I've met enough KGB colonels in my life.

I don't have enough information, and enough courage, to come up with a definite version of events. And I think it is too dangerous for me to do so.

The highest Art of the Chess player lies in not allowing your Opponent to show you what he can do.

I would say that when you go to the very, very top, it's an ability to come up with new ideas, with something new, to make the difference. Every world champion, every player who was traversing this universe, managed to bring something new to the game. This ability to always find some unconventional ways. That makes the final difference.

Constructs like race will decline in relevance in a roboticized world. That how well one human subset or community - a race, a nationality, a religion - is doing will be secondary to how well humanity in general is doing in face of the robot revolution.

My love of dynamic complications often led me to avoid simplicity when perhaps it was the wisest choice.

I would not draw definitive conclusions from that. If we look at South and North Korea, it is pretty hard to believe that we're dealing with the same people. Half of the people are forced to live in a concentration camp; the other have created one of the most dynamic economies in the world.