The Tao of Yogi: A compilation of Berra’s wisdom

New York Yankees great Yogi Berra died Tuesday at age 90. Since retiring from baseball as a player in 1965, Berra has been known as much for his witty sayings, affectionately known as Yogiisms.

Reporter Phil Pepe, who covered the Yankees during Berra’s career, perhaps summed up Berra’s wisdom best: “He has a native intelligence, an innate wisdom, and a wonderful way of cutting through all the folderol and getting to the heart of a matter,” Pepe wrote. “When he says something that seems funny, it really isn’t funny at all; it is wise.”

Berra himself always seemed to be a reluctant philosopher, and he told a reporter whence his witticisms came: “You see, I break up the English a little bit. I don’t mean to do it, but it just comes out that way.”

Here’s a collection of some of our favorite quotes that are attributed to Berra:

In giving directions to a former teammate who was coming to visit him at his home in Montclair, New Jersey, Berra accidentally injected a profundity that even made it into one of George W. Bush’s State of the Union addresses:

“When you come to a fork in the road: take it” ~ Yogi Berra Berra is the only man to manage both Yankees and Mets to the World Series.