“Consistent motivation usually comes from a consuming desire to be able to perform at your best under pressure, namely, the pressure produced by tough competition.”

In evaluating people, I prize ego. It often translates into a fierce desire to do their best and an inner confidence that stands them in good stead when things really get rough.

Each of us needs to look at our own behavior. Am I perpetuating and reinforcing the negative messages so pervasive in our culture, or am I seeking to challenge them?

The [best] coaches… know that the job is to win… know that they must be decisive, that they must phase people through their organizations, and at the same time they are sensitive to the feelings, loyalties, and emotions that people have toward one another.

I caution against beginning or ending a quotation with ellipses

Good talent with bad attitude equals bad talent.

Your attitude will unlock the mystery of success you seek!

I’m not one of those “omg texting kids rite bad” alarmists. I just think there’s an interesting nexus where the Internet itself hastened language change when it comes to Internet terms.

The proper use of commas is often more art than science.

Afford each person the same respect, support, and fair treatment you would expect if your roles were reversed. Deal with people individually, not as objects who are part of a herd-that’s the critical factor.

By instinct we-leaders-want to run hard all the time; by intellect we know this is not possible. Reconciling those two positions in the context of leadership is an ongoing challenge.

A harsh reality of newspaper editing is that the deadlines don’t allow for the polish that you expect in books or even magazines

Everybody’s got an opinion. Leaders are paid to make a decision. The difference between offering an opinion and making a decision is the difference between working for the leader and being the leader.

Consistent effort is a consistent challenge.

On occasion I omit commas. On occasion, I use them. (The more you know about English, the less you’re likely to think there are unbreakable “rules” for a lot of these things.)

Strength of will – is essential to your survival and success. The competitor who won’t go away, who won’t stay down, has one of the most formidable competitive advantages of all.

For me the starting point for everything – before strategy, tactics, theories, managing, organizing, philosophy, methodology, talent, or experience – is work ethic. Without one of significant magnitude, you’re dead in the water.

The people of America care about baseball, not about your squalid little squabbles. Reassume your dignity and remember that you (players during the 1981 strike) are the temporary custodians of an enduring public trust.

Sometimes miracles occur only when you jump in.

The buying of more books than one can read is nothing less than the soul reaching toward infinity.

Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose, But young men think it is, and we were young.

Find a need and fill it. Successful businesses are founded on the needs of people.

It is a maxim universally agreed upon in agriculture, that nothing must be done too late; and again, that everything must be done at its proper season; while there is a third precept which reminds us that opportunities lost can never be regained.

Life is the application of noble and profound ideas to life.

How many things… are looked upon as quite impossible until they have been actually effected?