chivalrous play

It comes, then, to this: that to be "viable", livable, or merely practical,

 life must be lived as a game - 

and the "must" here expresses a condition, not a commandment. 

It must be lived in the spirit of play rather than work, 

and the conflicts which it involves must be carried on in the realization that no species, 

or party to a game, can survive without its natural antagonists, 

its beloved enemies, its indispensable opponents. 

For to "love your enemies" is to love them as enemies; 

it is not necessarily a clever device for winning them over to your side. 

The lion lies down with the lamb in paradise, but not on earth - 

"paradise" being the tacit, off-stage level where, behind the scenes, 

all conflicting parties recognize their interdependence, 

and, through this recognition, are able to keep their conflicts within bounds. 

This recognition is the absolutely essential chivalry 

which must set the limits within all warfare, 

with human and non-human enemies alike, 

for chivalry is the debonair spirit of the knight

 who "plays with his life" 

in the knowledge that even mortal combat is a game.

No one who has been hoaxed into the belief that he is nothing but his ego, 

or nothing but his individual organism, can be chivalrous, 

let alone a civilized, sensitive, and intelligent member of the cosmos.

~ Alan Watts

from The Book on The Taboo 

Against Knowing Who You Are