There isn't a hole out there [Augusta] that can't be birdied if you just think. But there isn't one that can't be double-bogeyed if you stop thinking.
Bobby JonesRead
Many shots are spoiled at the last instant by efforts to add a few more yards.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Striving for perfection can sometimes lead to negative results.
This quote emphasizes the importance of knowing when to stop or let things be, particularly in the pursuit of excellence. In many cases, the desire to improve or add just a little more can result in diminishing returns or even cause failure, highlighting the value of recognizing a good outcome and not jeopardizing it by overextending oneself.
Themes
PerfectionWisdomExcellenceRestraintSuccess
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used during a meeting to remind team members to focus on quality rather than pushing for last-minute changes.
More from Bobby Jones
All quotes βThe real way to enjoy playing golf is to take pleasure not in the score, but in the execution of strokes.
Bobby JonesRead
As I see it, the thing that hurt my putting most when it was bad, was thinking too much about how I was making the stroke and not enough about getting the ball in the hole.
Bobby JonesRead
The 'enemy' in golf is tension.
Bobby JonesRead
Golf is a game that is played on a five-inch course
Bobby JonesRead
He [the golfer] must have the courage to keep trying in the face of ill luck or disappointment, and timidity to appreciate and appraise the dangers of each stroke, and to curb the desire to take chances beyond reasonable hope of success.
Bobby JonesRead
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Don't try to be young. Just open your mind. Stay interested in stuff. There are so many things I won't live long enough to find out about, but I'm still curious about them. You know people who are already saying, 'I'm going to be 30 - oh, what am I going to do?' Well, use that decade! Use them all!
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But because of his telling, many who did not believe have come to believe, and some who did not care have come to care. He tells the story, out of infinite pain, partly to honor the dead, but also to warn the living - to warn the living that it could happen again and that it must never happen again. Better than one heart be broken a thousand times in the retelling, he has decided, if it means that a thousand other hearts need not be broken at all. (vi)
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Genius is simply patience carried to the extreme.
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