i cheated in mr. hatch’s latin class. i used a trot. had i to chose a point in my life where i lost it that was it. instead of doing the job myself i copped someone else’s work. that’s when i stopped learning latin.
on my fiftieth birthday i drove back to exeter to pay george&co for the pair of grey flannel pants i stole. this cheat with hatch is even deeper back. i could forgive myself i suppose. it was latin got me in with high honors on the admissions test but i didn’t love it. around the harkness table translating latin, hatch roamed in back of you with a yard stick he would at times crack on the table. Yet even if i forgive myself, still, i learned to cheat. i explored its path. i have ever since felt the weakness it built into me. i retreated from expressing myself to a slightly scared being who lost the opportunity to build his confidence with the knowledge that he could do it for real. i have been in quest of a personal truth ever since that i let slip away from me. i feel more focused on the quest than if i’d been a natural.
is it better never to learn how to cheat or to learn how and then learn knot to?
deception
All warfare is based on deception.
SUN TZU ON THE ART OF WAR
synonyms DECEPTION, FRAUD, DOUBLE-DEALING, SUBTERFUGE, TRICKERY mean the acts or practices of one who deliberately deceives. DECEPTION may or may not imply blameworthiness, since it may suggest cheating or merely tactical resource . FRAUD always implies guilt and often criminality in act or practice . DOUBLE-DEALING suggests treachery or at least action contrary to a professed attitude . SUBTERFUGE suggests the adoption of a stratagem or the telling of a lie in order to escape guilt or to gain an end . TRICKERY implies ingenious acts intended to dupe or cheat .
On Wednesday, with the Yankees leading, 7-5, in the top of the ninth inning, Jorge Posada hit a two-out high pop that third baseman Howie Clark settled under. But as Rodriguez casually ran behind him toward third, he shouted something — “Ha!” according to Rodriguez; “Mine!” according to Clark.
Clark scooted away. The ball dropped.
It was ruled a hit for Posada, not an error on Clark. Hideki Matsui scored and Rodriguez was safe at third. Jason Giambi singled to drive in Rodriguez and Posada, and the Yankees went on to win, 10-5.
i like poker because it offers opportunity for deep study of deception. i want sun tzu to be my general. i want a president of my country who is a good poker player. i want my leader to have an instinct for sizing up a game.
i cheated john dimitri negroponte at bridge in the butt-room of wentworth hall, me and my partner, lee lescaze, when we were sixteen.
in poker as in baseball deception within rules and norms of play is accepted and respected. mastering deception means not only mastering skill at its accomplishment but also mastering wisdom in using it. now i’m sixty-eight.
tawfiq, are you a poker player? which translation of the koran do you prefer? what do you take its meaning to be?
They ask thee concerning wine and gambling. Say: “In them is great sin, and some profit, for men; but the sin is greater than the profit.”
They question thee about strong drink and games of chance. Say: In both is great sin, and (some) utility for men; but the sin of them is greater than their usefulness.
i am curious about “gambling” in the first and “games of chance” in the second, thinking that poker is certainly a form of gambling but is surely to be distinguished from the casting of lots. i know neither mohammed nor jesus would cast lots with me, but would Mohammed play poker with me? would Jesus play poker with me?
