COACHES HOT SEAT BLOG

Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Sunday, May 26, 2013 – Ronald Reagan

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

And

“One legislator accused me of having a nineteenth-century attitude on law and order. That is a totally false charge. I have an eighteenth-century attitude. That is when the Founding Fathers made it clear that the safety of law-abiding citizens should be one of the government’s primary concerns.”

And

“I’m convinced that today the majority of Americans want what those first Americans wanted: A better life for themselves and their children; a minimum of government authority. Very simply, they want to be left alone in peace and safety to take care of the family by earning an honest dollar and putting away some savings. This may not sound too exciting, but there is something magnificent about it. On the farm, on the street corner, in the factory and in the kitchen, millions of us ask nothing more, but certainly nothing less than to live our own lives according to our values — at peace with ourselves, our neighbors and the world.”

And

“Let it show on the record that when the American people cried out for economic help, Jimmy Carter took refuge behind a dictionary. Well, if it’s a definition he wants, I’ll give him one. A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.”

And

“Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.”

And

“A troubled and afflicted mankind looks to us, pleading for us to keep our rendezvous with destiny; that we will uphold the principles of self-reliance, self-discipline, morality, and, above all, responsible liberty for every individual that we will become that shining city on a hill.”

And

“Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.”

And

“If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth. And this idea that government is beholden to the people, that it has no other source of power except to sovereign people, is still the newest and most unique idea in all the long history of man’s relation to man. This is the issue of this election. Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.”

And

“The defense policy of the United States is based on a simple premise: The United States does not start fights. We will never be an aggressor. We maintain our strength in order to deter and defend against aggression — to preserve freedom and peace.”

And

“Some people work an entire lifetime and wonder if they ever made a difference to the world. But the Marines don’t have that problem.”

And

“History teaches that wars begin when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap.”

And

“We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we may always be free.”

And

“I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”

And

“It is time for us to realize that we’re too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams. We’re not, as some would have us believe, doomed to an inevitable decline. I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing. So, with all the creative energy at our command, let us begin an era of national renewal. Let us renew our determination, our courage, and our strength. And let us renew our faith and our hope. We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we’re in a time when there are no heroes, they just don’t know where to look.”

And

“In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. From time to time we’ve been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden.”

And

“Directly in front of me, the monument to a monumental man, George Washington, father of our country. A man of humility who came to greatness reluctantly. He led Americans out of revolutionary victory into infant nationhood. Off to one side, the stately memorial to Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration of Independence flames with his eloquence. And then, beyond the Reflecting Pool, the dignified columns of the Lincoln Memorial. Whoever would understand in his heart the meaning of America will find it in the life of Abraham Lincoln. Beyond those monuments to heroism is the Potomac River, and on the far shore the sloping hills of Arlington National Cemetery, with its row upon row of simple white markers bearing crosses of Stars of David. They add up to only a tiny fraction of the price that has been paid for our freedom. Each one of those markers is a monument to the kind of hero I spoke of earlier. Their lives ended in places called Belleau Wood, the Argonne, Omaha Beach, Salerno, and halfway around the world on Gadalcanal, Tarawa, Pork Chop Hill, the Chosin Reservoir, and in a hundred rice paddies and jungles of a place called Vietnam.”

And

“You and I, as individuals, can, by borrowing, live beyond our means, but for only a limited period of time. Why, then, should we think that collectively, as a nation, we’re not bound by that same limitation? We must act today in order to preserve tomorrow.”

And

“The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted, it belongs to the brave.”

And

“How do you tell a Communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.”

And

“Freedom is the right to question and change the established way of doing things. It is the continuous revolution of the marketplace. It is the understanding that allows to recognize shortcomings and seek solutions.”

And

“The ten most dangerous words in the English language are “Hi, I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”

And

“”We the people” tell the government what to do, it doesn’t tell us. “We the people” are the driver, the government is the car. And we decide where it should go, and by what route, and how fast. Almost all the world’s constitutions are documents in which governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which “We the people” tell the government what it is allowed to do. “We the people” are free.”

And

“I’ve spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don’t know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That’s how I saw it and see it still.”

And

“I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always eventually triumph. And there’s purpose and worth to each and every life.”

And

“Well I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — America’s best days are yet to come. Our proudest moments are yet to be. Our most glorious achievements are just ahead.”

And

“General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

And

“There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.”

And

“While I take inspiration from the past, like most Americans, I live for the future.”

And

“Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don’t interfere as long as the policy you’ve decided upon is being carried out.”

And

“Don’t be afraid to see what you see.”

And

“Each generation goes further than the generation preceding it because it stands on the shoulders of that generation. You will have opportunities beyond anything we’ve ever known.”

And

“Heroes may not be braver than anyone else. They’re just braver five minutes longer.”

And

“I’ve often said there’s nothing better for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse.”

And

“Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music.”

And

“My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose – somehow we win out.”

Wikipedia:  Ronald Reagan

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Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Saturday, May 25, 2013 – Dwight D. Eisenhower

“A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.”

And

“Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives acclaim earned in the blood of his followers and the sacrifices of his friends.”

And

“I would rather try to persuade a man to go along, because once I have persuaded him, he will stick. If I scare him, he will stay just as long as he is scared, and then he is gone.”

And

“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

And

“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”

And

“The older I get the more wisdom I find in the ancient rule of taking first things first. A process which often reduces the most complex human problem to a manageable proportion.”

And

“The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.”

And

“What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight – it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

And

“When you are in any contest, you should work as if there were – to the very last minute – a chance to lose it. This is battle, this is politics, this is anything.”

And

“You don’t lead by hitting people over the head – that’s assault, not leadership.”

And

“An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows.”

And

“Don’t join the book burners. Do not think you are going to conceal thoughts by concealing evidence that they ever existed.”

And

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”

And

“Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you’re a thousand miles from the corn field.”

And

“Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels – men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, may we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.”

And

“History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.”

And

“How far you can go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without?”

And

“I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.”

And

“I have one yardstick by which I test every major problem – and that yardstick is: Is it good for America?”

And

“I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it.”

And

“If a problem cannot be solved, enlarge it.”

And

“If you want total security, go to prison. There you’re fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking… is freedom.”

And

“May we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.”

And

“Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.”

And

“Only strength can cooperate. Weakness can only beg.”

And

“Our real problem, then, is not our strength today; it is rather the vital necessity of action today to ensure our strength tomorrow.”

And

“Plans are nothing; planning is everything.”

And

“The history of free men is never really written by chance but by choice; their choice!”

And

“The spirit of man is more important than mere physical strength, and the spiritual fiber of a nation than its wealth.”

And

“There is nothing wrong with America that faith, love of freedom, intelligence, and energy of her citizens cannot cure.”

And

“We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security.”

And

“When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war.”

And

“Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!

You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened. He will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory!

I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in battle.

We will accept nothing less than full Victory! Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.”

Order of the Day (2 June 1944) Message to troops before the Normandy landings

And

“We must be ready to dare all for our country. For history does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. We must acquire proficiency in defense and display stamina in purpose. We must be willing, individually and as a Nation, to accept whatever sacrifices may be required of us. A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both. These basic precepts are not lofty abstractions, far removed from matters of daily living. They are laws of spiritual strength that generate and define our material strength. Patriotism means equipped forces and a prepared citizenry. Moral stamina means more energy and more productivity, on the farm and in the factory. Love of liberty means the guarding of every resource that makes freedom possible–from the sanctity of our families and the wealth of our soil to the genius of our scientists.”

First Inaugural address (20 January 1953)

And

“As we peer into society’s future, we — you and I, and our government — must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for our own ease and convenience the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.”

And

“In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless but planning is indispensable.”

And

“Character in many ways is everything in leadership. It is made up of many things, but I would say character is really integrity. When you delegate something to a subordinate, for example, it is absolutely your responsibility, and he must understand this. You as a leader must take complete responsibility for what the subordinate does. I once said, as a sort of wisecrack, that leadership consists of nothing but taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong and giving your subordinates credit for everything that goes well.”

Wikipedia:  Dwight Eisenhower

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Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Friday, May 24, 2013 – Chester William Nimitz

“I do believe we are going to have a major war, with Japan and Germany, and that the war is going to start by a very serious surprise attack and defeat of U.S. armed forces, and that there is going to be a major revulsion on the part of the political power in Washington against all those in command at sea, and they are going to be thrown out, though it won’t be their fault necessarily. And I wish to be in a position of sufficient prominence so that I will then be considered as one to be sent to sea, because that appears to be the route.”  On his expectations of war, and that he would someday become the Chief of Naval Operations, in a conversation during the mid 1930s with his son, Chester W. Nimitz, Jr.

And

“A ship is always referred to as “she” because it costs so much to keep her in paint and powder.”

And

“Through the skill and devotion to duty of their armed forces of all branches in the Midway area our citizens can now rejoice that a momentous victory is in the making.”
After the Battle of Midway, CINCPAC Communiqué No. 3, June 6, 1942

And

“Is the proposed operation likely to succeed?
What might be the consequences of failure?
Is it in the realm of practicability in terms of material and supplies?”
“Three favorite rules of thumb” Nimitz had printed on a card he kept on his desk

And

“They fought together as brothers in arms; they died together and now they sleep side by side…To them, we have a solemn obligation — the obligation to ensure that their sacrifice will help make this a better and safer world in which to live.”  Of those who died in the war in the Pacific, after ceremonies in Tokyo Bay accepting the official surrender of Japan, September 2, 1945

And

“The U.S.’s major strength factor and weapon is its economy. If you cripple it, you cripple the military.”  As quoted in “According to Plan” in TIME magazine, March 13, 1950

And

“That is not to say that we can relax our readiness to defend ourselves. Our armament must be adequate to the needs, but our faith is not primarily in these machines of defense but in ourselves.”  Speech at the University of California, Berkeley, March 22, 1950

And

“God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.”

And

“Sir Walter Raleigh declared in the early 17th century that “whoever commands the sea, commands the trade; whosoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself.” This principle is as true today as when uttered, and its effect will continue as long as ships traverse the seas.”  Employment of Naval Forces, 1948

And

“The final objective in war is the destruction of the enemy’s capacity and will to fight, and thereby force him to accept the imposition of the victor’s will.”

And

“The qualities of the Nimitz character were apparent in his face, in his career, and in his heritage; combined these factors made him precisely the man he was and placed him in this particular situation at this moment in history. … He was not a cold man, or a bad tempered man — quite the contrary — to the world he presented a figure of almost total complacency; he seldom lost his temper or raised his voice. … It could be said that King was a driver who knew how to lead; it could also be said that Nimitz was a leader who conquered any personal urge to drive, and achieved his ends more by persuasion and inspiration to men under his command.”  Edwin Palmer Hoyt in How They Won the War in the Pacific : Nimitz and His Admirals (2000), p. 28 – 29

And

“On April 13, 1943, Allied radio intelligence intercepted a message carrying the travel itinerary of Admiral Yamamoto. The detail in the message listed flight and ground schedules and included what type of fighter escort would be provided. Major Red Lasswell of FRUPAC broke the coded message. The decision of what to do with the information was left to Admiral Nimitz. Nimitz consulted Layton as to what the ramifications would be if Yamamoto were removed. They considered that he might be replaced with a better commander, and Nimitz felt familiar with Yamamoto as his opponent. Layton felt nobody could adequately replace Yamamoto, and based on this opinion Nimitz gave Admiral Halsey the authority to carry out the intercept of Yamamoto’s aircraft. On 18 April, a flight of P-38 fighters with specially selected pilots and equipped with long-range fuel tanks shot down Yamamoto’s aircraft, killing one of Japan’s top naval leaders.”  Ricky J. Nussio, in Sherman and Nimitz: Executing Modern Information Operations (2001)

And

“He surrounded himself with the ablest men he could find and sought their advice, but he made his own decisions. He was a keen strategist who never forgot that he was dealing with human beings, on both sides of the conflict. He was aggressive in war without hate, audacious while never failing to weigh the risks.”  E. B. Potter, Naval historian at the US Naval Academy, quoted on the cover jacket of his book Nimitz (1976)

And

“Of the Marines on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue.”

And

“He brought to his new job a number of advantages, including experience, a detailed knowledge of his brother officers, and a sense of inner balance and calm that steadied those around him. He had the ability to pick able subordinates and the courage to let them do their jobs without interference. He molded such disparate personalities as the quiet, introspective Raymond A. Spruance and the ebullient, aggressive William F. Halsey, Jr. into an effective team.”  Robert William Love, on the rise of Nimitz to CINCPAC in The Chiefs of Naval Operations

Wikipedia:  Chester William Nimitz

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Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Thursday, May 23, 2013 – Frank Leahy

“Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity.”

And

“Give me a lead of 14-0 at halftime and I will dictate the final score.”

And

“There are no shortcuts in life – only those we imagine.”

And

“When the going gets tough, let the tough get going.”

And

“A school without football is in danger of deteriorating into a medieval study hall.”

And

“Lads, you’re not to miss practice unless your parents died or you died.”

Wikipedia:  Frank Leahy

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Coaches Hot Seat Quotes of the Day – Wednesday, May 22, 2013 – Eddie Robinson

“Coaching is a profession of love. You can’t coach people unless you love them.”

And

“My players can wear their hair as long as they want and dress any way they want. That is, if they can afford to pay their own tuition, meals and board.”

And

“People talk about the record I’ve compiled at Grambling, but the real record is the fact that for over 50 years I’ve had one job and one wife. I don’t believe anybody can out-American me.”

And

“I’ve learned more about what the players meant to me and what they meant to the game. I never won a game – they did. You learn from every player because they’re not the same.”

And

“Everything I’ve done, I think I dreamed of it first.”

And

“The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.”

And

“Coach each boy as if he were your own son”

And

“Leadership, like coaching, is fighting for the hearts and souls of men and getting them to believe in you”

And

“They call me the greatest. I know that the greatest football coach who ever stepped on the field is Coach Eddie Robinson. I have admired what he has done in turning boys into men. He is a credit to his sport as well as a credit to humanity.”  Muhammad Ali

And

“First time I met Eddie was around 1968 up at Uniontown, Pa. I was an assistant coach at West Virginia, and he was the head coach at Grambling and very successful. He came up there and spoke at a banquet. I heard him speak, and he’s the kind of guy that you get close to immediately. … He was a people’s person. You can’t help but like him … I doubt if there is a coach in the United States that people have more respect for — and loved — than for Eddie Robinson.”  Bobby Bowden

Eddie G. Robinson Museum

Wikipedia: Eddie Robinson

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