"Chess is a fairy tale of 1,001 blunders." — Savielly Tartakower

"Pawns are the soul of chess." — François-André Danican Philidor

"The king pawn and the queen pawn are the only ones to be moved in the early part of the game." ― Wilhelm Steinitz

"A gambit never becomes sheer routine as long as you fear you may lose the king and pawn ending!" ― Bent Larsen

"Modern chess is too much concerned with things like pawn structure. Forget it, checkmate ends the game." ― Nigel Short

"Touch the pawns before your king with only infinite delicacy." ― Anthony Santasiere

"To free your game, take off some of your adversary's men, if possible for nothing." — Captain Bertain, The Noble Game of Chess (1735)

"I play my king all over the board. I make him fight!" — Wilhelm Steinitz

"A righteous wife can make a poor man feel like a king." — Boonaa Mohammed

"Chess is an infinitely complex game, which one can play in infinitely numerous & varied ways." ― Vladimir Kramnik

"Tactics is knowing what to do when there's something to do. Strategy is knowing what to do when there's nothing what to do." ― Savielly Tartakower

"A sacrifice is best refuted by accepting it." ― Wilhelm Steinitz

"Chess is all about stored pattern recognition. You are asking your brain to spot a face in the crowd that it has not seen." ― Sally Simpson

"Chess, it's the struggle against error." ― Johannes Zukertort

"Chess is a sport. The main object in the game of chess remains the achievement of victory." ― Max Euwe

"You win some, you lose some, and your losses are never made up to you. She will simply have to do without; like it or not, she must face her losses and her helplessness to undo them." — Sheldon B. Kopp

"The harder you fall, the heavier your heart; the heavier your heart, the stronger you climb; the stronger you climb, the higher your pedestal." — Criss Jami

"Win with grace, lose with dignity!" ― Susan Polgar

"What does it take to be a champion? Desire, dedication, determination, personal and professional discipline, focus, concentration, strong nerves, the will to win, and yes, talent!" ― Susan Polgar

"No matter how successful you are (or will be), never ever forget the people who helped you along the way, and pay it forward! Don't become arrogant and conceited just because you gained a few rating points or made a few bucks. Stay humble and be nice, especially to your fans!" ― Susan Polgar

"Let a man play chess, and tell him that every pawn is his friend; Let him think both bishops are holy. Let him remember happy days in the shadows of his castles. Let him love his queen. Watch him love his queen." ― Mark Lawrence (Prince of Thorn)

"The passed pawn is a criminal, who should be kept under lock and key. Mild measures, such as police surveillance, are not sufficient." ― Aron Nimzowitsch

"Pawn endings are to chess what putting is to golf." ― Cecil Purdy

"In the ending the king is a powerful piece for assisting his own pawns, or stopping the adverse pawns." ― Wilhelm Steinitz

"In order to improve your game, you must study the endgame before everything else, for whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middle game and the opening must be studied in relation to the endgame." ― José Raúl Capablanca

"Maxim 3:
An ordnance technician at a dead run outranks everybody. -The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries" ― Howard Tayler

"God created every man to be free. The ability to choose whether to live free or enslaved, right or wrong, happy or in fear is something called freewill. Every man was born with freewill. Some people use it, and some people use any excuse not to. Nobody can turn you into a slave unless you allow them. Nobody can make you afraid of anything, unless you allow them. Nobody can tell you to do something wrong, unless you allow them. God never created you to be a slave, man did. God never created division or set up any borders between brothers, man did. God never told you hurt or kill another, man did. And in the end, when God asks you: "Who told you to kill one of my children?"

And you tell him, "My leader."

He will then ask you, "And are THEY your GOD?" ― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

Learn young, learn fair; learn old, learn more. ~ Scottish Proverb

* Bearly Thinking: https://www.etsy.com/listing/972054...

The thought crossed my gentle mind that CGs needs some additional avatar variance of figures like Emory and Andrew Tate, Tani Adewumi, James Black Jr., Ambakisye Osayaba, Tom "Murph" Murphy, and Pontus Carlsson, Taahir Levi, Praggy and Pentala Harikrishna, Nihal Sarin, Adhiban Baskaran, Manuel Aaron, and Juan Carlos González Zamora, María Teresa Mora Iturralde, Daniela De la Parra, Alejandra Guerrero Rodríguez, Azarya Jodi Setyaki, Medina Warda Aulia, Errol Tiwari, Elshan Moradiabadi, Joey Razo, Collette McGruder, Diamond Shakoor, Phiona Mutesi, Jessica Hyatt, Jean-Pierre and Koneru Humpy, Tania Sachdev, Rout Padmini and Hou Yifan and Zhao Xue, Medhat Moheb, Yao Ming and Awonder Liang, Jeffery Xiong and Liem Le, Li Chao and the like. Our avatars are rather lily silly; not everybody looks like Smith, Jones, Thomas, or Mikhail.

On the other hand, we definitely need some redheads too (Anna Rudolf, Isla Fisher, Jude Acers, Prince Harry, Ed Sheeran)!! I'd say at least a dozen redheads, some with and without beards. Some Canadians too!

* Brutal Attacking Chess: Game Collection: Brutal Attacking Chess

* Simple tactics course using miniatures:
http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/x/FTP...

* Brilliant (and mostly famous)! Game Collection: Brilliant Miniatures

* Blackburne strikes! games annotated by Blackburne

* Checkmate Art: Game Collection: Art of Checkmate

* Chessmaster 2000 Classic Games: Game Collection: Chessmaster '86

* KR: Wikipedia article: Karl Robatsch

* Opening Explorer, 2nd moves:
Opening Explorer

* Opening Explorer, 4th moves:
Opening Explorer

* Tricky or Bad? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m5...

* Moderns: Game Collection: modern examples

* Forney's Collection: Game Collection: Brutal Attacking Chess

* Glossary P: https://www.peoriachess.com/Glossar...

* Common gambits video: https://saintlouischessclub.org/blo...

* Happy Days! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slv...

* Internet tracking: https://www.studysmarter.us/magazin...

* Pawn sacrifices: Game Collection: The Gambiteer

* Fred Reinfeld could've written this if only they had cell phones back when: https://socialself.com/blog/how-to-...

* Random Zs: Game Collection: ZHVNE

* Secrets of Combination: Game Collection: Secrets of the Russian Chess Masters Volume II

* Smyslov's Best: Game Collection: Smyslov's Best Games of chess 1935-1957

* Karpov's book: Game Collection: Karpov Right Plan

* Garry gets 'em quick: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...

* Names and Places: Game Collection: Named Mates

* Spassky had a universal style: Game Collection: Spassky's Best Games (Cafferty)

* Malaguena: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxD...

* Nimzowitsch Defense: https://www.chessable.com/blog/nimz...

* The Opposition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52y...

* King and Pawn vs King (both kings want to be in front of the pawn to affect its progress): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvB...

* Overworked! Game Collection: Overworked Piece

* Opening Tree: https://www.shredderchess.com/onlin...

* 10 Best to Watch: https://www.chessjournal.com/best-c...

* 23 Opening Traps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-5...

* 30 Concepts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amr...

* 50 Games to Know: https://en.chessbase.com/post/50-ga...

* Champion miniatures: Game Collection: Champions miniature champions

* Chess Step-by-Step: https://www.chess.com/learn-how-to-...

* Common Checkmate Patterns:
http://gambiter.com/chess/Checkmate...

* Caviar: https://www.chess.com/article/view/...

* CFN: https://www.youtube.com/@CFNChannel

* Diagrammed Checkmate Patterns:
Game Collection: Checkmate: Checkmate Patterns

* Bill Wall should have been on beer commercials crushing empty beer cans with his bare hands: Bill Wall

"Why don't you play checkers with Bill anymore?" "Would you play with a person who cheats and moves his men around when you are not looking?" "No."
"Well, neither would Bill."

* Chessmaster 2000 Classic Games:
Game Collection: Chessmaster '86

* Candidates 2014: World Championship Candidates (2014)

* Carlsen's Minis: Game Collection: Carlsen's winning miniatures

* Defend Your Pieces, Kids! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc-...

* A great decade of chess: Game Collection: Mil y Una Partidas 1950-1959

* Expanded Edition:
Game Collection: 125 Greatest Chess Games

* Feeling Punny? Don't tell Fredthebear. Use the Submission Page: Pun Submission Page

* Find Forcing Moves: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHO...

* Fried Fox is awful: https://allchessopenings.blogspot.c...

* Gambits by ECO code: https://www.jimmyvermeer.com/openin...

* Glossary P: https://www.peoriachess.com/Glossar...

* Good Historical Links:
https://www.saund.co.uk/britbase/in...

* Happy Days! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slv...

* h-file attacks: Game Collection: h-file Attacks, some Greek Gifts by Fredthebear

* How to Play Chess! http://www.serverchess.com/play.htm...

* Imagination: Game Collection: Imagination in Chess

* Immortal Games: Game Collection: Immortal games

* Jackpot History: https://www.megamillions.com/About/...

* Surprise Knockouts: Game Collection: quick knockouts of greats

* Collection assembled by Fredthebear, vandalized by CGs.

* Jupiter, Pluto, or Mars? https://www.urduchess.com/chess-gra...

* Move-by-Move book: Game Collection: Move by Move - Carlsen (Lakdawala)

* This MC collection is way better than mine: Game Collection: The Carlsen Chronicles Part I - Wonderboy

* Eat like a champion: https://tartajubow.blogspot.com/201...

* 2013 WCC: Game Collection: Anand-Carlsen WC November 2013

* Today's Titans: search "Sergey Karjakin vs Magnus Carlsen"

* FIDE Laws of Chess (2018): https://www.schachschiri.de/fide_18...

* Golden Treasury of Chess (Wellmuth/Horowitz): Game Collection: Golden Treasury of Chess (Wellmuth/Horowitz)

https://archive.org/details/the-gol...

* GM Endgames: Game Collection: Grandmaster Preparation - Endgame Play

* Hotel: https://www.chesshotel.com/

* How to catch a Spanish Rabbit: https://fi.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esp...

* ICC: https://www.chessclub.com/

* Use your King: Game Collection: ABC Games for Lessons

* Lasker's Manual: Game Collection: Manual of Chess (Lasker)

* MC Move-by-Move: Game Collection: Move by Move - Carlsen (Lakdawala)

* Miniatures: Game Collection: 200 Miniature Games of Chess - Du Mont (III)

* Monday Puzzles: Game Collection: Monday Puzzles, 2011-2017

* Nunn's Course: Game Collection: Lasker JNCC

* Occupy the Open File: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_w...

* Overloaded! Game Collection: OVERLOADED!

* Opening Explorer: Opening Explorer

* Become a Predator at the Chessboard: https://www.chesstactics.org/

* Famous Chess Photos: https://tr.pinterest.com/pin/585256...

* Common Phrases and Terms: https://www.ragchess.com/chess-basi...

* POTD 2023: Game Collection: Puzzle of the Day 2023

* Pawn Instruction: http://www.logicalchess.com/learn/l...

* Petrosian's Best: Game Collection: P.H.Clarke: Petrosian's Best games

* Read The Planet Greenpawn - https://www.redhotpawn.com/

* Results: https://chess-results.com/TurnierSu...

* Queen vs Rook Ending: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJn...

* Simple EG: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ejj...

* Solitaire: Game Collection: Solitaire Chess by I. A. Horowitz

* Stunners: Game Collection: Stunners

* Top Chessgames by ECO Code: http://schachsinn.de/gamelist.htm

* Top Games by Year: Wikipedia article: List of chess games

* Terminology: https://www.angelfire.com/games5/ch...

* Triangulation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH3...

* Trap the Queen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmU...

* When to Trade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGa...

* Winning 1.d4: Game Collection: Winning with 1 d4!

* 1.d4 Response: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ-...

* UK: https://chesscircuit.substack.com/

* Use your king in the endgame! Game Collection: King Power In The Endgame

* Zwischenzug! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-q...

* Mr. Harvey's Puzzle Challenge: https://wtharvey.com/

WTHarvey:
There once was a website named WTHarvey,
Where chess puzzles did daily delay,
The brain-teasers so tough,
They made us all huff and puff,
But solving them brought us great satisfaction today.

There once was a website named WTHarvey
Where chess puzzles were quite aplenty
With knight and rook and pawn
You'll sharpen your brain with a yawn
And become a master of chess entry

There once was a site for chess fun,
Wtharvey.com was the chosen one,
With puzzles galore,
It'll keep you in store,
For hours of brain-teasing, none done.

There once was a website named WTHarvey,
Where chess puzzles were posted daily,
You'd solve them with glee,
And in victory,
You'd feel like a true chess prodigy!

"Chess is played with the mind and not with the hands." ― Renaud & Kahn

"Chess is a terrific way for kids to build self-image and self-esteem." ― Saudin Robovic

"Chess is a sport. The main object in the game of chess remains the achievement of victory." ― Max Euwe

"Life is like a chess. If you lose your queen, you will probably lose the game." ― Being Caballero

"The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them." — Ernest Hemingway

"If you wish to succeed, you must brave the risk of failure." — Garry Kasparov

"You win some, you lose some, you wreck some." — Dale Earnhardt

"Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous." ― Albert Einstein

"In life, unlike chess the game continues after checkmate." ― Isaac Asimov

"The measure of a society is found in how they treat their weakest and most helpless citizens." ― Jimmy Carter, 39th U.S. President

Connecticut: Windsor
Established in: 1633

Settlers from Plymouth Colony built the first trading house in Windsor in 1633 on an expanse of land they bought from Native Americans who were living there. Windsor was Connecticut's first English settlement, with a perfect location on the water. Today, the city uses its "first town" status to create a historical atmosphere ideal for tourism.

* Chess History: https://www.uschesstrust.org/chess-...

* Chess History: https://www.britannica.com/topic/ch...

* Three Simple Chess Tips: https://www.premierchesscoaching.co...

The Kings of Chess: A History of Chess, Traced Through the Lives of Its Greatest Players by William Hartston William Hartson traces the development of the game from its Oriental origins to the present day through the lives of its greatest exponents - men like Howard Staunton, who transformed what had been a genteel pastime into a competitive science; the brilliant American Paul Morphy, who once played a dozen simultaneous games blindfold; the arrogant and certified insane Wilhelm Steinitz; the philosopher and mathematician Emanual Lasker; Bobby Fischer, perhaps the most brilliant and eccentric of them all; and many other highly gifted individuals. Hartson depicts all their colorful variety with a wealth of rare illustrations.

Format: Hardcover
Language: English
ISBN: 006015358X
ISBN13: 9780060153588
Release Date: January 1985
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Length: 192 Pages
Weight: 1.80 lbs.

Chess
Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Exactly four different men have tried
to teach me how to play. I could never
tell the difference between a rook
or bishop, but I knew the horse meant

knight. And that made sense to me,
because a horse is night: soot-hoof
and nostril, dark as a sabled evening
with no stars, bats, or moon blooms.

It's a night in Ohio where a man sleeps
alone one week and the next, the woman
he will eventually marry leans her body
into his for the first time, leans a kind

of faith, too—filled with white crickets
and bouquets of wild carrot. And
the months and the honeyed years
after that will make all the light

and dark squares feel like tiles
for a kitchen they can one day build
together. Every turn, every sacrificial
move—all the decoys, the castling,

the deflections—these will be both
riotous and unruly, the exact opposite
of what she thought she ever wanted
in the endgame of her days.

blogger cinephilia once said: >"The flawless game is impossible. Feed off your opponent's mistakes like a leech.">

"There's always a hidden owl in knowledge." – E.I. Jane

"If you open it, close it. If you turn it on, turn it off. If you take it out, put it back. If you empty it, fill it. If you fill it, empty it." — Kathryn Malter, St. Paul, MN

"Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it." — Christopher Hitchens

"What are you willing to give up, in order to become who you really need to be?" — Elizabeth Gilbert

"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; if your knight could shuffle himself on to a new square by the sly; if your bishop, at your castling, could wheedle your pawns out of their places; and if your pawns, hating you because they are pawns, could make away from their appointed posts that you might get checkmate on a sudden. You might be the longest-headed of deductive reasoners, and yet you might be beaten by your own pawns. 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 the game a man has to play against his fellow-men with other fellow-men for his instruments." ― George Eliot, Felix Holt: The Radical

"When you have the better of it, play simply. When the game is going against you, look for complications." — Frank J. Marshall

* Pawn Endgames: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUq...

* Crafty Endgame Trainer: https://www.chessvideos.tv/endgame-...

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush ― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, "Don Quixote"

Cajun: Joie de vivre (Jhwa da veev) – Joy of living.

Compiled by Fredthebear

"When in doubt, don't." ― Benjamin Franklin

Dreamers
by Siegried Sassoon

Soldiers are citizens of death's grey land,
Drawing no dividend from time's to-morrows.
In the great hour of destiny they stand,
Each with his feuds, and jealousies, and sorrows. Soldiers are sworn to action; they must win
Some flaming, fatal climax with their lives.
Soldiers are dreamers; when the guns begin
They think of firelit homes, clean beds and wives.

I see them in foul dug-outs, gnawed by rats,
And in the ruined trenches, lashed with rain, Dreaming of things they did with balls and bats, And mocked by hopeless longing to regain
Bank-holidays, and picture shows, and spats,
And going to the office in the train.

<Five Preliminary Endgame Rules according to CJS Purdy

1. Before even beginning to think of making a passed pawn, put all your pieces into as good positions as possible.

2. Avoid pawn-moves while you are getting your pieces well positioned because pawn-moves create lasting weaknesses and thus make your task harder.

3. Try to free your position from weaknesses; and if possible, make it hard for the opponent to do likewise.

4. When trying to win, keep pawns on both wings. When trying to draw, play to eliminate all the pawns on one wing. With pawns on one wing only, a pawn plus is usually insufficient for a win.

5. If you are a pawn up or more, exchange pieces (not pawns) wherever you can do so without losing in position.

Exception: do not rush an exchange that will leave you with a single bishop running on the opposite color to the enemy's single bishop. Also, refrain from exchanging if it will give your opponent two bishops against bishop and knight. Posted by Chessbuzz>

"You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore." ― William Faulkner

"Sometimes in life, and in chess, you must take one step back to take two steps forward." — IM Levy Rozman, GothamChess

So much, much, much better to be an incurable optimist than deceitful and untrustworthy.

Old Russian Proverb: "Scythe over a stone." (Нашла коса на камень.) The force came over a stronger force.

"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things." ― Leonardo da Vinci

"De Ludo Scachorum" was first translated into French in 1347. In 1474, 2 years before it was printed in French, William Caxton translated the text from the French (of Jean de Vignay) into English and printed it under the title, "The Game of Chess." "The Game of Chess" was the second book ever printed in the English language. The first book, also printed by Claxton was "The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye," also translated from French (of Raoul le Fèvre) and also in 1474. Caxton printed almost 100 books, and of these 20 were translations from French or Dutch into English. — batgirl, chess.com

Blindfold chess record holder Georges Koltanowski was a warm, friendly man with anecdotes and a folksy maxim. "Pawns are like buttons," he liked to say. "Lose too many and your pants fall down."

Georges Koltanowski, chess player, Belgium champion, blindfold world record holder, U.S. Open tournament director, USCF president, author, prolific newspaper columnist, coach, guest lecturer and showman, born September 17, 1903 in Antwerp, Belgium; died February 5, 2000 in San Francisco, California, USA. Koltanowski, the "Dean of American chess" died at age 96 due to heart failure. "Kolti" as he was often called, was one of three founder members inducted into the US Chess Hall of Fame, with Paul Morphy, the first great US champion, and the preeminent Bobby Fischer.

Like new-laid eggs Chess Problems are,
Though very good, they may be beaten;
And yet, though like, they're different far,
They may be cooked, but never eaten.

Source: page 58 of Poems and Chess Problems by J.A. Miles (Fakenham, 1882).

Dec-14-20
Biographer Bistro
Tabanus: chessgames.com chessforum (kibitz #21841) <20/20 Technologies is one of the first web development companies, founded in 1995 by Daniel Freeman and Lee Cummings. In 2001 we were commissioned by Albert Artidiello to create a chess site. Albert had limited-funding but big dreams, so in the early years (2002, 2003) 20/20 agreed to do extensive work on Chessgames in exchange for a stake in the website's business (which at the time was zero, as there wasn't even such a thing as a premium membership, and the advertising didn't even cover the hosting fees.)

For a while it seemed like a really fun side-project but not a business per se. But then, around 2004-2005, the site launched its premium membership and turned profitable. At that stage, Chessgames was capable of actually paying for its development work, hiring GM commentators, etc. Chessgames could have gone to any web development company in the world at that point, but obviously it was in everybody's best interest to keep working with 20/20 Technologies.

In gratitude for all they've done, Chessgames continues to put a link to 20/20 Technologies at the bottom of every page.>

persona non grata by FTB
persona non grata
has peripheral neuropathy
from ass to toe
it pains him so
won't admit the truth
that's not his m.o.

he cries cries to momma
she gives him skittles
one volunteer to another
another chess riddle
sure it's lousy... but
it's persona non grata

Flaming Knights: https://workingtheflame.com/famous-...

"Don Quixote de la Mancha, answered the squire; he is a knight-adventurer, and one of the greatest and most valiant that have been seen in this world for many ages." — 'Don Quixote'

"He must be humble of heart, strong of arm, be savage in war, loyal to hearth, and follow deeds of Glory. He must keep honour with all, banish cowardice from his doings, and bring his House no shame. He must serve the Emperor, and defend the Imperium. Thus should a Knight rule himself." — The Chivalric Duty, Aquitainus Malory Cadmus, M31

"He that plays the king shall be welcome- his Majesty shall

have tribute of me; the adventurous knight shall use his foil and

target; the lover shall not sigh gratis; the humorous man shall

end his part in peace…"
― William Shakespeare, 'Hamlet'

"We're Knights of the Round Table
Our shows are formidable
But many times, we're given rhymes
That are quite unsingable."
― Monty Python, 'Knights Of The Round Table'.

"The knight is a man of blood and iron, a man familiar with the sight of smashed faces and the ragged stumps of lopped-off limbs; he is also a demure, almost maiden like, guest in a hall, a gentle, modest, unobtrusive man. He is not compromise or happy mean between ferocity and meekness." ― C.S.Lewis

"For to die with honour is far better than to live disgraced." ― James Knowles, 'The Legends Of King Arthur And His Knights'.

"The very purpose of a knight is to fight on behalf of a lady." ― Sir Thomas Malory.

"A red-cross knight for ever kneel'd

To a lady in his shield,

That sparkled on the yellow field…"

― Lord Alfred Tennyson, 'The Lady Of Shallot'

"The Brave Man
Carves
Out His Fortune,
And
Every Man
Is The Son
Of His Own
Works."
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote

"The warrior guided by the spirit serves humanity, the warrior without, serves the ego" ― Soke Behzad Ahmadi

"I'd rather have a heart of gold
Than all the treasure of the world."
― Ana Claudia Antunes, Memoirs of An Amazon

"Sweet lady," said Florian, "all men are fools, and all men are knights, where women are concerned." ― George R.R. Martin, The Hedge Knight

"I have seen too many men go down, and I never permit myself to forget that one day, through accident or under the charge of a younger, stronger knight, I too will go down." ― John Steinbeck, The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights

"This is beyond understanding." said the king. "You are the wisest man alive. You know what is preparing. Why do you not make a plan to save yourself?" And Merlin said quietly, "Because I am wise. In the combat between wisdom and feeling, wisdom never wins." ― John Steinbeck, The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights

"My task is set before me, girl
My mission clear and true
There'll be black knights and dragons, girl
But I will always come for you…"
― Emme Rollins

"Sir Lancelot: Ask me the questions, bridgekeeper. I am not afraid.

Bridgekeeper: What… is your name?

Sir Lancelot: My name is Sir Lancelot of Camelot.

Bridgekeeper: What… is your quest?

Sir Lancelot: To seek the Holy Grail."
― Monty Python, 'Knights Of The Round Table'

"Any wise man fears open spitefulness, whether it be in seriousness or in jest." ― Chrétien de Troyes, 'Perceval: The Story Of The Grail, With The Continuations'.

"Then answered Lancelot, the chief of knights:

'And with what face, after my pretext made, Shall I appear, O Queen, at Camelot, I before a King who honours his own word, As if it were his God's?' " ― Lord Alfred Tennyson, 'Idylls Of The King'

"Sir Launcelot, yonder one knight shall I help, for it were shame for me to see three knights on one, and if he be slain I am partner of his death. And therewith he took his harness and went out at a window by a sheet down to the four knights…" ― Mark Twain, 'A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court'.

"A knight of Arthur, working out his will, To cleanse the world. Why, Gawain, when he came With Modred hither in the summertime, Asked me to tilt with him, the proven knight." ― Lord Alfred Tennyson, 'Idylls Of The King'.

"And then they all three cried, Sir Knight, we yield us unto you as man of might matchless. As to that, said Sir Launcelot, I will not take your yielding unto me, but so that ye yield you unto Sir Kay the seneschal, on that covenant I will save your lives and else not…" ― Mark Twain, 'A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court'.

"How came the lily maid by that good shield Of Lancelot, she that knew not even his name?

He left it with her, when he rode to tilt For the great diamond in the diamond jousts, Which Arthur had ordained, and by that name Had named them, since a diamond was the prize." ― Lord Alfred Tennyson, 'Idylls Of The King'

"Sir Lancelot increased in fame and worship above all men, for he overthrew all comers, and never was unhorsed or worsted, save by treason and enchantment." ― James Knowles, 'The Legend Of King Arthur And His Knights'

"There never has been, I suppose, in all the world, in all the history of war, such an opportunity for youth. The Knights of the Round Table, the Crusaders, all fall back into the past." ― Winston Churchill.

"A true knight is fuller of bravery in the midst, than in the beginning of danger." ― Philip Sidney

"How wretched is the man who sees the perfect opportunity and still waits for a better one." ― Chrétien de Troyes, 'Perceval: The Story Of The Grail, With The Continuations'.

"Somewhere in the world there is a defeat for everyone. Some are destroyed by defeat, and some made small and mean by victory. Greatness lives in one who triumphs equally over defeat and victory." ― John Steinbeck, 'The Acts Of King Arthur And His Noble Knights'

"He who wants to do more than he is able must admit defeat or retire." ― Chrétien de Troyes, 'Arthurian Romances'.

Ravenna
by Oscar Wilde

To my friend George Fleming author of 'The Nile Novel' and 'Mirage')

I.

A year ago I breathed the Italian air, -
And yet, methinks this northern Spring is fair,- These fields made golden with the flower of March, The throstle singing on the feathered larch,
The cawing rooks, the wood-doves fluttering by,
The little clouds that race across the sky;
And fair the violet's gentle drooping head,
The primrose, pale for love uncomforted,
The rose that burgeons on the climbing briar,
The crocus-bed, (that seems a moon of fire
Round-girdled with a purple marriage-ring);
And all the flowers of our English Spring,
Fond snowdrops, and the bright-starred daffodil.

Up starts the lark beside the murmuring mill,
And breaks the gossamer-threads of early dew;
And down the river, like a flame of blue,
Keen as an arrow flies the water-king,
While the brown linnets in the greenwood sing.

A year ago! - it seems a little time
Since last I saw that lordly southern clime,
Where flower and fruit to purple radiance blow,
And like bright lamps the fabled apples glow.

Full Spring it was - and by rich flowering vines, Dark olive-groves and noble forest-pines,
I rode at will; the moist glad air was sweet,
The white road rang beneath my horse's feet,
And musing on Ravenna's ancient name,
I watched the day till, marked with wounds of flame, The turquoise sky to burnished gold was turned.

O how my heart with boyish passion burned,
When far away across the sedge and mere
I saw that Holy City rising clear,
Crowned with her crown of towers! - On and on
I galloped, racing with the setting sun,
And ere the crimson after-glow was passed,
I stood within Ravenna's walls at last!

II.

How strangely still! no sound of life or joy
Startles the air; no laughing shepherd-boy
Pipes on his reed, nor ever through the day
Comes the glad sound of children at their play:
O sad, and sweet, and silent! surely here
A man might dwell apart from troublous fear,
Watching the tide of seasons as they flow
From amorous Spring to Winter's rain and snow,
And have no thought of sorrow; - here, indeed,
Are Lethe's waters, and that fatal weed
Which makes a man forget his fatherland.

Ay! amid lotus-meadows dost thou stand,
Like Proserpine, with poppy-laden head,
Guarding the holy ashes of the dead.

For though thy brood of warrior sons hath ceased, Thy noble dead are with thee! - they at least
Are faithful to thine honour:- guard them well,
O childless city! for a mighty spell,
To wake men's hearts to dreams of things sublime, Are the lone tombs where rest the Great of Time.

III.

Yon lonely pillar, rising on the plain,
Marks where the bravest knight of France was slain, - The Prince of chivalry, the Lord of war,
Gaston de Foix: for some untimely star
Led him against thy city, and he fell,
As falls some forest-lion fighting well.

Taken from life while life and love were new,
He lies beneath God's seamless veil of blue;
Tall lance-like reeds wave sadly o'er his head,
And oleanders bloom to deeper red,
Where his bright youth flowed crimson on the ground.

Look farther north unto that broken mound, -
There, prisoned now within a lordly tomb
Raised by a daughter's hand, in lonely gloom,
Huge-limbed Theodoric, the Gothic king,
Sleeps after all his weary conquering.

Time hath not spared his ruin, - wind and rain
Have broken down his stronghold; and again
We see that Death is mighty lord of all,
And king and clown to ashen dust must fall

Mighty indeed THEIR glory! yet to me
Barbaric king, or knight of chivalry,
Or the great queen herself, were poor and vain,
Beside the grave where Dante rests from pain.

His gilded shrine lies open to the air;
And cunning sculptor's hands have carven there
The calm white brow, as calm as earliest morn,
The eyes that flashed with passionate love and scorn, The lips that sang of Heaven and of Hell,
The almond-face which Giotto drew so well,
The weary face of Dante; - to this day,
Here in his place of resting, far away
From Arno's yellow waters, rushing down
Through the wide bridges of that fairy town,
Where the tall tower of Giotto seems to rise
A marble lily under sapphire skies!

Alas! my Dante! thou hast known the pain
Of meaner lives, - the exile's galling chain,
How steep the stairs within kings' houses are,
And all the petty miseries which mar
Man's nobler nature with the sense of wrong.

Yet this dull world is grateful for thy song;
Our nations do thee homage, - even she,
That cruel queen of vine-clad Tuscany,
Who bound with crown of thorns thy living brow,
Hath decked thine empty tomb with laurels now,
And begs in vain the ashes of her son.

O mightiest exile! all thy grief is done:
Thy soul walks now beside thy Beatrice;
Ravenna guards thine ashes: sleep in peace.

IV.

How lone this palace is; how grey the walls!
No minstrel now wakes echoes in these halls.

The broken chain lies rusting on the door,
And noisome weeds have split the marble floor:
Here lurks the snake, and here the lizards run
By the stone lions blinking in the sun.

Byron dwelt here in love and revelry
For two long years - a second Anthony,
Who of the world another Actium made!
Yet suffered not his royal soul to fade,
Or lyre to break, or lance to grow less keen,
'Neath any wiles of an Egyptian queen.

For from the East there came a mighty cry,
And Greece stood up to fight for Liberty,
And called him from Ravenna: never knight
Rode forth more nobly to wild scenes of fight!
None fell more bravely on ensanguined field,
Borne like a Spartan back upon his shield!
O Hellas! Hellas! in thine hour of pride,
Thy day of might, remember him who died
To wrest from off thy limbs the trammelling chain: O Salamis! O lone Plataean plain!
O tossing waves of wild Euboean sea!
O wind-swept heights of lone Thermopylae!
He loved you well - ay, not alone in word,
Who freely gave to thee his lyre and sword,
Like AEschylos at well-fought Marathon:

And England, too, shall glory in her son,
Her warrior-poet, first in song and fight.

No longer now shall Slander's venomed spite
Crawl like a snake across his perfect name,
Or mar the lordly scutcheon of his fame.

For as the olive-garland of the race,
Which lights with joy each eager runner's face,
As the red cross which saveth men in war,
As a flame-bearded beacon seen from far
By mariners upon a storm-tossed sea, -
Such was his love for Greece and Liberty!

Byron, thy crowns are ever fresh and green:
Red leaves of rose from Sapphic Mitylene
Shall bind thy brows; the myrtle blooms for thee, In hidden glades by lonely Castaly;
The laurels wait thy coming: all are thine,
And round thy head one perfect wreath will twine.

V.

The pine-tops rocked before the evening breeze
With the hoarse murmur of the wintry seas,
And the tall stems were streaked with amber bright; - I wandered through the wood in wild delight,
Some startled bird, with fluttering wings and fleet, Made snow of all the blossoms; at my feet,
Like silver crowns, the pale narcissi lay,
And small birds sang on every twining spray.

O waving trees, O forest liberty!
Within your haunts at least a man is free,
And half forgets the weary world of strife:
The blood flows hotter, and a sense of life
Wakes i' the quickening veins, while once again
The woods are filled with gods we fancied slain.

Long time I watched, and surely hoped to see
Some goat-foot Pan make merry minstrelsy
Amid the reeds! some startled Dryad-maid
In girlish flight! or lurking in the glade,
The soft brown limbs, the wanton treacherous face Of woodland god! Queen Dian in the chase,
White-limbed and terrible, with look of pride,
And leash of boar-hounds leaping at her side!
Or Hylas mirrored in the perfect stream.

O idle heart! O fond Hellenic dream!
Ere long, with melancholy rise and swell,
The evening chimes, the convent's vesper bell,
Struck on mine ears amid the amorous flowers.

Alas! alas! these sweet and honied hours
Had whelmed my heart like some encroaching sea,
And drowned all thoughts of black Gethsemane.

VI.

O lone Ravenna! many a tale is told
Of thy great glories in the days of old:
Two thousand years have passed since thou didst see Caesar ride forth to royal victory.

Mighty thy name when Rome's lean eagles flew
From Britain's isles to far Euphrates blue;
And of the peoples thou wast noble queen,
Till in thy streets the Goth and Hun were seen.

Discrowned by man, deserted by the sea,
Thou sleepest, rocked in lonely misery!
No longer now upon thy swelling tide,
Pine-forest-like, thy myriad galleys ride!
For where the brass-beaked ships were wont to float, The weary shepherd pipes his mournful note;
And the white sheep are free to come and go
Where Adria's purple waters used to flow.

O fair! O sad! O Queen uncomforted!
In ruined loveliness thou liest dead,
Alone of all thy sisters; for at last
Italia's royal warrior hath passed
Rome's lordliest entrance, and hath worn his crown In the high temples of the Eternal Town!
The Palatine hath welcomed back her king,
And with his name the seven mountains ring!

And Naples hath outlived her dream of pain,
And mocks her tyrant! Venice lives again,
New risen from the waters! and the cry
Of Light and Truth, of Love and Liberty,
Is heard in lordly Genoa, and where
The marble spires of Milan wound the air,
Rings from the Alps to the Sicilian shore,
And Dante's dream is now a dream no more.

But thou, Ravenna, better loved than all,
Thy ruined palaces are but a pall
That hides thy fallen greatness! and thy name
Burns like a grey and flickering candle-flame
Beneath the noonday splendour of the sun
Of new Italia! for the night is done,
The night of dark oppression, and the day
Hath dawned in passionate splendour: far away
The Austrian hounds are hunted from the land,
Beyond those ice-crowned citadels which stand
Girdling the plain of royal Lombardy,
From the far West unto the Eastern sea.

I know, indeed, that sons of thine have died
In Lissa's waters, by the mountain-side
Of Aspromonte, on Novara's plain, -
Nor have thy children died for thee in vain:
And yet, methinks, thou hast not drunk this wine From grapes new-crushed of Liberty divine,
Thou hast not followed that immortal Star
Which leads the people forth to deeds of war.

Weary of life, thou liest in silent sleep,
As one who marks the lengthening shadows creep,
Careless of all the hurrying hours that run,
Mourning some day of glory, for the sun
Of Freedom hath not shewn to thee his face,
And thou hast caught no flambeau in the race.

Yet wake not from thy slumbers, - rest thee well, Amidst thy fields of amber asphodel,
Thy lily-sprinkled meadows, - rest thee there,
To mock all human greatness: who would dare
To vent the paltry sorrows of his life
Before thy ruins, or to praise the strife
Of kings' ambition, and the barren pride
Of warring nations! wert not thou the Bride
Of the wild Lord of Adria's stormy sea!
The Queen of double Empires! and to thee
Were not the nations given as thy prey!
And now - thy gates lie open night and day,
The grass grows green on every tower and hall,
The ghastly fig hath cleft thy bastioned wall;
And where thy mailed warriors stood at rest
The midnight owl hath made her secret nest.

O fallen! fallen! from thy high estate,
O city trammelled in the toils of Fate,
Doth nought remain of all thy glorious days,
But a dull shield, a crown of withered bays!

Yet who beneath this night of wars and fears,
From tranquil tower can watch the coming years;
Who can foretell what joys the day shall bring,
Or why before the dawn the linnets sing?
Thou, even thou, mayst wake, as wakes the rose
To crimson splendour from its grave of snows;
As the rich corn-fields rise to red and gold
From these brown lands, now stiff with Winter's cold; As from the storm-rack comes a perfect star!

O much-loved city! I have wandered far
From the wave-circled islands of my home;
Have seen the gloomy mystery of the Dome
Rise slowly from the drear Campagna's way,
Clothed in the royal purple of the day:
I from the city of the violet crown
Have watched the sun by Corinth's hill go down,
And marked the 'myriad laughter' of the sea
From starlit hills of flower-starred Arcady;
Yet back to thee returns my perfect love,
As to its forest-nest the evening dove.

O poet's city! one who scarce has seen
Some twenty summers cast their doublets green
For Autumn's livery, would seek in vain
To wake his lyre to sing a louder strain,
Or tell thy days of glory; - poor indeed
Is the low murmur of the shepherd's reed,
Where the loud clarion's blast should shake the sky, And flame across the heavens! and to try
Such lofty themes were folly: yet I know
That never felt my heart a nobler glow
Than when I woke the silence of thy street
With clamorous trampling of my horse's feet,
And saw the city which now I try to sing,
After long days of weary travelling.

VII.

Adieu, Ravenna! but a year ago,
I stood and watched the crimson sunset glow
From the lone chapel on thy marshy plain:
The sky was as a shield that caught the stain
Of blood and battle from the dying sun,
And in the west the circling clouds had spun
A royal robe, which some great God might wear,
While into ocean-seas of purple air
Sank the gold galley of the Lord of Light.

Yet here the gentle stillness of the night
Brings back the swelling tide of memory,
And wakes again my passionate love for thee:
Now is the Spring of Love, yet soon will come
On meadow and tree the Summer's lordly bloom;
And soon the grass with brighter flowers will blow, And send up lilies for some boy to mow.

Then before long the Summer's conqueror,
Rich Autumn-time, the season's usurer,
Will lend his hoarded gold to all the trees,
And see it scattered by the spendthrift breeze;
And after that the Winter cold and drear.

So runs the perfect cycle of the year.

And so from youth to manhood do we go,
And fall to weary days and locks of snow.

Love only knows no winter; never dies:
Nor cares for frowning storms or leaden skies
And mine for thee shall never pass away,
Though my weak lips may falter in my lay.

Adieu! Adieu! yon silent evening star,
The night's ambassador, doth gleam afar,
And bid the shepherd bring his flocks to fold.

Perchance before our inland seas of gold
Are garnered by the reapers into sheaves,
Perchance before I see the Autumn leaves,
I may behold thy city; and lay down
Low at thy feet the poet's laurel crown.

Adieu! Adieu! yon silver lamp, the moon,
Which turns our midnight into perfect noon,
Doth surely light thy towers, guarding well
Where Dante sleeps, where Byron loved to dwell.

'Don't let the cat out of the bag'

'Don't shut the stable door after the horse has bolted'

'Don't throw good money after bad'

'Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater'

The Hare and the Tortoise

To win a race, the swiftness of a dart
Avails not without a timely start.
The hare and tortoise are my witnesses.
Said tortoise to the swiftest thing that is,
"I'll bet that you'll not reach, so soon as I
The tree on yonder hill we spy."
"So soon! Why, madam, are you frantic?"
Replied the creature, with an antic;
"Pray take, your senses to restore,
A grain or two of hellebore.'
"Say," said the tortoise, "what you will;
I dare you to the wager still."
It was done; the stakes were paid,
And near the goal tree laid –
Of what, is not a question for this place,
Nor who it was that judged the race.
Our hare had scarce five jumps to make,
Of such as he is wont to take,
When, starting just before their beaks
He leaves the hounds at leisure,
Thence till the kalends of the Greeks,
The sterile heath to measure.
Thus having time to browse and doze,
And list which way the zephyr blows,
He makes himself content to wait,
And let the tortoise go her gait
In solemn, senatorial state.
She starts; she moils on, modestly and lowly,
And with a prudent wisdom hastens slowly;
But he, meanwhile, the victory despises,
Thinks lightly of such prizes,
Believes it for his honour
To take late start and gain on her.
So, feeding, sitting at his ease,
He meditates of what you please,
Till his antagonist he sees
Approach the goal; then starts,
Away like lightning darts:
But vainly does he run;
The race is by the tortoise won.
Cries she, "My senses do I lack?
What boots your boasted swiftness now?
You're beat! and yet, you must allow,
I bore my house on my back."

"Sometimes in life, and in chess, you must take one step back to take two steps forward." — IM Levy Rozman, GothamChess

So much, much, much better to be an incurable optimist than deceitful and untrustworthy.

"Don't trust everything you see. Even salt looks like sugar." – Unknown

<Sarah wrote:

checkmate
It's like we're playing chess.
Moving strategically, testing boundaries,
all while watching each other's expression.

We all know how this games ends…
The queen destroys you and steals your heart.>

- The longest a chess game could possibly be is 5,949 moves.

"One more dance along the razor's edge finished. Almost dead yesterday, maybe dead tomorrow, but alive, gloriously alive, today." ― Robert Jordan, Lord of Chaos

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." ― Howard Thurman

Jupiter and the Farmer

Of yore, a farm had Jupiter to rent;
To advertise it, Mercury was sent.
The farmers, far and near,
Flocked round, the terms to hear;
And, calling to their aid
The various tricks of trade,
One said It was rash a farm to hire
Which would so much expense require;
Another, that, do what you would,
The farm would still be far from good.
While thus, in market style, its faults were told,

One of the crowd, less wise than bold,
Would give so much, on this condition,
That Jove would yield him altogether
The choice and making of his weather, –
That, instantly on his decision,
His various crops should feel the power
Of heat or cold, of sun or shower.

Jove yields. The bargain closed, our man
Rains, blows, and takes the care
Of all the changes of the air,
On his peculiar, private plan.
His nearest neighbours felt it not,
And all the better was their lot.
Their year was good, by grace divine;
The grain was rich, and full the vine.
The renter, failing altogether,
The next year made quite different weather;
And yet the fruit of all his labours
Was far inferior to his neighbours'.
What better could he do? To Heaven
He owns at last his want of sense,
And so is graciously forgiven.
Hence we conclude that Providence
Knows better what we need
Than we ourselves, indeed.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." ― Martin Luther King Jr.

Lamentations 3:22-23
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

"God's mercy and grace give me hope - for myself, and for our world." — Billy Graham

"Man has two great spiritual needs. One is for forgiveness. The other is for goodness." — Billy Graham

Proverbs 29:25
Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.

"A God you understood would be less than yourself." ― Flannery O'Connor

The Little Fish and the Fisher

A little fish will grow,
If life be spared, a great;
But yet to let him go,
And for his growing wait,
May not be very wise,
As It's not sure your bait
Will catch him when of size.
On a river bank, a fisher took
A tiny troutling from his hook.
Said he, "'Twill serve to count, at least,
As the beginning of my feast;
And so I'll put it with the rest."
This little fish, thus caught,
His clemency besought.
"What will your honour do with me?
I'm not a mouthful, as you see.
Pray let me grow to be a trout,
And then come here and fish me out.
Some alderman, who likes things nice,
Will buy me then at any price.
But now, a hundred such you'll have to fish,
To make a single good-for-nothing dish."
"Well, well, be it so," replied the fisher,
"My little fish, who play the preacher,
The frying-pan must be your lot,
Although, no doubt, you like it not:
I fry the fry that can be got."

In some things, men of sense
Prefer the present to the future tense.

Proverbs 31:28
Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her.

Riddle Question: You answer me, although I never ask you questions. What am I?

RJ Fischer won the World Chess Championship 1972 in 21 games (12½–8½) over reigning champion Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union.

Riddle Answer: A telephone.

Psalms 31:24 - Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

Life is Too Short
by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Life is too short for any vain regretting;
Let dead delight bury its dead, I say,
And let us go upon our way forgetting
The joys, and sorrows, of each yesterday.
Between the swift sun's rising and its setting, We have no time for useless tears or fretting,
Life is too short.

Life is too short for any bitter feeling;
Time is the best avenger if we wait,
The years speed by, and on their wings bear healing, We have no room for anything like hate.
This solemn truth the low mounds seem revealing
That thick and fast about our feet are stealing, Life is too short.

Life is too short for aught but high endeavor,— Too short for spite, but long enough for love.
And love lives on forever and forever,
It links the worlds that circle on above;
‘Tis God's first law, the universe's lever. In His vast realm the radiant souls sigh never
"Life is too short."

"Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education." ― Martin Luther King Jr.

"Never chase love, affection, or attention. If it isn't given freely by another person, it isn't worth having." ― Unknown

Jesus Christ was actually God in human form on earth as was prophesized years before his earthly birth. (That concept used to blow me away as a child. How can a Father be a Son? Suffice it to say in simplest terms, He was a chip off the old block; I mean this in the very most respectful manner.)

If I understand correctly, Jesus Christ felt emotions and temptations as all humans do, but He was PERFECT, never sinned, not once - EVER. Thus a pure Lamb of God was sacrificed on the wooden cross for the sins of all mankind (a 34-year-old virgin in body, heart and mind). Thus sacrificial offerings as described in the Old Testament are no longer necessary because Jesus Christ suffered so for all God's children in the New Testament. Therefore, any and all who accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior are forgiven of their sins. Now that is SOME bargain!!! (We are still held accountable for our behaviors on judgement day -- God knows every single sin that each person has ever done -- but yet we are forgiven through Jesus Christ!!!) It is my understanding that we are then perfect souls in Heaven. The depth of such love, justice and mercy is mind boggling.

It is my understanding that for a person to think of a sin is as bad as actually doing the sin. In other words, one can commit adultery or murder, etc. etc. in their mind. Furthermore, a little white lie is just as bad as a big whopper lie. So outwardly one may exercise self-control, but dirty thoughts is a sin.

Therefore, it is extreeeeemely difficult for humans to be Christ-like, but the example has been set for us to follow. Please do not use my example (competition brings out the best and worst in a person); Cormier does so much better striving to be a man of faith. Prayer will pull a person closer to God, and it makes Him happy to hear from us.

While I certainly don't know the specific answer to your question (perhaps asked frivolously), given this information, the answer surely must be NO, without a doubt NO. He has gone without. That is His way. That is also why you can count on Him. He's as reliable as breathing air.

Jesus was not married. The only morally acceptable form of sexual relations is between Husband and Wife. All other forms are considered a sin. Catholic nuns and priests are not married either, so one would assume... Again, they are humans. Don't honestly expect them to be perfect, try as they might.

Jesus Christ gave His ALL for mankind! He did without ALL sinful pleasures. Jesus Christ was perfect, but they painfully crucified Him, which he essentially allowed to happen as the fulfilling of prophecy on behalf of mankind. One could say that Jesus Christ was completely obedient to God and did His duty as tasked for US.

More than you wanted to know. I tried to give a clear, honest answer.

Just remember, no matter where you've been, no matter what you've said or done, no matter how bad (or good) a person that you are, forgiveness is yours through accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. He knows if you're sincere. He also knows that you are not a perfect person and that you have doubts, that you struggle w/religious concepts. He knows your every inner thought, your attitudes, doubts, your intentions good or bad. If you're making progress.... that's good. If you're not making progress and hoping to fool Our Creator with an outward bluff... not gonna happen. You just accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, and He will work with you. Don't wait until you've made steps for personal better to deem yourself more worthy. He's not worried about that. His arms are open wide every minute. He knows your faults; you come forward just as you are. He knows you far, far better than your entire family knows you. He knows EVERYTHING about you. He knows what you ate for breakfast on 3/12/76. He knows about that pencil that you conveniently kept. He knows EVERYTHING -- all your thoughts. You don't need to try to fool Him because you can't fool Him. Just say that you want Him in your life and that you're ready and willing to learn more about Him, be more like Him (less worldly), and thank Him for His unconditional love and grace. Just get started; He knows that you're not the Pope; it's your sincerity that counts. He knows your heart, your mind, your entire history. He made you! For most people it'll probably be kinda like going on a diet; there will be lapses, but keep striving to know the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen!

Oh, the Old Testament/Moses/Ten Commandments/Noah's Arc etc. tend to be rather famous theatrically, but I'd recommend reading the four Gospels first: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. There are Bible study aids that help one understand what's going on. The Bible is not an easy book to comprehend at all times. Just keep making daily progress. "Lean not on thy own understanding."

Funny... I've never thought of such a question until now. I was always concerned about myself, not His ordeals. God is omnipotent -- that kind of knowledge and power and presence is way beyond our comprehension. He's in charge of everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING!!!

The Pawn Who Had to Go

The little pawn screamed: "I cannot hold it any more, get me a pot or I will do exactly what I did before." Everybody laughed with the exception of the opposing king who guessed what was on the mind of this filthy thing. But nobody had time to fetch a pot or even a plastic bag They were too busy to ensure that the game became a drag. The guys in white kept running back and forth but no change. The guys in black stayed also within the very same range. Suddenly the unhappy pawn who had screamed for a pot, did a weird little dance while moving up one slot. Now standing near the king he simply pulled his pants down and peed straight up against the king's beautiful crown.

French Proverb: "Il ne faut rien laisser au hasard." ― (Nothing should be left to chance.)

"There are more adventures on a chessboard than on all the seas of the world." ― Pierre Mac Orlan

"You can only get good at chess if you love the game." ― Bobby Fischer

"As long as you can still grab a breath, you fight." — The Revenant

woirdyfun
v5 L Zaid zippo zip z z z zip the zipper went up, down, frown, donut drown. Aim high. Keep yo head down slow. Be careful!

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Ephesians 6:4: "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."

Ecclesiastes 9:9: "Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun."

HUMPTY DUMPTY
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King's horses
And all the King's men
Couldn't put Humpty
Together again.

/7xp zoober zoomed into bill wall. That jalen hurtz.

Why did the turtle cross the road?
To get to the Shell station.