A throw that you made had failed.

But what of that, you dice-throwers! You have not learned
to play and mock as a man ought to play and mock.
Are we not always seated at a great table
for play and mockery?

And if great things you attempted
have turned out failures,
does that mean that you yourselves are – failures?
And if you yourselves have turned out failures,
does that mean – man is a failure?

If man has turned out a failure, however:
Very well! Come on!

How much is still possible!
So learn to laugh beyond yourselves!
Lift up your hearts, you fine dancers, high! Higher!
And do not forget to laugh well.

Thus Spake Zarathustra by Nietzsche, trans. by R. J. Hollingdale, On the Higher Man

How much of life is quite like throwing dice! Raised evangelical Christian in the South I learned that cards and dice were vices, activities that stained the soul. Now I know that interpretation was not true. The allure of throwing dice is that the player, with clear knowledge of the odds, takes delight in the possibility of “beating” the odds.  “How much is still possible!”

How often does one lose? Quite often. There’s no respite from cause and effect.  The odds of a win on throwing of a single die is 1 in 6 or 16%.

The writer reminds us that winning is beside the point.  It is enjoyment of the play, learning to laugh at myself: silly me playing with you this game (this life) that I am likely to lose!

Here we are still seated at the table. It’s my turn to throw!