Quotes from Phil Jackson

Wisdom is always an overmatch for strength.

If you meet the Buddha in the lane, feed him the ball.

The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.

Always keep an open mind and a compassionate heart.

Approach the game with no preset agendas and you'll probably come away surprised at your overall efforts.

The bigger your head, the easier to fill your shoes.

When the mind is allowed to relax, inspiration often follows.

Fall down seven times. Stand up eight. JAPANESE PROVERB

Think lightly of yourself and think deeply of the world. MIYAMOTO MUSASHI

There's a Zen saying I often cite that goes, "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water." The point: Stay focused on the task at hand rather than dwelling on the past or worrying about the future.

But trying to eliminate anger never works. The more you try to suppress it, the more likely it is to erupt later in a more virulent form. A better approach is to become as intimate as possible with how anger works on your mind and body so that you can transform its underlying energy into something productive.

That's why at the start of every season I always encouraged players to focus on the journey rather than the goal. What matters most is playing the game the right way and having the courage to grow, as human beings as well as basketball players. When you do that, the ring takes care of itself.

If you live in the river you should make friends with the crocodile. INDIAN PROVERB (PUNJABI)

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few.

As a leader your job is to do everything in your power to create the perfect conditions for success by benching your ego and inspiring your team to play the game the right way. But at some point, you need to let go and turn yourself over to the basketball gods. The soul of success is surrendering to what is.

The unconscious mind is a terrific solver of complex problems when the conscious mind is busy elsewhere or, perhaps better yet, not overtaxed at all.

The way you do anything is the way you do everything. TOM WAITS

Bill Russell, the Boston Celtics great who won more championship rings as a player than anyone else (eleven), revealed in his memoir, Second Wind, that he sometimes secretly rooted for the opposing team during big games because if they were doing well, it meant he would have a more heightened experience.

Edwin Markham's "Outwitted": He drew the circle that shut me out— Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in!

It's more fun to be a pirate than to join the Navy. STEVE JOBS

Albert Einstein once described his rules of work: "One: Out of clutter, find simplicity. Two: From discord, find harmony. Three: In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are. JOSEPH CAMPBELL

The Dalai Lama calls it "the enemy's gift." From a Buddhist perspective, battling with enemies can help you develop greater compassion for and tolerance of others. "In order to practice sincerely and to develop patience," he says, "you need someone who willfully hurts you. Thus, these people give us real opportunities to practice these things. They are testing our inner strength in a way that even our guru cannot.

Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing," writes Chodron. "We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together again and fall apart again. It's just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.