Pele

I remember reading a sports article as a kid (circa mid-60s) that argued that the two most recognizable faces in the world belonged to sports figures. One was Muhammad Ali. The other: Pele. (Note: In 1999, the International Olympic Committee named him Athlete of the Century.) Given that soccer mania had yet to infiltrate the US, I wasn’t sure who Pele even was. I became intrigued and wanted to learn everything about him, a more difficult task than it sounds in the pre-ESPN world.

I discovered that Pele is a very wise man. Here’s a quote that grabbed me:

“I’ve come to accept that the life of a frontrunner is a hard one, that he will suffer more injuries than most men and that many of these injuries will not be accidental.”

Here are three others:
– “Enthusiasm is everything. It must be taut and vibrating like a guitar string.”

– “A penalty is a cowardly way to score.”

– “Practice is everything.”

Onward, Malcolm Gauld