History Quotes / XanatosSpeedChess

->''"To play humans you need less of an ability to see many moves ahead, more of an ability to adapt swiftly, to keep your eye on one or more goals simultaneously, and to be prepared to add human free will into your own equation."''
-->-- '''Senna Wales''', ''Literature/{{Everworld}}''

->'''Dalinar''': It wasn't simply a convenient opportunity. You set this up, Sadeas.\\
'''Sadeas''': I planned, but I'm often planning. I don't always act on my options. Today I did.
-->-- ''Literature/TheWayOfKings2010''

->'''General''': Cap, this is Betty Boop: what is God's name are you doing, soldier? This was not the plan! I repeat, this was NOT THE PLAN!! Over!

-->-- ''Literature/TheWayOfKings''

-->--'''Zemerik''', ''[[WesternAnimation/HotWheelsBattleForce5 Hot Wheels: Battle Force 5]] ''

'''Zemerik''', ''WesternAnimation/{{Hot Wheels: Battle Force 5}}''''Series/HotWheelsBattleForce5''

->

-->-- '''[[spoiler:[[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100625 Zola Anya Talinka Venia Zeblinkya Malfeazium]]]]''', ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''

-->-- '''Randy Pausch''', ''The Last Lecture''''

-->-- '''Michael Scofield''', ''Series/PrisonBreak''

->''"It's not how good of a planner you are, but how good you are when the plan fails."''
-->-- '''Daolon Wong''', ''Fanfic/QueenOfAllOni''

[[folder:Comic books]]
->'''General:''' Cap, this is Betty Boop: what is God's name are you doing, soldier? This was not the plan! I repeat, this was NOT THE PLAN!! Over!
->'''Captain America:''' Unfortunately, the plan had a hole the size of Iowa, bird-man, but the variables didn't hit me until drop-time minus thirty...

->And it was also clear that Potter was brilliant, and a whole lot more than just slightly mad, and playing a vast game that Potter himself mostly didn't understand, improvised at top speed with the subtlety of a rampaging nundu.

->I was never in control of any pony's fate, Twilight. I never had any grand master plan, and I still don't. In the end, I'm playing it by ear, just like every other pony. Hoping and praying and guessing and, and ''improvising''.\\

Well, running a government is like being in the middle of a thousand carefully arranged plans - all of them on the verge of coming apart at the seams, ''every single minute of the day.''

->There is no great overall plan, Anna. And that's the best thing possible, you know? Because... Because I can catch anything that falls into my hands and use it... towards the overall goal.

->It's not how good of a planner you are, but how good you are when the plan fails.

->[[WelcomeToMyWorld This is how]] [[MagnificentBastard Vetinari]] [[WelcomeToMyWorld thinks]], [Cosmo Lavish's] soul exulted. Plans can break down. You cannot plan the future. Only presumptuous fools plan. The wise man ''steers''.

->To play humans you need less of an ability to see many moves ahead, more of an ability to adapt swiftly, to keep your eye on one or more goals simultaneously, and to be prepared to add human free will into your own equation.

->Only a fool expects everything to go the way they plan, Raphael. Another lesson for you. Success doesn't depend on having the perfect plan. It depends on changing plans to match circumstances fast enough for the changes to be effective. And that means spotting deviations from the predicted course of events early enough to have time for those changes.

->'''Dalinar:''' It wasn't simply a convenient opportunity. You set this up, Sadeas.\\
'''Sadeas:''' I planned, but I'm often planning. I don't always act on my options. Today I did.

->'''The Duke of Taunton:''' As I say, one cannot foresee everything, one merely tries to take advantage of such strokes of fortune. But all this is dependent upon events and chances which are by nature unforeseeable.\\
'''The Nawab:''' There really are no options in this which do not – your opponents have no options before them which do not – leave you with at least a partial victory.\\
'''The Duke:''' None which are obvious, but that is the point: one never knows. One cannot plan against everything.\\
'''The Nawab:''' No, merely fold events into one's plans and make them serve one's objectives.

->Fortunto's plans were often little more than an awareness of the most probable possibilities and a list of options to execute should they arise.

->Preparation can only take you so far. After that, you gotta take a few leaps of faith.

->You know, just ''once,'' I'd like to come up with an elegant plan that doesn't involve lots of last-minute rewiring...
-->--'''The Seventh Doctor,''' AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho, ''[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho005TheFearmonger The Fearmonger]]''

->They may snap at me or plot and that makes them the kind of sons I want. I've snapped and plotted all my life: there is no other way to be a king, alive and fifty all at once.

->Don't feel bad, my cowgirl! None of this was really planned out. It's all about knowing when to react and take advantage of the good timing!

->Holy crap, guys! Plans ''do'' fail. "Perfect strategy" does not mean one perfect flawless genius plan! It doesn't ''mean'' you never lose! Look, you've taught me a lot, so let me teach you something, 'k? ''This'' is strategy. First... you have a goal. Then, you list objectives in support of that goal, in order of importance. Then, you weigh the costs and accomplish the most you can, however you can. Without even fighting, if possible! You've got bluff, subterfuge, diplomacy... lotta the time it's just "watch what the enemy's doing," and hit him where he's weak and you're strong. But, y'know... he's doing the same to you. And you can't be strong everywhere. So you fall back where he's stronger, and sometimes you ''do'' lose. But you roll with it. ''Yes'', you plan. Okay? But the enemy won't follow your plan. So the trick is to be fluid, hit him on the fly, define his choices... watch for opportunity, like when he [[NarrativeProfanityFilter boops]] up. You have to know more than he does about what's going on. Which is why you don't withhold information from the guy who plans your battles! You see?

->Well, I can't say that ''any'' of this mess was part of my ''original'' plan. But it's all working out so ''beautifully'', I can't complain.

->You see, ''I'' was chosen for this role because I am ''very'' good at improvising when things go wrong. So really, I'm in my element right now, wouldn't you say?

->'''The Doktor:''' But, Major, now that they know of our plans--\\
'''The Major:''' Ah, Herr Doctor, but that ''is'' the plan. Now that they know our plan they will plan around our plan. [[IKnowYouKnowIKnow And so we shall in turn plan around the plan that they are planning around our plan!]]\\
'''The Doktor:''' Your brilliance knows no bounds!

->I see only one move ahead, but it is always the correct one.

->In preparing for battle, I've found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.

->No plan of operations extends with certainty beyond the first encounter with the enemy's main force.

->According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one's plans.

->Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing.

->They planned their campaigns just as you might make a splendid piece of harness. It looks very well; and answers very well; until it gets broken; and then you are done for. Now I made my campaigns of ropes. If anything went wrong, I tied a knot; and went on.

->Failing to plan is planning to fail. Plan Each Day, Each Week, Each Semester. You can always change your plan, but only ''once you have one''!
-->-- '''Randy Pausch''', ''The Last Lecture''

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->[[WelcomeToMyWorld This is how]] [[MagnificentBastard Vetinari]] [[[[WelcomeToMyWorld thinks]], [Cosmo Lavish's] soul exulted. Plans can break down. You cannot plan the future. Only presumptuous fools plan. The wise man ''steers''.

->[[WelcomeToMyWorld This is how [[MagnificentBastard Vetinari]] [[[[WelcomeToMyWorld thinks]], [Cosmo Lavish's] soul exulted. Plans can break down. You cannot plan the future. Only presumptuous fools plan. The wise man ''steers''.

->This ''is'' [[WelcomeToMyWorld how Vetinari thinks]], [Cosmo Lavish's] soul exulted. Plans can break down. You cannot plan the future. Only presumptuous fools plan. The wise man ''steers''.

-->-- ''Discworld/MakingMoney''

Preparation can only take you so far. After that, you gotta take a few leaps of faith.

->To succeed, planning alone is insufficient. One must improvise as well.
-->-- '''Salvor Hardin''', ''Literature/{{Foundation}}''

-->-- '''Sun Tzu''', ''Literature/TheArtOfWar''

->Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing.
-->-- '''Sun Tzu''', ''Literature/TheArtOfWar''

'''The Major:''' Ah, her Doctor, but that ''is'' the plan. Now that they know our plan they will plan around our plan. [[IKnowYouKnowIKnow And so we shall in turn plan around the plan that they are planning around our plan!]]\\