In life, who isn’t a pawn? From top-tier elites to ordinary civilians, we’re all just pawns.

It’s just that everyone is on a different chessboard, and the player has a different rank.
Top-tier elites are controlled by the great current of the times and the machinery of the state, placed on the highest chessboard in the world—yet even so, they’re still pawns, just more valuable pawns, that’s all.
Ordinary people are controlled by life, by work, by superiors, or by bosses—they’re also pawns.
The vast majority of people are pawns; no one is freer than anyone else—it's just that pawns on different boards can’t understand the players on the other side.
If you want to rise above the identity of a pawn, there are two ways.
The hardest—and also the simplest—is to become the player. Such people are rare in this world; they are extraordinary.
The simplest—and also the hardest—is to give up all pursuits and fixations, step out of the chessboard. Naturally, you’ll also be free from the player’s control. However, the vast majority of people can’t manage that.
The comfort of transcending the chessboard is harder the higher the pawn’s rank. Maybe that’s the natural constraint that comes with a higher chessboard—giving up makes it even harder. And when giving up brings benefits, it becomes even harder still.