The Game of Chess

This evening I was in the bookstore. I shifted through the books on the sales shelf and then browsed through the brand new hardbacks. As I was about to leave, I noticed two clusters of elderly men huddled together staring down at their tables. When I looked more closely I realized they were intensely playing the game of chess. I loved that they weren't talking, just contemplating their next move and the others were quiet spectators. It made me smile. 

"Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece." 

“You sit at the board and suddenly your heart leaps. Your hand trembles to pick up the piece and move it. But what chess teaches you is that you must sit there calmly and think about whether it's really a good idea and whether there are other, better ideas.”

Stanley Kubrick

(photos courtesy of:google)