|
"Be quick, but don't hurry."
A week ago, movie icon Dennis Hopper passed away.
Three days ago, another icon, The Wizard of Westwood, former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden died.
In the early 1960s my dad took me to see a New York Knicks basketball game at Madison Square Garden. As was the custom, there was a high school game before the NBA game. In that game was a ninth-grader named Lew Alcindor. I remember my dad telling me that he would become the greatest basketball player in history.
I followed Alcindor's high school career, and when he entered UCLA in 1966, I immediately became a UCLA basketball fan ... and, in a matter of months, a John Wooden fan.
With the exception of one year, the UCLA basketball team won the NCAA basketball championship from 1964 through 1973.
I have long written on The Edge that reading about the experiences and words of advice of some of the most accomplished investment wizards can provide an investing perspective and can improve our investment returns, but, as can be seen by some of Coach Wooden's following inspirational quotes, we can also learn from those outside the realm of the markets, even from a basketball coach:
"A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.""Ability is a poor man's wealth."
"Adversity is the state in which man mostly easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then."
"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are."
"Be prepared and be honest."
"Consider the rights of others before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights."
"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."
"Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability."
"Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be."
"I'd rather have a lot of talent and a little experience than a lot of experience and a little talent."
"If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over? "
"If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes."
"It isn't what you do, but how you do it."
"It's not so important who starts the game but who finishes it."
"It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen."
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts."
"Material possessions, winning scores, and great reputations are meaningless in the eyes of the Lord, because He knows what we really are, and that is all that matters."
"Never mistake activity for achievement."
"Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."
"Success is never final; failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts."
"Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming."
"Talent is God-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful."
"The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team."
"The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones."
"There are many things that are essential to arriving at true peace of mind, and one of the most important is faith, which cannot be acquired without prayer."
"Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out."
"What you are as a person is far more important that what you are as a basketball player."
"Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character."
"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one."
"You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you."
Be quick, but don't hurry. Words to live by on the basketball court, in the markets and in life.
Copyright © 2010 ::: Seabreeze Partners :::: All Rights Reserved. Legal Disclaimer
