Monthly Archive: January 2022

Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Monday, January 31, 2021 – Plato

“A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers.”

And

“A hero is born among a hundred, a wise man is found among a thousand, but an accomplished one might not be found even among a hundred thousand men.”

And

“And what, Socrates, is the food of the soul? Surely, I said, knowledge is the food of the soul.”

And

“Courage is knowing what not to fear.”

And

“Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet.”

And

“For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories.”

And

“I exhort you also to take part in the great combat, which is the combat of life, and greater than every other earthly conflict.”

And

“Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil.”

And

“Life must be lived as play.”

And

“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”

And

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”

And

“Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.”

And

“If on the other hand I tell you that to let no day pass without discussing goodness and all the other subjects about which you hear me talking and examining both myself and others is really the very best thing that a man can do, and that life without this sort of examination is not worth living.”

And

“The beginning is the most important part of the work.”

And

“Musical training is a more potent instrument than any other, because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul.”

And

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.”

And

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”

And

“Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.”

And

“There is truth in wine and children”

And

“Ignorance, the root and stem of every evil.”

And

“Those who tell the stories rule society.”

And

“There are three classes of men; lovers of wisdom, lovers of honor, and lovers of gain.”

And

“The measure of a man is what he does with power.”

And

“Death is not the worst that can happen to men.”

And

“Character is simply habit long continued.”

Wikipedia:  Plato

(more…)

Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Sunday, April 30, 2022 – Bart Starr

“Athletic competition clearly defines the unique power of our attitude.”

And

“Desire and dedication are everything!”

And

“My dad never pushed me but the big thing is that he helped me by going out in the backyard and playing with me.”

And

“If you work harder than somebody else, chances are you’ll beat him though he has more talent than you.”

And

“Coach Lombardi showed me that by working hard and using my mind, I could overcome my weakness to the point where I could be one of the best.”

And

“It takes me about a week and a half to really analyze a game – play by play.”

Wikipedia:  Bart Starr

(more…)

Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Saturday, January 29, 2022 – Larry Bird

“A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals.”

And

“I’ve got a theory that if you give 100% all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end.”

And

“I wasn’t real quick, and I wasn’t real strong. Some guys will just take off and it’s like, whoa. So I beat them with my mind and my fundamentals.”

And

“I don’t know if I practiced more than anybody, but I sure practiced enough. I still wonder if somebody – somewhere – was practicing more than me.”

And

“Leadership is diving for a loose ball, getting the crowd involved, getting other players involved. It’s being able to take it as well as dish it out. That’s the only way you’re going to get respect from the players.”

And

“Leadership is getting players to believe in you. If you tell a teammate you’re ready to play as tough as you’re able to, you’d better go out there and do it. Players will see right through a phony. And they can tell when you’re not giving it all you’ve got.”

And

“Once you are labeled ‘the best’ you want to stay up there, and you can’t do it by loafing around.”

And

“Push yourself again and again. Don’t give an inch until the final buzzer sounds.”

And

“It doesn’t matter who scores the points, it’s who can get the ball to the scorer.”

And

“First master the fundamentals.”

And

“When I was young, I never wanted to leave the court until I got things exactly correct. My dream was to become a pro.”

And

“I really don’t like talking about money. All I can say is that the Good Lord must have wanted me to have it.” 

Wikipedia:  Larry Bird

(more…)

Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Friday, January 28, 2022 – Epictetus

“If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you but answer, “He was ignorant of my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these alone.”

And

“There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power or our will. ”

And

“Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.”

And

“Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it.”

And

“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”

And

“If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.”

And

“The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.”

And

“Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems”

And

“Other people’s views and troubles can be contagious. Don’t sabotage yourself by unwittingly adopting negative, unproductive attitudes through your associations with others.”

And

“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”

And

“Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him.”

And

“He who laughs at himself never runs out of things to laugh at.”

And

“All religions must be tolerated… for every man must get to heaven in his own way.”

And

“People are not disturbed by things, but by the views they take of them.”

And

“First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak.”

And

“Only the educated are free.”

And

“To accuse others for one’s own misfortune is a sign of want of education. To accuse oneself shows that one’s education has begun. To accuse neither oneself nor others shows that one’s education is complete.”

And

“The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests. ”

And

“Circumstances don’t make the man, they only reveal him to himself.”

And

“Attach yourself to what is spiritually superior, regardless of what other people think or do. Hold to your true aspirations no matter what is going on around you.”

And

“It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.”

And

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. ”

And

“You are a little soul carrying around a corpse”

And

“Seek not the good in external things; seek it in yourselves.”

And

“Caretake this moment. Immerse yourself in its particulars. Respond to this person, this challenge, this deed. Quit evasions. Stop giving yourself needless trouble. It is time to really live; to fully inhabit the situation you happen to be in now.”

And

“If evil be said of thee, and if it be true, correct thyself; if it be a lie, laugh at it.”

And

“Do not try to seem wise to others. ”

And

“Don’t seek to have events happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they do happen, and all will be well with you.”

And

“No man is free who is not master of himself.”

And

“If you would be a reader, read; if a writer, write.”

And

“Difficulty shows what men are. Therefore when a difficulty falls upon you, remember that God, like a trainer of wrestlers, has matched you with a rough young man. Why? So that you may become an Olympic conqueror; but it is not accomplished without sweat.”

And

“Nature hath given men one tongue but two ears, that we may hear from others twice as much as we speak.”

And

“In a word, neither death, nor exile, nor pain, nor anything of this kind is the real cause of our doing or not doing any action, but our inward opinions and principles.”

And

“Reason is not measured by size or height, but by principle.”

And

“Practice yourself, for heaven’s sake, in little things; and thence proceed to greater.”

Wikipedia:  Epictetus

(more…)

Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Thursday, January 27, 2022 – Lee Trevino

“A hungry dog hunts best.”

And

“I still sweat. My guts are still grinding out there. Sometimes I have enough cotton in my mouth to knit a sweater.”

And

“I’m not out there just to be dancing around. I expect to win every time I tee up.”

And

“I’m not scared of very much. I’ve been hit by lightning and been in the Marine Corps for four years.”

And

“If you are caught on a golf course during a storm and are afraid of lightning, hold up a 1-iron. Not even God can hit a 1-iron.”

And

“My wife doesn’t care what I do when I’m away, as long as I don’t have a good time.”

And

“Pressure is playing for ten dollars when you don’t have a dime in your pocket.”

And

“Putts get real difficult the day they hand out the money.”

And

“There are two things that won’t last long in this world, and that’s dogs chasing cars and pros putting for pars.”

And

“You can make a lot of money in this game. Just ask my ex-wives. Both of them are so rich that neither of their husbands work.”

And

“The older I get the better I used to be!”

And

“You can talk to a fade but a hook won’t listen.”

And

“Nobody buy you and your caddie care what you do out there, and if your caddie is betting against you, he doesn’t care, either.”

Wikipedia:  Lee Trevino

(more…)

Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Wednesday, January 26, 2022 – Billie Jean King

“A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning.”

And

“Be bold. If you’re going to make an error, make a doozy, and don’t be afraid to hit the ball.”

And

“Champions keep playing until they get it right.”

And

“I didn’t really care if I had a coach that much, me personally, because I was brought up to think for myself.”

And

“I have a lot to say, and if I’m not No. 1, I can’t say it.”

And

“I like entrepreneurial people; I like people who take risks.”

And

“I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a champion.”

And

“I will tell you King’s First Law of Recognition: You never get it when you want it, and then when it comes, you get too much.”

And

“No one changes the world who isn’t obsessed.”

And

“Sports teaches you character, it teaches you to play by the rules, it teaches you to know what it feels like to win and lose-it teaches you about life.”

And

“The main thing is to care. Care very hard, even if it is only a game you are playing.”

And

“Victory is fleeting. Losing is forever.”

Wikipedia:  Billie Jean King

(more…)

Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Tuesday, January 25, 2022 – Omar Bradley

“Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death.”

And

“Leadership is intangible, and therefore no weapon ever designed can replace it.”

And

“Set your course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship.”

And

“This is as true in everyday life as it is in battle: we are given one life and the decision is ours whether to wait for circumstances to make up our mind, or whether to act, and in acting, to live.”

And

“Dependability, integrity, the characteristic of never knowingly doing anything wrong, that you would never cheat anyone, that you would give everybody a fair deal. Character is a sort of an all-inclusive thing. If a man has character, everyone has confidence in him. Soldiers must have confidence in their leader.”

And

“We have men of science, too few men of God. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living. If we continue to develop our technology without wisdom or prudence, our servant may prove to be our executioner.”

And

“Wars can be prevented just as surely as they can be provoked, and we who fail to prevent them, must share the guilt for the dead.”

And

“The way to win an atomic war is to make certain it never starts.”

And

“With the monstrous weapons man already has, humanity is in danger of being trapped in this world by its moral adolescents.”

And

Military hero, courageous in battle, and gentle in spirit, friend of the common soldier, General of the Army, first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he embodies the best of the American military tradition with dignity, humanity, and honor. Gerald Ford, remarks upon presenting Bradley with the Presidential Medal of Freedom (10 January 1977)

And

An Armistice Day Address

By General Omar N. Bradley
Boston, Massachusetts
November 10, 1948

“TOMORROW is our day of conscience. For although it is a monument to victory, it is also a symbol of failure. Just as it honors the dead, so must it humble the living.

Armistice Day is a constant reminder that we won a war and lost a peace.

It is both a tribute and an indictment: A tribute to the men who died that their neighbors might live without fear of aggression. An indictment of those who lived and forfeited their chance for peace.

Therefore, while Armistice Day is a day for pride, it is for pride in the achievements of others—humility in our own.

Neither remorse nor logic can hide the fact that our armistice ended in failure. Not until the armistice myth exploded in the blast of a Stuka bomb did we learn that the winning of wars does not in itself make peace. And not until Pearl Harbor did we learn that non-involvement in peace means certain involvement in war.
We paid grievously for those faults of the past in deaths, disaster, and dollars.

It was a penalty we knowingly chose to risk. We made the choice when we defaulted on our task in creating and safeguarding a peace.

It is no longer possible to shield ourselves with arms alone against the ordeal of attack. For modern war visits destruction on the victor and the vanquished alike. Our only complete assurance of surviving World War III is to halt it before it starts.

For that reason we clearly have no choice but to face the challenge of these strained times. To ignore the danger of aggression is simply to invite it. It must never again be said of the American people: Once more we won a war; once more we lost a peace. If we do we shall doom our children to a struggle that may take their lives.

ARMED forces can wage wars but they cannot make peace. For there is a wide chasm between war and peace—a chasm that can only be bridged by good will, discussion, compromise, and agreement. In 1945 while still bleeding from the wounds of aggression, the nations of this world met in San Francisco to build that span from war to peace. For three years—first hopefully, then guardedly, now fearfully—free nations have labored to complete that bridge. Yet again and again they have been obstructed by a nation whose ambitions thrive best on tension, whose leaders are scornful of peace except on their own impossible terms.

The unity with which we started that structure has been riddled by fear and suspicion. In place of agreement we are wrangling dangerously over the body of that very nation whose aggression had caused us to seek each other as allies and friends.

Only three years after our soldiers first clasped hands over the Elbe, this great wartime ally has spurned friendship with recrimination, it has clenched its fists and skulked in conspiracy behind it secretive borders.

As a result today we are neither at peace nor war. Instead we are engaged in this contest of tension, seeking agreement with those who disdain it, rearming, and struggling for peace.

Time can be for or against us.

It can be for us if diligence in our search for agreement equals the vigilance with which we prepare for a storm.

It can be against us if disillusionment weakens our faith in discussion—or if our vigilance corrodes while we wait.

Disillusionment is always the enemy of peace. And today—as after World War I —disillusionment can come from expecting too much, too easily, too soon. In our impatience we must never forget that fundamental differences have divided this world; they allow no swift, no cheap, no easy solutions.

While as a prudent people we must prepare ourselves to encounter what we may be unable to prevent, we nevertheless must never surrender ourselves to the certainty of that encounter.

For if we say there is no good in arguing with what must inevitably come, then we shall be left with no choice but to create a garrison state and empty our wealth into arms. The burden of long-term total preparedness for some indefinite but inevitable war could not help but crush the freedom we prize. It would leave the American people soft victims for bloodless aggression.

BOTH the East and the West today deprecate war. Yet because of its threatening gestures, its espousal of chaos, its secretive tactics, and its habits of force—one nation has caused the rest of the world to fear that it might recklessly resort to force rather that be blocked in its greater ambitions.

The American people have said both in their aid to Greece and in the reconstruction of Europe that any threat to freedom is a threat to our own lives. For we know that unless free peoples stand boldly and united against the forces of aggression, they may fall wretchedly, one by one, into the web of oppression.

It is fear of the brutal unprincipled use of force by reckless nations that might ignore the vast reserves of our defensive strength that has caused the American people to enlarge their air, naval, and ground arms.

Reluctant as we are to muster this costly strength, we must leave no chance for miscalculation in the mind of any aggressor.

Because in the United States it is the people who are sovereign, the Government is theirs to speak their voice and to voice their will, truthfully and without distortion.

We, the American people, can stand cleanly before the entire world and say plainly to any state:

“This Government will not assail you.

“You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressor.”

Since the origin of the American people, their chief trait has been the hatred of war. And yet these American people are ready to take up their arms against aggression and destroy if need be by their might any nation which would violate the peace of the world.

There can be no compromise with aggression anywhere in the world. For aggression multiplies—in rapid succession—disregard for the rights of man. Freedom when threatened anywhere is at once threatened everywhere.

NO MORE convincing an avowal of their peaceful intentions could have been made by the American people than by their offer to submit to United Nations the secret of the atom bomb. Our willingness to surrender this trump advantage that atomic energy might be used for the peaceful welfare of mankind splintered the contentions of those word-warmakers that our atom had been teamed with the dollar for imperialistic gain.

Yet because we asked adequate guarantees and freedom of world-wide inspection by the community of nations itself, our offer was declined and the atom has been recruited into this present contest of nerves. To those people who contend that secrecy and medieval sovereignty are more precious than a system of atomic control, I can only reply that it is a cheap price to pay for peace.

The atom bomb is far more than a military weapon. It may—as Bernard Baruch once said—contain the choice between the quick and the dead. We dare not forget that the advantage in atomic warfare lies with aggression and surprise. If we become engaged in an atom bomb race, we may simply lull ourselves to sleep behind an atomic stockpile. The way to win an atomic war is to make certain it never starts.

WITH the monstrous weapons man already has, humanity is in danger of being trapped in this world by its moral adolescents. Our knowledge of science has clearly outstripped our capacity to control it. We have many men of science; too few men of God. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. Man is stumbling blindly through a spiritual darkness while toying with the precarious secrets of life and death. The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living.

This is our twentieth century’s claim to distinction and to progress.

IN OUR concentration on the tactics of strength and resourcefulness which have been used in the contest for blockaded Berlin, we must not forget that we are also engaged in a long-range conflict of ideas. Democracy can withstand ideological attacks if democracy will provide earnestly and liberally for the welfare of its people. To defend democracy against attack, men must value freedom. And to value freedom they must benefit by it in happier and more secure lives for their wives and their children.

Throughout this period of tension in which we live, the American people must demonstrate conclusively to all other peoples of the world that democracy not only guarantees man’s human freedom but that it guarantees his economic dignity and progress as well. To practice freedom and make it work, we must cherish the individual; we must provide him the opportunities for reward and impress upon him the responsibilities a free man bears to the society in which he lives.”

Wikipedia Page: Omar Bradley

(more…)

Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Monday, January 24, 2022 – Andrew Carnegie

“Aim for the highest.”

And

“All honor’s wounds are self-inflicted.”

And

“And while the law of competition may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department.”

And

“Concentration is my motto – first honesty, then industry, then concentration.”

And

“Do not look for approval except for the consciousness of doing your best.”

And

“Do your duty and a little more and the future will take care of itself.”

And

“He that cannot reason is a fool. He that will not is a bigot. He that dare not is a slave.”

And

“I shall argue that strong men, conversely, know when to compromise and that all principles can be compromised to serve a greater principle.”

And

“Immense power is acquired by assuring yourself in your secret reveries that you were born to control affairs.”

And

“No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit for doing it.”

And

“People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.”

And

“The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50% of their capacity, and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100%.”

And

“The man who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may take possession of anything else to which he is justly entitled.”

And

“The men who have succeeded are men who have chosen one line and stuck to it.”

And

“There is little success where there is little laughter.”

And

“There is no class so pitiably wretched as that which possesses money and nothing else.”

And

“Think of yourself as on the threshold of unparalleled success. A whole, clear, glorious life lies before you. Achieve! Achieve!”

And

“You cannot push anyone up the ladder unless he is willing to climb.”

And

“You must capture and keep the heart of the original and supremely able man before his brain can do its best.”

Wikipedia:  Andrew Carnegie

10 Rules of Success Andrew Carnegie Used To Become Incredibly Rich, Richard Feloni, Business Insider

(more…)

Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Sunday, January 23, 2022 – Don Shula

“The superior man blames himself.  The inferior man blames others.”

And

“One thing I never want to be accused of is not working.”

And

“I don’t know any other way to lead but by example.”

And

“Sure, luck means a lot in football.  Not having a good quarterback is bad luck.”

And

“I think what coaching is all about, is taking players and analyzing there ability, put them in a position where they can excel within the framework of the team winning.  And I hope that I’ve done that in my 33 years as a head coach.”

And

“The ultimate goal is victory.  And if you refuse to work as hard as you possibly can toward that aim, or if you do anything that keeps you from achieving that goal, then you are just cheating yourself.”

And

“You know it’s only 50 miles from Grand River to Canton, but it took me 67 years to travel that distance.”

Wikipedia Page:  Don Shula

(more…)

Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Saturday, January 22, 2022 – Paul Brown

“A winner never whines.”

And

“Football is a game of errors. The team that makes the fewest errors in a game usually wins.”

And

“The key to winning is poise under stress.”

And

“What we have currently available is what we have available.”

And

“When you win, say nothing. When you lose, say less.”

And

“You can learn a line from a win and a book from a defeat.”

Wikipedia:  Paul Brown

(more…)