- “In the foreword to his adaptation of Lao-tzu’s Tao TeChing, Stephen Mitchell compares non-action to athletic performance. “A good athlete can enter a state of body-awareness in which the right stroke or the right movement happens by itself, effortlessly, without any interference of the conscious will,” he writes. “This is the paradigm for non-action: the purest and most effective form of action. The game plays the game; the poem writes the poem; we can’t tell the dancer from the dance.” Or as Lao-tzu proclaims in Mitchell’s work: Less and less do you need to force things, until finally, you arrive at non-action. When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.” Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success. Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty. Page 238
- “Athletes have every quality and skill needed to succeed after their playing day’s end. They have an impeccable work ethic and extraordinary self-discipline, display great courage and judgment under extreme pressure, grasp a complex playbook in a relatively short period of time, and fully understand the importance of teamwork. They also benefit from the fact that many of the most passionate fans in sports are successful businessmen who enjoy being in their company. These middle-aged men, as crazy as it may seem, pay $1,000 for an autograph scribbled on a piece of cardboard. Tapping into that group, the players can establish invaluable contacts lasting decades.” (Steinberg, Leigh; Arkush, Michael)–page 88
- “Athletes can help reverse the scourge of bullying on middle school and high school campuses. They are on top of the status chain, set the trends, and too often are the perpetrators of the harassment. They can be models for tolerance.” (Steinberg, Leigh; Arkush, Michael)–page 284