Jack London. Smoke Bellew (№ 296904)

He recalled the famous words of one of the mad philosopher on the soul. And indeed, at this moment he was much more important to overtake the Baby than to find a fortune. He came to the conclusion that the game is the important thing, not winning. All the forces of his soul, his mind, his Brawn was sent only to defeat this man, who in all his life did not read a single book and could not distinguish screech hurdy-gurdy from Opera arias.
Through his brain was running a phrase of the mad philosopher - "the transvaluation of values". In truth, he was less interested in staking a fortune than in beating Shorty. After all, he concluded, it wasn't the reward of the game but the playing of it that counted. Mind, and muscle, and stamina, and soul, were challenged in a contest with this Shorty, a man who had never opened the books, and who did not know grand opera from rag-time, nor an epic from a chilblain.