The Weekday Ramble is a daily dose of sports, music, culture, and more from Rambling On founder Erik Ritland. For more information check us out on Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, or at our website.
Thursday March 5, 2015
Basketball is a fun, underrated sport. It’s also today’s #ThreeQuotes theme. Come for the commentary, stay for Gilbert Arenas’ wisdom.
To be successful you have to be selfish, or else you never achieve. And once you get to your highest level, then you have to be unselfish. Stay reachable. Stay in touch. Don't isolate.
― Michael Jordan
Each sentence of this is important and true. “Selfishness” in this sense means having the courage and intelligence to know that you’re good enough to assert yourself. But you also get to your “highest level,” and stay there, but knowing what you have around you to do the best at whatever it is that you’re doing. “Stay reasonable, stay in touch, don’t isolate” is nice advice and why goths and emos never did anything for me.
If all I'm remembered for is being a good basketball player, then I've done a bad job with the rest of my life.
― Isiah Thomas
Many people would enjoy to have Isiah Thomas’ life. He was a star basketball player and has had success as an owner and coach. He’s been famous and rich. Yet he points out an undervalued truth here: the most important things in life go beyond those comparably trivial things. This is where common people don’t get enough credit. Would you rather have your tombstone say “he enjoyed the finest things in life and was recognized for his skill” or “he was a great father, a great husband, a great man”? Or woman, obvi. Contemporary life has turned so many things upside down. Stand on your head and you’ll see things more clearly.
My swag was phenomenal.
― Gilbert Arenas
Yeah man, that’s awesome. But you ain’t no swag mantle.
Erik Ritland is a writer and musician from St. Paul, Minnesota. His blog and podcast Rambling On features commentary on music, sports, culture, and more. He is also a contributor for Minnesota culture blog Curious North. Support Erik's music via his Patreon account, reach him via email, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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