What is the most inspirational Gary Gygax quote?

MichaelSomething · Oct 4, 2018

So I find myself on ZenPencils, a webcomic that makes comics based off of inspirational quotes. Yet I just realized that it has nothing from Gary Gygax, the (or is it "a", I'm not sure) founder of D&D itself! Surely, he must have some quote that is super awesome. But I'm no scholar of Gygax (that's a good subclass name now that I think about it); but I bet some of you are. So what are some of his most inspirational quotes that you know?

Once we figure them out, I can submit them to Zen Pencils; or you can do it yourself over at the ZenPencils Facebook page if you want. (https://www.facebook.com/zenpencils).

Ralif Redhammer · Oct 4, 2018

This one sticks with me (I don't know how inspirational it is, but I like it):

“I would like the world to remember me as the guy who really enjoyed playing games and sharing his knowledge and his fun pastimes with everybody else.”

There are plenty of quotes from Gary archived here, too. It still amazes me how accessible he was, even up to the end.

CleverNickName · Oct 5, 2018

"6. THE FACE OF THE GREAT GREEN DEVIL: The other fork of
the path leads right up to an evil-appearing devil face set in mosaic
at the corridor's end. (SHOW YOUR PLAYERS GRAPHIC #6).
The face has a huge O of a mouth; it is dead black. The whole
area radiates evil and magic if detected for. The mouth opening is
similar to a (fixed) sphere of annihilation, but it is about 3' in
diameter - plenty of room for those who wish to leap in and be
completely and forever destroyed."

- "Tomb of Horrors," pg. 4 (1974)

Gary was an inspiration to us all...but especially to my first Dungeon Master back in middle school.
NOT FUNNY, KEVIN.

Mark Hope · Oct 5, 2018

"It is the spirit of the game, not the letter of the rules, which is important. Never hold to the letter written, nor allow some barracks room lawyer to force quotations from the rule book upon you, if it goes against the obvious intent of the game. As you hew the line with respect to conformity to major systems and uniformity of play in general, also be certain the game is mastered by you and not by your players. Within the broad parameters give in the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons volumes, you are creator and final arbiter. By ordering things as they should be, the game as a whole first, your campaign next, and your participants thereafter, you will be playing Advanced Dungeons and Dragons as it was meant to be. May you find as much pleasure in so doing as the rest of us do!"

SpellJammer16 · Oct 5, 2018

This one resonates with me... I grew up in the 80's during the satanic panic

"Somebody said they threw their copy of Dungeons and Dragons into the fire, and it screamed.
It's a game!
The magic spells in it are as real as the gold.
Try retiring on that stuff."

jonesy · Oct 6, 2018

The true neutral ethos is one that sees all as part of a whole. One must have evil to know good, disorder to know order, and so on. Looking at the cosmos as consiting of all permutations of that sort of opposition, the true neutral is convinced that these balancing forces are necessary for the whole to operate properly, allow people and nature and everything their freedom to be as they are meant to me--or opt to be.

In this light, if any one opposing force becomes too powerful, the whole system is threatened, so thus true neutral opposes the ascendency of law or chaos, good or evil. That is out of the harmony necessary in the cosmos.

From the very first Gary Gygax Q&A thread here:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?22566-Q-amp-A-with-Gary-Gygax&p=981583#post981583

Gradine · Oct 6, 2018

“The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules.”

S'mon · Oct 6, 2018

"Never give a sucker an even break."

Blackmoor_Film · Oct 6, 2018

Gradine said:
“The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules.”

I had heard the wording differently. But this was the same quote I was going to post. As I heard it, it was something like" "If people ever figure out they don't need rules to play this game, we're ruined."

It goes nicely with Arneson's statement on the night he showed off Blackmoor to the crew in Lake Geneva:

Rob Kuntz "Where are the rules?"

Arneson "There are none."

Blue · Oct 6, 2018

"Rocks fall, you die." --Gary Gygax (*sic*)

What is the most inspirational Gary Gygax quote?

MichaelSomething

Legend

Ralif Redhammer

Legend

CleverNickName

Limit Break Dancing

Mark Hope

Adventurer

SpellJammer16

Apprentice of the Seventh Circle of Mystery

jonesy

A Wicked Kendragon

Gradine

The Elephant in the Room (she/her)

S'mon

Legend

Blackmoor_Film

Explorer

Blue

Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal

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