We learn by pushing ourselves and finding what really lies at the outer reaches of our abilities.

Of course the sad truth is that if we are not present to the moment, our true love could come and go and we wouldn't even notice.

Initially I was very drawn to the Tao Te Ching, the Taoist philosophy. It was helping me deal with the balance of these external and internal issues with my chess life. Tai chi is the martial embodiment of Taoist philosophy. Initially, I had no intention of competing in the martial arts; it was just the meditation.

Very gifted people, they win and they win, and they are told that they win because they are a winner. That seems like a positive thing to tell children, but ultimately, what that means is when they lose, it must make them a loser.

At the very core of my relationship to learning is the idea that we should be as organic as possible. We need to cultivate a deeply refined introspective sense, and build our relationship to learning around our nuance of character.

Not only do we have to be good at waiting, we have to love it. Because waiting is not waiting, it is life.

It is rarely a mysterious technique that drives us to the top, but rather a profound mastery of what may well be a basic skill set.