kindness or consideration, but only for the greatest good of the 
greatest number—the number one. It is in this perspective that 
it is easy to see why war has been called the sport of kings. For 
kingdoms are to monarchs what patrimonies and private 
income are to the private citizen. Kings can play poker with 
kingdoms, as the generals of their armies do with troops. They 
can bluff and deceive the opponent about their resources and 
their intentions. What disqualifies war from being a true game 
is probably what also disqualifies the stock market and 
business—the rules are not fully known nor accepted by all the 
players. Furthermore, the audience is too fully participant in 
war and business, just as in a native society there is no true art 
because everybody  is engaged in making art. Art and games 
need rules, conventions, and spectators. They must stand 
forth from the overall situation as models of it in order for the 
quality of play to persist. For “play,” whether in life or in a