Thank you, darling, for learning to play chess. It is an absolute necessity for any well organized family. (in a letter to his wife)
Interpretation
Chess symbolizes strategy and cooperation, essential for a well-functioning family.
In this quote, Pushkin expresses gratitude towards his wife for embracing the game of chess, highlighting how it serves as a metaphor for the importance of strategy, teamwork, and organization within a family. By learning chess, the family can foster skills like patience and collaboration, which are vital for maintaining harmony and structure in family life.
In practice
During a family gathering, this quote could be shared to highlight the significance of teamwork.
I loved you; even now I may confess, Some embers of my love their fire retain; But do not let it cause you more distress, I do not want to sadden you again. Hopeless and tongue tied, yet I loved you dearly With pangs the jealous and the timid know; So tenderly I loved you, so sincerely, I pray God grant another love you so.
I loved you: and, it may be, from my soul The former love has never gone away, But let it not recall to you my dole; I wish not sadden you in any way. I loved you silently, without hope, fully, In diffidence, in jealousy, in pain; I loved you so tenderly and truly, As let you else be loved by any man.
I have outlasted all desire, My dreams and I have grown apart; My grief alone is left entire, The gleamings of an empty heart. The storms of ruthless dispensation Have struck my flowery garland numb, I live in lonely desolation And wonder when my end will come. Thus on a naked tree-limb, blasted By tardy winter's whistling chill, A single leaf which has outlasted Its season will be trembling still.
My dreams, my dreams! What has become of their sweetness? What indeed has become of my youth?
I do not like Moscow life. You live here not as you want to live, but as old women want you to.
Thus people--so it seems to me-- Become good friends from sheer ennui.
Tell me, do you spend time with your family? Good. Because a man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man.
The strategy we need to pursue is one of recovering our time - to push back on our hours of work. We need to form a new alliance between feminist groups, labor unions, child advocates, progressive corporations, and the federal government insofar as it's willing to pursue a family-friendly agenda.
It's impossible for most black Americans to construct full family trees. Official census records, used by so many genealogy enthusiasts to piece together their families' pasts, don't include our non-European ancestors.
Mutual respect and mutual listening are the foundations of harmony within the family.
If we never have headaches through rebuking our children, we shall have plenty of heartaches when they grow up.
My mother... would give us a hard time sometimes, and she would say to us, 'I don't know what's wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?' You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.
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