quotations about gambling
How, sir! not damn the sharper, but the dice?
ALEXANDER POPE
Epilogue to the Satires
The best throw of the dice is to throw them away.
AUSTIN O'MALLEY
Keystones of Thought
The pure sensuality of the betting moment ... It is a neurological jolt made up of greed, lust and excitement mixed together with a strong dose of fear.
EDWARD ALLEN
"Penny Ante"
Unfortunately, gambling and winning don't often go hand-in-hand.
PETE ROSE
My Prison Without Bars
Death and the dice level all distinctions.
SAMUEL FOOTE
The Minor
The royal lottery-keeper is both a gambler and a swindler; for in his playing he knows that the stake he lays down is unequal to his opponent's.
WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR
Imaginary Conversations
Many a man who goes to Las Vegas to get away from it all soon finds that Las Vegas gets it all away from him.
EVAN ESAR
20,000 Quips & Quotes
None but fools and invalids can find pleasure in shuffling cards all evening long to find out whether they shall win a few pence at the end.
HONORÉ DE BALZAC
Gobseck
Thinkers are seldom gamblers; gambling interrupts the habit of thought and turns it towards barren combinations; thus one good result, perhaps the only good result of the taste for science, is that it deadens to some extent this vulgar passion; people will prefer to try to discover the uses of play rather than to devote themselves to it. I should argue with the gamblers against gambling, and I should find more delight in scoffing at their losses than in winning their money.
JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU
Emile
Avoid gaming. This is a vice which is productive of every possible evil; equally injurious to the morals and health of its votaries. It is the child of avarice, the brother of iniquity, and father of mischief. It has been the ruin of many worthy families, the loss of many a man's honor, and the cause of Suicide. To all those who enter the lists, it is equally fascinating. The successful gamester pushes his good fortune, till it is overtaken by a reverse. The losing gamester, in hopes of retrieving past misfortunes, goes on from bad to worse, till grown desperate he pushes at everything and loses his all. In a word, few gain by this abominable practice, (the profit if any being diffused) while thousands are injured.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
letter to Bushrod Washington, Jan. 15, 1783
One should always play fairly when one has the winning cards.
OSCAR WILDE
An Ideal Husband
Almost all gamesters learn to control their faces ... The Hand blabs secrets shamelessly.
STEPHAN ZWEIG
Four-and-Twenty Hours in a Woman's Life
Here the nerves may stand on end and scream to themselves, but a tranquility as from heaven is only interrupted by the click of chips. The higher the stakes, the more quiet the scene.
STEPHEN CRANE
"A Game of Poker"
Any business whose prosperity depends upon damage to any other business is a menace to the general welfare. That is why gambling, direct or indirect, is criminal, why lotteries are prohibited by law, and why even gambling slot-machine devices are not tolerated in civilized countries.
FRANK CRANE
Four Minute Essays
Gaming itself ... will only end when human nature has changed completely and there are no more bets to win.
HAROLD S. SMITH & JOHN WESLEY NOBLE
I Want to Quit Winners
The roulette table pays nobody except him who keeps it. Nevertheless a passion for gaming is common, though a passion for keeping roulette tables is unknown.
GEORGE BERNARD SHAW
Man and Superman
Some guys play golf. Some drive race cars or fly jets. Some guys drink booze or chase women. Some guys go to church. Others drink booze, chase women, and go to church all at the same time! My outlet was gambling. It was my hobby and my passion. When I gambled, I always looked for an edge ... a jockey who knew how to hug the rail ... a trainer who had a great work ethic ... a horse that could break fast and finish strong ... a receiver who could cut across the middle without hearing footsteps ... a boxer who could take a punch. Every bet I ever made, regardless of the sport, I made with the intention of winning the event, not the money. In fact, if I found out that a jockey was betting on himself to win, I'd bet that jockey every goddamn time. So, the idea of betting to "lose" is about as foreign to me as living on Mars. As out of control as I got with my gambling, I never bet against my own team--ever.
PETE ROSE
My Prison Without Bars
That specific disease in which the suspension of the whole nervous system on a chance or risk becomes as necessary as the dram to the drunkard.
GEORGE ELIOT
Middlemarch
No wife can endure a gambling husband unless he is a steady winner.
LORD DEWAR
attributed, The Concise Columbia Dictionary of Quotations
The safest way to double your money is to fold it over once and put it in your pocket.
KIN HUBBARD
Abe Martin's Almanack