Poker is full of interesting characters and occasionally they utter an amusing quip or two. Here are a few more of the more interesting comments on the game:
“There are few things that are so unpardonably neglected in our country as poker. The upper class knows very little about it. Now and then you find ambassadors who have sort of a general knowledge of the game, but the ignorance of the people is fearful. Why, I have known clergymen, good men, kind-hearted, liberal, sincere, and all that, who did not know the meaning of a ‘flush.’ It is enough to make one ashamed of the species.”
— Mark Twain
“The commonest mistake in history is underestimating your opponent; happens at the poker table all the time.”
— General David Shoup
“Patience. And shuffle the cards.”
— Cervantes, “Don Quixote”
“I must complain the cards are ill shuffled till I have a good hand.”
— Jonathan Swift, “Thoughts on Various Subjects” (1728)
“Poker is the game closest to the western conception of life, where life and thought are recognized as intimately combined, where free will prevails over philosophies of fate or of chance, where men are considered moral agents and where -- at least in the short run -- the important thing is not what happens but what people think happens.”
— John Luckacs
“Cards are war, in disguise of a sport.”
— Charles Lamb
“I believe in poker the way I believe in the American Dream. Poker is good for you. It enriches the soul, sharpens the intellect, heals the spirit, and, when played well, nourishes the wallet.”
— Lou Krieger
With spots quadrangular of diamond form,
Ensanguined hearts, clubs typical of strife,
And spades, the emblems of untimely graves.
— William Cowper
“The poker player learns that sometimes both science and common sense are wrong; that the bumblebee can fly; that, perhaps, one should never trust an expert; that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of by those with an academic bent.”
— David Mamet
