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Talk of the "imperial decay" of your invalid port. "Its gracious withdrawal from perfection, keeping a hint of former majesty withal, as it hovers between oblivion and the divine Untergang of infinite recession."

— Stephen Potter One-Upmanship (1952)

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Notes from Wikiquote

On how to talk up a faded Cockburn 1897.

More quotes by Stephen Potter

How to be one up - how to make the other man feel that something has gone wrong, however slightly.

Some Notes on Lifemanship (1950)

A good general rule is to state that the bouquet is better than the taste, and vice versa.

One-Upmanship (1952)

The theory and practice of gamesmanship; or, The art of winning games without actually cheating.

Title of book (1947)

"Yes, but not in the South", with slight adjustments, will do for any argument about any place, if not about any person.

Some Notes on Lifemanship (1950)

In our small chess community in Marylebone it would be mock modesty on my part to deny that I have built up for myself a considerable name without ever actually having won a single game. Even the best players are sometimes beaten, and that is precisely what happens to me.

The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship (1947)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Stephen Potter (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.