The Eight

Music has power to create a universe or to destroy a civilization.

Muses had a way of killing those whom they inspired.

All my life I have studies the peculiar powers of music. It has a force of its own that few would deny.

Affaires meant 'business.' How like the French to kill two birds with one stone.

Tactics is knowing what to do when there is something to do. Strategy is knowing what to do when there is nothing to do. —Savielly Tartakover (Polish GM)

Nim unwrapped a loaf of fresh dilled rye bread and opened a crock of trout mousse. He slathered up a big slice and handed it to me. [...] We had thinly sliced veal smothered in kumquat sauce, fresh spinach with pine nuts, and fat red beefsteak tomatoes (impossibly rare at this time of year) broiled and stuffed with lemon apple sauce. The wide, fan-shaped mushrooms were sauteed lightly and served as a side dish. The main course was followed by a salad of red and green baby lettuce with dandelion greens and toasted hazelnuts.

But Mathematics are music,' Bach replied. And the reverse is also true. Whether you believe the word 'music' came from 'Musa,' the Muses, or from 'muta,'...it makes no difference. If you think 'mathematics' came from 'mathanein,' which is learning, or from 'Matrix," the womb or mother of all creation, it matters not...

...We have to dare, to dare again, always to dare...!

But don't you hear what I've said?' David cried. 'It's this very vengeance and betrayal that's torn our country apart. Where will it end? If we believe in God, we must believe in a divine justice that in time will restore sanity.' 'I have no time,' said Mireille. 'I will not wait for God.