Lombardi Vince - The essential Vince Lombardi : words and wisdom to motivate, inspire, and win

The Essential Vince Lombardi

Words and Wisdom to Motivate, Inspire, and Win

Compiled, Introduced, and Annotated by

Vince Lombardi, Jr.

Copyright 2003 by Vince Lombardi, Jr. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-0-07-163058-0

MHID: 0-07-163058-9

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The author and publisher would like to thank the Green Bay Packer Hall of Fame, especially Tom Murphy, for allowing us access to Vince Lombardis papers and Vernon J. Biever for providing the photographs.

The author offers his sincere gratitude to McGraw-Hill publisher Jeffrey Krames not only for his vision but also for displaying his usual brand of can-do Lombardi spirit. I would also like to thank the talented team of Jeff Cruikshank and Chloe Kline for their superb editorial and research assistance. And lastly, I acknowledge McGraw-Hills Peter McCurdy and David DellAccio for helping to turn this book into a reality.

The Essential Vince Lombardi

I love quotes.

Believe it or not, I have no fewer than thirty-one books of quotations on my bookshelf.

As a speaker and writer, Im always finding that quotes come in handy when I am searching for a way to make a point. Sometimes they clarify my thinking on a certain concept. At other times Im thrilled to find that someone has expressed the very idea for which I was trying to find the right words. Here are two quotes that illustrate my point:

I quote others only to better express myself.

Herbert Gardner

The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages are perpetuated by quotes.

Benjamin Disraeli

My father, Vince Lombardi, enjoyed quotes too. I think he would have been pleased to see his own words collected in a book of quotations. I also think he would have been somewhat surprised: What words of inspiration could he offer to the world at large outside of football?

I think this modesty would have been misplaced. It might be stretching a point to call my father eloquent, but I think anyone who knew him would agree that he spoke with urgency, passion, and convictionand, as a result, with power. Today, some thirty years after his death, the power of that conviction still shines through the text of his speeches, letters, and other writings.

My father was an omnivorous reader to whom good ideas tended to stick. When the time came to express himself, he frequently called upon the great store of motivational nuggets he held in his head. Emerson, Byron, and MacArthur are only a few of the minds my father turned to for inspiration.

This wasnt just a pastime or an intellectual pursuit. It was his business. When you have to motivate a large group of young men every day for six months, you have to look for all the help you can get and from any source you can lay your hands on.

If youre already a Vince Lombardi fan, youll probably find some quotes in this book that youll recognize, for example, Winning isnt everything, its the only thing. You will also find out some interesting information about such legendary quotes. For example, my father was not the first to make that controversial assertion, although it will forever be associated with his name!

In fact, wherever helpful, Ive included my own commentaries on my fathers words and ideas. In some cases Ive tried to correct what I take to be a general misconception of what my father was trying to express. In other cases Ive provided background to make a quote more understandable. (Ive included a short biographical essay after this introduction for the same reason.) And in a few cases Ive confessed that Im not exactly sure what my father was trying to say. Powerful does not always translate into clear.

In the following pages you will also find many new thoughts and ideas based on a recent review of my fathers papers at the Green Bay Packer Hall of Fame. Of course, Ive included excerpts from his most carefully worked out speeches. But Ive also included some candid and unstudied remarks, mostly from interviews, that provide insight into his thinking. In addition, Ive included a couple of quotes from other individuals who knew, understood, and respected my father. Finally, Ive included commentaries provided by my sister Susan, who has her own unique perspective on Dads thoughts on life and leadership and was kind enough to review this work.