Yogisms

When I moved to US from India, I had no idea who Yogi Berra was. Soon, I started noticing that journalists sometimes insert his quotes in their stories on many diverse topics. In India, the term "Yogi" has some specific meanings. With that kind of name, and those uniquely styled quotes made me really curious about him. He seemed like some modern day Confucius!

Wikipedia didn't exist then. (Really!) So I found out about him the old fashioned way - by asking around. Turned out that he was one of the greatest Baseball players, Lawrence Berra, and a celebrated Yankees coach, and the name "Yogi" was given to him jokingly for his sitting style.

He stopped playing even before I was born. Although I enjoy Baseball, and watch the play-offs, specially when SF Giants are playing, I am not a fan enough to learn history, or dig up old videos to see him in action. But I did try to read up about his quotes. Were these intentional? Turns out, these brilliant quotes were just accidental.

I just decided to note my favorites, "Yogisms". Why and why today? Why not? :-)

The following are used so often, that we have stopped noticing the tautology and the paradox. I really find it amazing that we have actually adjusted our minds to use these appropriately.

It ain't over, till it's over.
It's Deja'vu all over again.
Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.

Some can be very thought provoking. It's remarkable that someone can say these without actually meaning to be intellectual.

The future ain't what it used to be.
If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be.

Some are just funny, but still require a bit of attention to notice the humor.

I usually take a two hour nap from one to four.
Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't go to yours.

The real Yogism's to me are the ones that make you go, "What? Come again ...".

When someone asked him what's the time, he replied, "You mean, now?"
It gets late early out here.
90% of the game is half mental.
While giving directions to his home, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."
You can observe a lot by watching.
If the people don't want to come out to the ballpark, nobody's going to stop them.
Never answer an anonymous letter.
We made too many wrong mistakes.
A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore.

Naturally, the question is, how much of this is falsely attributed to him. I don't know. He has published a book called the "The Yogi Book" that explains the stories behind his quote. I haven't read it. May be I should. But he himself answered that question best, by saying,

I didn't really say everything I said.