OSCAR WILDE ON BRIDGE......... ( Unearthed treasures from the Professor Hu Chi Ku Chi's literary find of the century )

In amongst a trunk load of old books, diaries and manuscripts bought at a local auction, I came across the scribbled notes of Oscar Wilde, who was using the pseudonym Drew Colish. Drew was the name that every one at his local bridge club called him by, being completely unaware of his real identity. These notes were full of witty, almost scathing, observations about bridge players. So listed below are some of his greatest quotations ..... published for first time.....here on Howard Bigot-Johnson's Blog..... for all to read and enjoy.

- Only dull players excel at being average

- What is the difference between a bridge book and a bridge magazine : one is unreadable and the other is never read. That is all.

- Looking at their own cards always bores most players to death : they much prefer to look at other people's

- Players who play their bridge strictly in accordance with a textbook suffer from a complete lack of intuition, vision and imagination

- To go down in a cold game may be regarded as a misfortune, but to do it twice equates to rank stupidity

- There is only one thing worse than being talked about at your club, and that is not being talked about at all

- My ambition in bridge is simple : to take more tricks than my cards were were ever intended to

- Bridge teachers do an admirable thing, but one does well to remember, from time to time, that things that are worth knowing can never be taught

- It's absurd to divide bridge players into good and bad : either they are charming to watch or extremely tedious

- An ordinary bridge player is a man who knows the value of his cards , but never able to exploit their full value during the play of the hand

- Men choose bridge as their first love , while women turn to bridge out of rejection and loneliness

- All bridge players are told to pass on good advice. Nearly all choose to do it, since they refuse to use the advice themselves

- Always ignore your opponents' outbursts and accusations : nothing annoys them as much

- One should always absorb the beauty and majesty of the game , but never the details of how the hands were played : far too many of them are either vulgar or embarrassing