What do you think of this old quote by Paul Morphy?

"The ability to play chess is the sign of a gentleman. The ability to play chess well is the sign of a wasted life."

Perhaps that's why Morphy abandoned chess after he turned 23 and devoted his life to a more fruitful career as a Southern lawyer, defending the slave owners against the Uncle Sam.

OBVIOUSLY my life hasn't been wasted then!

"Most people waste their lives without being particularly good at anything." - Liquidator Brunt

that was also before there was big money involved.

No, time is not wasted unless you can't control it

Paul Morphy seems like an unknowleadgeable bunkerhead, to be honest. It doesn't take that long to play chess well, especially when you're twelve like me and don't exactly have to pay the bills or worry about oil prices.

you aren't twelve.

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Morphy didnt create the idea. He is voicing a sentiment that was common since the middle ages and expressed by others before him, and after him as well.

I believe his failure to obtain a match with Staunton probably contributed to this attitude. What else could he do after defeating all the world class players he met, until those left to defeat, that he wanted to play, wouldn't play him ?  

He was just born too soon for Chess. It would have been fascinating to see a Morphy playing between 1900 into the 1930's or 40's ! With players like Lasker, Pillsbury, Marshall, Capablanca, Tarrasch, Nimzovich, Alekhine, etc.

I kind of thought the picture of Fischer was appropriate to the quotation. Who played better than Fischer and whose life was more of a waste than Fischer's ? Even though it was Morphy who made the statement, Fischer exemplifies the remark.

Bobby Fischer is kind of the poster child for a wasted life. Isn't he?

I'm not sure. Fischer end up dead in Iceland. Morphy ended up dead in New Orleans.

Reminds of the Proverb:

"We're fools whether we dance or not so we might as well dance."

Nice photo.  I had no idea that's what Morphy looked like.  Must be an early example of Confederate color photography . 

that's awesome

Since the CSA went out of business in 1865 (which would make Morphy 27 or 28), if that's Morphy in that pic, he looks like something out of The Picture of Dorian Gray!

Success troll is success.

Don't ask me about that quote. I give up a really good career as a guitar player to teach chess and play full time. Chess is highly addictive. I spend at least 5 hours a day or more playing, studying and teaching. However, if you dedicate your time to something are you really wasting your life? Soon there will be Chess Anonymous meetings everywhere. Here's an example of a chess junkie at a meeting.

"I thought I had it beat. I mean I hadn't played for a year. I was looking down at my black and white tiles kitchen floor and I got a craving. I ran out of the house in my underwear, desparate to find a game, any game. I started sweating hard when I saw these guys playing in the park. I offered them the title to my new car if they'd just let me play one game. Just one game, what harm would it do?"

As they say at Chess Anonymous, "one game is too many and a thousand games not enough."

Only Morphy was never recorded to have said that nor was he known to have defended slave owners against the federal govenment.

What Morphy did say:
A word now on the game itself. Chess has never been and never can be aught but a recreation. It should not be indulged it to the detriment of other and more serious avocations - should not absorb the mind or engross the thoughts of those who worship at its shrine; but should be kept in the background and restrained within its proper province. As a mere game, a relaxation from the severer pursuits of life, it is deserving of high commendation. It is not only the most delightful and scientific, but the most moral of amusements. Unlike other games in which lucre is the end and the aim of the contestants, it recommends itself to the wise by the fact that its mimic battles are fought for no prize but honor. It is eminently and emphatically the philosopher's game. Let the chessboard supercede the card table, and a great improvement will be visible in the morals of the community.