21 Yogi Berra Quotes That Will Help You Keep Perspective in Life and in Business

One of my favorite bosses told me once that I had a super human-like ability to overstate the obvious. I learned a lot from that guy. And I've learned a lot from Yogi Berra - the player, coach and manager of the NY Yankees who had the uncanny ability to summarize life's complexities and nuances with hilarious one-liners. The genius was that they initially sounded ridiculous, but the more you thought about them, the more insight they held.

Following are my absolute favorite Yogi quotes, and a couple I use somewhat regularly like #14 which is why my wife does most of the driving:

1. Reciprocity

"Always go to other people’s funerals; otherwise they won’t go to yours."

2. Forward progress

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

3. Again and again

"It’s déjà vu all over again."

4. Individual space

"Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded."

5. On observation

"You can observe a lot by watching."

6. Perseverence

"It ain’t over ‘til it’s over."

7. Misquoted

"I really didn't say everything I said."

8. Inflation

"A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore."

9. Cost conscious

"Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel."

10. Miscalculation

"Ninety percent of the time the game is half mental."

11. On the '69 Amazing Mets

"We were overwhelming underdogs."

12. Telling it like it is

"If you ask me a question I don't know, I'm not going to answer."

13. At the Ford White House, with a group of noisy politicians

"It was hard to have a conversation with anyone. There were too many people talking."

14. To his wife, while driving to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972

"We're lost, but we're making good time."

15. Advice to a player trying to crowd the plate like Frank Robinson

"If you can't imitate him, don't copy him."

16. On Yankee Stadium's left field

"It gets late early out there."

17. Advice on dealing with fan mail

"Never answer an anonymous letter."

18. On declining baseball attendance

"If people don't want to come the ballpark, how are you going to stop them?"

19. Where you're headed

"You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there."

20. On a movie starring Steve McQueen

"He must have made that before he died."

21. On Yogi Berra Appreciation Day in St. Louis in 1947

"I want to thank you for making this day necessary."