Things worthwhile generally don’t just happen. Luck is a fact, but should not be a factor. Good luck is what is left over after intelligence and effort have combined at their best. Negligence or indifference are usually reviewed from an unlucky seat. The law of cause and effect and causality both work the same with inexorable exactitudes. Luck is the residue of design.
Interpretation
Success is achieved through deliberate effort and intelligence, rather than relying purely on luck.
This quote by Branch Rickey emphasizes that while luck can play a role in life, true success is a result of intelligence and hard work. It suggests that individuals should focus on their efforts and the strategies they employ, as negligence or apathy can lead to negative outcomes. Ultimately, the quote asserts that luck is merely a byproduct of careful planning and execution rather than a random occurrence.
In practice
In a speech about achieving goals, one might say, 'As Branch Rickey puts it, things worthwhile generally don’t just happen.'
I don't like the subtle infiltration of 'something for nothing' philosophies into the very hearthstone of the American family. I believe that 'Thou shalt earn the bread by the sweat of thy face' was a benediction and not a penalty. Work is the zest of life; there is joy in its pursuit.
There never has been a man in the game who could put mind and muscle together quicker and with better judgment than Robinson.
Cobb lived off the field as though he wished to live forever. He lived on the field as though it was his last day.
Luck is the residue of opportunity and design.
It (a baseball box score) doesn't tell how big you are, what church you attend, what color you are, or how your father voted in the last election. It just tells what kind of baseball player you were on that particular day.
Some day I'm going to have to stand before God, and if He asks me why I didn't let that [Jackie] Robinson fellow play ball, I don't think saying 'because of the color of his skin' would be a good enough answer.
The less you associate with some people, the more your life will improve. Any time you tolerate mediocrity in others, it increases your mediocrity. An important attribute in successful people is their impatience with negative thinking and negative acting people.
For every talent that poverty has stimulated it has blighted a hundred.
Fame is a pearl many dive for and only a few bring up. Even when they do, it is not perfect, and they sigh for more, and lose better things in struggling for them.
I'm no longer dependent on the movie business to make a living. So if I want to make movies as other old guys would play golf, I can.
People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.
If you want to win, do the ordinary things better than anyone else does them day in and day out.
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