Shall we take a metaphor from the world of chess?
I've been watching The Queen's Gambit on Netflix. At one
point, a Russian commentator is quoting Thomas Huxley,
which in turn points to Morris Retsch's painting where a
man (cue Joe Biden) is playing chess with the devil (aka
Donald Trump).
https://www.one-more-move-chess-art.com/One-More-Move.html?fbclid=IwAR0r0F1FxTDCkYQC9N0PZUhQGXU9nSpGA7OYKKIN5DsKZMQjM00NRlYIiIg
Here are Huxley's words:
"It is a game which has been played for untold ages, every man and woman of us being one of the two players in a game of his or her own. The chess board is the world, the pieces the phenomena of the universe, the rules of the game are what we call the laws of nature. The player on the other side is hidden from us. All we know is that his play is always fair, just and patient. But, also, that he never overlooks a mistake or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance. To the man who plays well the highest stakes are paid with that sort of overflowing generosity with which the strong shows delight in strength. And one who plays ill is checkmated without haste, but without remorse. My metaphor will remind some of you of the famous picture in which Retzsch has depicted Satan playing at chess with man for his soul. Substitute for the mocking fiend in that picture a calm, strong angel who is playing for love as we say, and would rather lose than win, and I should accept it as an image of human life. Well, now what I mean by education is learning the rules of this mighty game. In other words, education is the instruction of the intellect in the laws of nature; and the fashioning of the affections, and of the will, into harmony with those laws."
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