Yogi Berra

Yogi Berra
Ninety per cent of the game is half mental.

Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra (born 12 May 1925) is a former American baseball player, manager and member of Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame.

Quotes [edit]

The origin and date of first occurrence for most Yogiisms is unknown. These quotes from his writings are listed here alphabetically.

Always go to other people's funerals; otherwise they won't go to yours.
- When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It!: Inspiration and Wisdom from One of Baseball's Greatest Heroes, Hyperion, 2002, ISBN 0786867752, p. 163

The future ain't what it used to be.
- When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It!: Inspiration and Wisdom from One of Baseball's Greatest Heroes, Hyperion, 2002, ISBN 0786867752, p. 159

I knew the record would stand until it was broken.
- The Yogi book: I really didn't say everything I said!, Workman Publishing, 1997, ISBN 0761110909, p. 91

"I looked like this when I was young, and I still do."
- What Time Is It? You Mean Now?: Advice for Life from the Zennest Master of Them All, Simon and Schuster, 2003, ISBN 0743237684

I really didn't say everything I said. [...] Then again, I might have said 'em, but you never know.
- The Yogi book: I really didn't say everything I said!, Workman Publishing, 1997, ISBN 0761110909, p. 9

If people don't want to come to the ballpark how are you going to stop them?
- The Yogi book: I really didn't say everything I said!, Workman Publishing, 1997, ISBN 0761110909, p. 36

If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be.
- When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It!: Inspiration and Wisdom from One of Baseball's Greatest Heroes, Hyperion, 2002, ISBN 0786867752, p. 154
If you ask me a question I don't know, I'm not going to answer.
- What Time Is It? You Mean Now?: Advice for Life from the Zennest Master of Them All, Simon and Schuster, 2003, ISBN 0743244532, p. 101

If you can't imitate him, don't copy him.
- What Time Is It? You Mean Now?: Advice for Life from the Zennest Master of Them All, Simon and Schuster, 2003, ISBN 0743244532, p. 15

If you don't know where you're going, you might not get there.
- When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It!: Inspiration and Wisdom from One of Baseball's Greatest Heroes, Hyperion, 2002, ISBN 0786867752, p. 53
- Variant: You've got to be careful if you don't know where you're going because you might not get there.
  - What Time Is It? You Mean Now?: Advice for Life from the Zennest Master of Them All, Simon and Schuster, 2003, ISBN 0743244532, p. 39
- Variant: If you don't know where you're going, you'll wind up somewhere else.^{[citation needed]}

It gets late early out there.
- What Time Is It? You Mean Now?: Advice for Life from the Zennest Master of Them All, Simon and Schuster, 2003, ISBN 0743244532, p. 27
- Variant: It gets late awfully early around here.^{[citation needed]}
- Referring to the adverse sun conditions in left field at Yankee Stadium.

It's déjà vu all over again.
- What Time Is It? You Mean Now?: Advice for Life from the Zennest Master of Them All, Simon and Schuster, 2003, ISBN 0743244532, p. 137

Little things are big.
- What Time Is It? You Mean Now?: Advice for Life from the Zennest Master of Them All, Simon and Schuster, 2003, ISBN 0743244532, p. 69

Ninety percent of this game is half-mental.
- What Time Is It? You Mean Now?: Advice for Life from the Zennest Master of Them All, Simon and Schuster, 2003, ISBN 0743244532, p. 45. This version is also attributed to Philadelphia Philles manager Danny Ozark.
- Variant: Ninety percent of this game is mental, and the other half is physical.^{[citation needed]}

Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.
- The Yogi Book. New York: Workman Publishing. 1997. ISBN 0-7611-1090-9, p. 16
- Variant: It's so crowded, nobody goes there.
  - What Time Is It? You Mean Now?: Advice for Life from the Zennest Master of Them All, Simon and Schuster, 2003, ISBN 0743244532, p. 81

Pair up in threes.
- What Time Is It? You Mean Now?: Advice for Life from the Zennest Master of Them All, Simon and Schuster, 2003, ISBN 0743244532, p. 123

Thank you for making this day necessary.
- The Yogi book: I really didn't say everything I said!, Workman Publishing, 1997, ISBN 0761110909, p. 10.
- Said on Yogi Berra day in 1947 in St. Louis. By his account, he asked a teammate to write a speech, and he misspoke, saying "necessary" instead of "possible."

We made too many wrong mistakes.
- What Time Is It? You Mean Now?: Advice for Life from the Zennest Master of Them All, Simon and Schuster, 2003, ISBN 0743244532, p. 75
- On why the Yankees lost the 1960 series to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
- When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It!: Inspiration and Wisdom from One of Baseball's Greatest Heroes, Hyperion, 2002, ISBN 0786867752, p. 1
- Also in What Time Is It? You Mean Now?: Advice for Life from the Zennest Master of Them All, Simon and Schuster, 2003, ISBN 0743244532, p. 33
- Berra says this is part of driving directions to his house in Montclair, New Jersey. There is a fork in the road, and whichever way you take, you will get to his house.

Never answer an anonymous letter.
- As quoted in He Who Laughs, Lasts (2004) by Anson R. Nash, Jr., p. 108

You can observe a lot by watching.
- You Can Observe a Lot by Watching: What I've Learned About Teamwork From the Yankees and Life, John Wiley & Sons, 2008, ISBN 9780470079928

[What time is it?] You mean now?
- What Time Is It? You Mean Now?: Advice for Life from the Zennest Master of Them All, Simon and Schuster, 2003, ISBN 0743244532
- He was on a passenger jet at the time, so he was not sure in which time zone he was.

Fans have labeled Yogi Berra "Mr. Malaprop," but I don't think that's accurate. He doesn't use the wrong words. He just puts words together in ways nobody else would ever do.
- Joe Garagiola, foreword to The Yogi book: I really didn't say everything I said!, Workman Publishing, 1997, ISBN 0761110909

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Yogi Berra