Saturday, January 23, 2016

"Busy People's Got Time"

Source: Davar, 20/7/1964
The above is a cutting from an article in Davar, by Gershon Alimor (ph. spelling), brought to our attention by Moshe Roytman. The title is "Busy People's Got Time". The article (not related to the paper's chess column) deals with Rubinstein's visit to Palestine and especially the fact the Biyalik was a chess fan; but why would a great poet waste time playing chess? Alimor notes the answer given by the Jewish philosopher Jakob Klatzkin:
I was playing chess with him in the Hotel Gdansk. Suddenly he was approached by a writer (I don't remember who) who addressed him as follows: 'Prof. Kltazkin, I am surprised: you are writing an important book now, you're deeply busy with spiritual things; how can you waste hours playing a game?'. Klatzkin replied: 'listen, whomever tells you he's too busy to play chess, is a lazybones who does nothing. Whomever really works, his thought is ordered, and he finds time for everything, especially something as glorious as chess'. 
Indeed so!

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