“ To the ambitious man life is a brilliant game—a game that calls forth all his tact and energy and nerve—a game to be won, in the long run, by the quick eye and the steady hand, and yet having sufficient chance about its working out to give it all the glorious zest of uncertainty. ”
Jerome K. Jerome, Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1886). copy citation
| Author | Jerome K. Jerome |
|---|---|
| Source | Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow |
| Topic | uncertainty tact |
| Date | 1886 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/849/849-h/849-h.htm |
Context
“Reading the paper and smoking seems to be the intellectual food of the majority of them, to which the more energetic add playing the flute and talking about the affairs of the next-door neighbor.
They never knew the excitement of expectation nor the stern delight of accomplished effort, such as stir the pulse of the man who has objects, and hopes, and plans. To the ambitious man life is a brilliant game—a game that calls forth all his tact and energy and nerve—a game to be won, in the long run, by the quick eye and the steady hand, and yet having sufficient chance about its working out to give it all the glorious zest of uncertainty. He exults in it as the strong swimmer in the heaving billows, as the athlete in the wrestle, the soldier in the battle.
And if he be defeated he wins the grim joy of fighting; if he lose the race, he, at least, has had a run.”
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