Play is essential to maturity. It gives us pleasure, a sense of accomplishment, of belonging. It is an opportunity for learning. It reduces our stresses. It even inspires an occasional book (Izaak Walton's masterpiece The Compleat Angler, for one). Play is important to our relationships. And it gives us flexibility. As Robert Fagen has put it, "In a world continuously presenting unique challenges and ambiguity, play prepares [us] for an evolving planet."
— Lenore Terr, Beyond Love and Work