a-pet-theory-one-you-have-been-turning-over-for-years-that/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [Who was it who said that every virtue contains its corresponding vice? C.S. Lewis? Virginia Woolf? You forget. But it has always worried you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/who-was-it-who-said-that-every-virtue-contains-its-corresponding-vice/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [The books you love best - those are the immensity of the sea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/the-books-you-love-best-those-are-the-immensity-of-the-sea/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [The living carry us inside them like pearls. We survive only so long as they remember us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/the-living-carry-us-inside-them-like-pearls-we-survive-only-so-long/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [“My son was something of a disciple of flying things. On his bedroom wall were posters of fighter planes and wild birds. A model…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/my-son-was-something-of-a-disciple-of-flying-things-on-his-bedroom/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) > [“Was that what it meant to be alive - moving from a brightly lit corridor into a darkened room at every step? Sometimes it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/was-that-what-it-meant-to-be-alive-moving-from-a-brightly-lit/) [Kevin Brockmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) [Explore all 57 Kevin Brockmeier quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/) ## More Change quotes > [Only within yourself exists the other reality for which you long. I can give you nothing that has not already its being within yourself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/only-within-yourself-exists-the-other-reality-for-which-you-long-i/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I can't believe that I'm sitting in meetings with Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Annette Bening. I want to take on that responsibility to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-can-t-believe-that-i-m-sitting-in-meetings-with-steven-spielberg/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) Phil Hogan > [Nobody can tell me that no changes are necessary in Washington.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-weld/nobody-can-tell-me-that-no-changes-are-necessary-in-washington/) [William Weld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-weld/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [When you walk down the street of Kabul your values for life changes, they do change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-pierre-white/when-you-walk-down-the-street-of-kabul-your-values-for-life-changes/) [Marco Pierre White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-pierre-white/) > [Your world will change whether or not you choose to change, but you have the power to choose it's direction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/your-world-will-change-whether-or-not-you-choose-to-change-but-you/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [I hope I continue to evolve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-flair/i-hope-i-continue-to-evolve/) [Charlotte Flair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-flair/) > [“Stay focused on bringing people together and more on positive messaging so that you can be the change you wish to see in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germany-kent/stay-focused-on-bringing-people-together-and-more-on-positive/) [Germany Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germany-kent/) > [The biggest change for me as a mom was realizing I needed to put someone else before me. Now the hardest part about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-alexis/the-biggest-change-for-me-as-a-mom-was-realizing-i-needed-to-put/) [Kim Alexis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-alexis/) > [“After the funeral, my life changed. I felt as if time were suddenly precious, water going down an open drain, and I could not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/after-the-funeral-my-life-changed-i-felt-as-if-time-were-suddenly/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. On the other hand, as you practice mindfulness and live a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-practice-mindfulness-on-the-one-hand-to-be-calm-and-peaceful-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Irish research will contribute to global progress and have the potential to help all countries realise the potential of their land sectors in addressing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enda-kenny/irish-research-will-contribute-to-global-progress-and-have-the/) [Enda Kenny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enda-kenny/) > [No man can change himself into anything from sheer reason; he can only change into what he potentially is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/no-man-can-change-himself-into-anything-from-sheer-reason-he-can-only/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) [Browse all 33,920 Change quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The game had to be played the same way every day or the pieces would fall to the floor, the board would collapse, and the illusion that you were shaping your own life, that you were in control, would break.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kevin Brockmeier" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/the-game-had-to-be-played-the-same-way-every-day-or-the-pieces-would/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Change" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/the-game-had-to-be-played-the-same-way-every-day-or-the-pieces-would/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a78/kevin-brockmeier-11982_change_the-game-had-to-be-played-the-same-way-e_774166.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a78/kevin-brockmeier-11982_change_the-game-had-to-be-played-the-same-way-e_774166.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a78/kevin-brockmeier-11982_change_the-game-had-to-be-played-the-same-way-e_774166.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The game had to be played the same way every day or the pieces would fall to the floor, the board would…” — Kevin Brockmeier", "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": "Kevin Brockmeier", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brockmeier/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The game had to be played...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/the-game-had-to-be-played-the-same-way-every-day-or-the-pieces-would/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brockmeier/the-game-had-to-be-played-the-same-way-every-day-or-the-pieces-would/#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 } } ] } ```