“It is foolish to run risk of going mad for vanity's sake.” MadnessVanityPhilidorDiderot S LetterPaul MorphySteinitz Book:The Queen's Gambit Source: The Queen's Gambit
“What I wanted to tell you about Philidor was that Diderot wrote him a letter. You know Diderot?" "The French Revolution?" "Yeah. Philidor was doing blindfold exhibitions and burning out his brain, or whatever it was they thought you did in the eighteenth century. Diderot wrote him: 'It is foolish to run the risk of going mad for vanity's sake.' I think of that sometimes when I'm analyzing my ass over a chessboard.” ChessVanity18th CenturyDiderotGoing MadPhilidor Book:The Queen's Gambit Source: The Queen's Gambit