Ian Fleming - From Russia With Love (Chap. 7 Excerpt: "Chess Pieces") lyrics

Dreadful? Kronsteen was not interested in human beings- not even in his own children. nor did the categories of 'good' and 'bad' have places in his vocabulary. To him all people were chess pieces. He was only interested in their reactions to the movements of other pieces. To foretell their reactions, which was the greater part of his job, one had to understand their individual characteristics. Their basic instincts were immutable. Self-preservation, s** and the instinct of the herd- in that order. Their temperaments could be sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric or melancholic. The temperament of an individual would largely decide the comparative strength of his emotions and his sentiments. Character would greatly depend on upbringing and, whatever Pavlov and the Behaviourists might say, to a certain extent on the character of the parents. And, of course, people's lives and behaviour would be partly conditioned by physical strengths and weaknesses.