"How *not* to lose? It is impossible not to. The world is balanced on the edge of a knife. It’s a game of frayed nerves. You’re pushed on by numbers and punitive measures: pain, rejection, and <a href="/wiki/Hearts%27_Game:_Counterplay" title="Hearts' Game: Counterplay"><img alt="" src="/w/images/thumb/0/07/Tattoo_chess.png/20px-Tattoo_chess.png" decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="20" height="26" srcset="/w/images/thumb/0/07/Tattoo_chess.png/30px-Tattoo_chess.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/0/07/Tattoo_chess.png/40px-Tattoo_chess.png 2x" /></a> <a href="/wiki/Hearts%27_Game:_Counterplay" title="Hearts' Game: Counterplay">Counterplay</a>. You can either play or you can crawl under a boat and waste away -- turn into salt or a flock of seagulls. Your enemies would *love* that. Or you can fight. The only way to load the dice is to keep on fighting."