Yogi Berra watches spring training baseball action in Sarasota, Fla., in 2008.Gene J. Puskar/The Associated Press
Yogi Berra was as eloquent as he was naturally athletic. So much so that, since the Hall of Fame baseball player's death on Tuesday at 90, the media have spent more time remembering the things he said than they have the impossible number of World Series he won (10 as a player, three more as manager and coach).
Mr. Berra pretended to be a big-eared rube from the poor part of St. Louis, Missouri, but he was savvy and wise and saw the world clearly. His most famous quotes can seem painfully obvious at first, or sometimes self-contradictory, but they contain a "deep depth," to use his words.
For instance: "You can observe a lot just by watching." Hilarious, right? But think about it: We absorb torrents of information in our busy lives without taking the time to process it all. Images, events and ideas come at us quickly, impressions form in our subconscious minds, and afterward those first impressions are hard to shake. Whatever else he meant by it, Mr. Berra's magical construction reminds us to shut up a minute and look passively at the world, without the noise of prejudice and fear.
Or this: "Slump? I ain't in no slump… I just ain't hitting." No one likes to be pigeonholed by charged labels that are shortcuts around life's complexities. There's always an argument to be made in your favour, if you can find a listener who knows how to observe watchfully. (Important side note: The listener could be you.)
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it." Mr. Berra was giving directions to a friend when he said that, but coming from his mouth it sounds like Robert Frost's poetic injunction to take the road less travelled by. Above all, choose a path and go.
"I usually take a two-hour nap from one to four." Time is meaningless. A two-hour nap feels like two minutes to the napper and like forever to any impatient person who needs a certain someone to get up off the couch.
"So I'm ugly. I never saw anyone hit with his face." Physical beauty is also meaningless. Mr. Berra hit 358 home runs in 18 seasons, and the fans adored him. His beauty came from his skill, his heart and from the brain lodged between those giant ears. He knew he had it good by simply being himself, because:
"If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be."