Yogi Berra Quotes: 14 Great “Yogi-isms” for You to Ponder

Yogi Berra was an American professional baseball player, who later in his career assumed the roles of manager and coach. Amazingly, Berra was known as much for his witty quotes as he was for his prowess on the baseball field.  And if we can get past the humorous aspects of his quotes, we can learn some valuable life lessons from them.

The great thing with Yogi was that he was so real and always seemed so comfortable in his own skin. This allowed him to always say whatever was on his mind.

For example, a Sports Illustrated story on Berra which ran on April 2, 1984, described the time that Berra met the Pope:

Whereas yoga springs from Hinduism, Berra is a Roman Catholic who tries to attend Mass every Sunday and who once visited the Pope. Yogi told of his meeting with Pope John XXIII in a now-famous interview:

 Reporter: “I understand you had an audience with the Pope.”

 Yogi: “No, but I saw him.”

 Reporter: “Did you get to talk to him?”

 Yogi: “I sure did. We had a nice little chat.”

 Reporter: “What did he say?”

 Yogi: “You know, he must read the papers a lot, because he said, ‘Hello, Yogi.’ “

 Reporter: “And what did you say?”

 Yogi: “I said, ‘Hello, Pope.’ “

That is just classic Yogi!

14 of My Favorite Yogi Berra Quotes

What’s funny is that there are so many Yogi-isms that it has been difficult for historians to establish which of them were indeed said by Berra and which weren’t.

While he was alive, even Yogi wasn’t the best authority to confirm what he actually said, saying in true Yogi fashion: “I could’ve probably said that.”

So, on that note, let’s try to decipher some of my favorite Yogi Berra quotes, also known as “Yogi-isms”, and discuss how we can make them actionable in our own lives.

(1)  “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.”

What I think Yogi was getting at here was the importance of having a plan rather than flying by the seat of your pants.

Make it actionable:  Plan the work, then work the plan. Along the way, make sure to take time every day to pause, think and reflect to ensure you are headed in the right direction.

(2)  “You can observe a lot just by watching.”

I believe what Yogi meant to say here is that you can learn a lot just by watching.

Make it actionable:  Pay attention to what other’s are doing and learn from other’s mistakes.

(3)  “90% of the game is half mental.”

Yogi was speaking in terms of baseball with respect to much of it being in a player’s head. However, the same can be said for many situations in life in that many times we beat ourselves by getting stuck in our own head by overthinking things or letting negative thoughts mess us up.

Make it actionable:  One way to overcome negative thoughts is to talk better to ourselves using positive self-talk.

(4)  “If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be.”

In other words, part of the beauty of the world or of life, in general, is its inherent imperfections.

Make it actionable:  Don’t be so quick to change things or people but rather accept things and people for what they are, warts and all. This could also be good advice for someone who is trying to change a person they are dating; accept him or her, or cut them loose.

(5)  “We’re lost, but we’re making good time.”

My interpretation of this one is that even though we may be lost, we are still having a good time.

Make it actionable:  Make the best of situations, it’s not always what happens to you but rather how you perceive it and how you react to it.

(6)  “No matter where you go, there you are,”

The one constant in all of our lives is us.  People come and go, but only we have experienced 100% of our lives.

Make it actionable:  Be good with spending time alone and be kind to yourself!

(7)  “I tell the kids, somebody’s gotta win, somebody’s gotta lose. Just don’t fight about it. Just try to get better.”

The scoreboard isn’t the most important thing in life, the lessons and opportunities for improvement are more important in the long run.

Make it actionable:  Don’t focus on the end result, focus on the steps along the way and focus on improving every day. Life is a process that can be improved.

(8)  “Losing is a learning experience. It teaches you humility. It teaches you to work harder. It’s also a powerful motivator.”

I think we can also substitute failure for losing in Berra’s quote as it may be more applicable to real-life situations. We don’t learn from our successes in life, we learn from our failures.

Make it actionable:  Treat your failures as lessons learned and opportunities for improvement.

(9)  “If you ask me a question I don’t know, I’m not going to answer.”

In other words, he wouldn’t opine on things he didn’t know anything about.

Make it actionable:  It’s better for us to not chime in about stuff that we know nothing about. Like the famous Mark Twain quote said: “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”

(10)  “Little things are big.”

With this quote, I believe Berra was discussing the importance of paying attention to the details.

Make it actionable:  While focusing on the big picture is certainly important, don’t forget to be mindful of the details in life!

(11)  “How can you think and hit at the same time?”

Again, this is a reference to baseball in that sometimes you can overthink things too much. Sometimes, you just need to just take the bat off your shoulder and swing away.

Make it actionable:  While it’s important to make thoughtful decisions, overanalyzing things can lead to analysis paralysis and nothing getting anything done.

(12) “So, I’m ugly. So what? I never saw anyone hit with his face.”

Oftentimes we focus on what is irrelevant or unimportant to a certain situation or task.

Make it actionable:  Focus on what is essential and critical and don’t get distracted by “attractive distractors.”

(13)  “Slump? I ain’t in no slump… I just ain’t hitting.”

It is all about how you perceive things and look at things.

Make it actionable:  Try to look on the bright side of things.  As dedicated PYP reader Dave S. said recently, “Be an optimist, and many times you will win. Be a pessimist and you are almost certain to lose.” I could not have said it better myself, thanks, Dave!

One of Yogi Berra’s Most Famous Quotes Is…

“It ain’t over till it’s over.” – meaning that you should never lose faith and never give up.

I agree with Yogi 100%!!!

However, with respect to this blog post on Yogi Berra quotes, I am afraid IT IS over!

Until next time, keep learning from those Yogi Berra quotes, and as always, PYMFP!
–Rick

What Do You Think?

What do you think of these Yogi Berra quotes? Are there any other Yogi Berra quotes that you are fond of? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

P.S. Oh yeah, if you are looking for me, I am going to make actionable another one of my favorite Yogi Berra quotes as I am going to take a two-hour nap from 1 to 4!

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References

https://www.si.com/mlb/2014/09/16/yogi-berra-si-60-rou-blount-jr