It is a fine game to play - the game of politics - and it is

The words of Winston Churchill — “It is a fine game to play – the game of politics – and it is well worth waiting for a good hand before really plunging” — are at once playful and grave. For he calls politics a game, not to belittle it, but to reveal its nature: a contest of wit, patience, and timing, where fortune favors not the restless hand but the steady one. Like the player at the table who waits for the right cards, the wise statesman knows that haste often leads to ruin, but patience may yield a victory that endures.

Churchill himself lived this teaching. In his early career, he leapt boldly into the stage of power, yet suffered defeats that would have silenced lesser men. He was cast out of office, mocked, and left to wander what he called his “wilderness years.” Yet he did not surrender his seat at the table. He waited, quietly gathering strength, sharpening his words, and watching as the world stumbled toward crisis. When the hour of destiny arrived — when the dark tide of war threatened to engulf all — he held the good hand, and he plunged with unmatched resolve. His patience, his refusal to play recklessly, prepared him for the moment when his voice would rally nations.

The ancients, too, understood this wisdom. Consider Cincinnatus of Rome, who returned to his plow rather than clutch at power. He waited, content in obscurity, until the republic truly needed him. Then, summoned from his fields, he led his people with honor and returned again to his simple life. Both Cincinnatus and Churchill show us that the art of politics is not the frantic grasping of power, but the discipline of knowing when to act.

To call it a fine game is not to strip politics of its weight, but to remind us that games have rules, strategies, and seasons. The impatient player throws away his chance; the wise one waits, observing the field, reading the opponents, and moving only when the moment is ripe. Thus the game becomes not mere chance, but mastery of timing and character.

O children of tomorrow, take heed: in all the contests of life — whether in governance, in labor, or in personal striving — do not waste your strength in reckless plunges. Wait until the hand you hold, strengthened by knowledge and courage, is worthy of the task. Then act boldly, with the fullness of your being. For patience joined with courage is the root of triumph, and this is the enduring lesson Churchill bequeathed when he called politics a game worth the waiting.