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by jarnagin 2144 days ago
> "Oh, Parkinson, Parkinson!" I cried, patting him affectionately on the head with a mallet, "how far you really are from the pure love of the sport—you who can play. It is only we who play badly who love the Game itself. You love glory; you love applause; you love the earthquake voice of victory; you do not love croquet. You do not love croquet until you love being beaten at croquet. It is we the bunglers who adore the occupation in the abstract. It is we to whom it is art for art's sake.

Excerpted from “The Perfect Game”, by G.K. Chesterton
2 comments
philsnow 2143 days ago
GKC's famous quotation[0] about "a thing worth doing [...] is worth doing badly" comes to mind. There's a joy to be had in allowing yourself to not be amazing at everything you try. For one thing, it frees you to try lots of things.

[0] https://www.chesterton.org/a-thing-worth-doing/

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dTal 2143 days ago
Why, this speech would be an excellent thing to deploy, if you should yourself losing a game of croquet to a superior opponent. A true gamesmanship[0] tactic.

[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamesmanship

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