Stephen Potter > Quotes

“Your function as a critic is to show that it is really you yourself who should have written the book, if you had had the time, and since you hadn't you are glad that someone else had, although obviously it might have been done better.”
― Stephen Potter

“And now they smile at Paradine,
Who but would smile at Paradine?
(That man of games, called Paradine)
For the Gamesman came his way. Paradine”
― Stephen Potter, The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship: or The Art of Winning Games Without Actually Cheating

“There is nothing more putting off to young university players than a slight suggestion that their etiquette or sportsmanship is in question.”
― Stephen Potter, The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship: or The Art of Winning Games Without Actually Cheating

“On the other hand, a basic play, in perfect order, can be achieved by, say, whistling fidgetingly while playing yourself. And I once converted two down into two up when playing golf against P. Beard, known also as the leader of an orchestra, by constantly whistling a phrase from the Dorabella Variation with one note – always the same note – wrong.”
― Stephen Potter, The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship: or The Art of Winning Games Without Actually Cheating

“A good general attack can be made by talking to your opponent about his own job, in the character of the kind of man who always tries to know more about your own profession than you know yourself.”
― Stephen Potter, The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship: or The Art of Winning Games Without Actually Cheating

“Pegtop tees for golf were introduced by Samuel in ‘33 for this use. The technique is to tee the ball, frame up for the shot, and then at the last moment stop, pretend to push the peg a little further in or pull it a little further out, and then start all over again. At the next hole vary this with Samuel’s ‘Golden Perfecto’ peg tee, made in such a way that the ball, after sitting still in the cup for two to three seconds, rolls off. (Fig. 4.) Through the green, the usual procedure is to frame up for the shot and then decide on another club at the last moment.”
― Stephen Potter, The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship: or The Art of Winning Games Without Actually Cheating