The chess-board is the world:the pieces are the phenomena of the universe; the rules of the game are what we call the laws of nature. The player on the other side is hidden from us. We know that his play is always fair, just and patient. But also we know, to our cost, that he never overlooks a mistake, or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance.

By Thomas Henry Huxley

參考譯文

棋盤宛如世界：一個個棋子仿佛世間的種種現象：游戲規則就是我們所稱的自然法則。競爭對手藏于暗處，不為我們所見。我們知曉，這位對手向來處事公平，正義凜然，極富耐心。然而，我們也明白，這位對手從不忽視任何錯誤，或者因為我們的無知而做出一絲讓步，所以我們也必須為此付出代價。