32 Famous Basketball Quotes

32 Famous Basketball Quotes Some say it is just another ball game. However, basketball enthusiasts swear that the game is the purpose of life. While both views are extreme, you cannot help being intrigued by the genuine fanaticism of the fans. Read these famous basketball quotes. Maybe, in these famous basketball quotes, you will find the purpose of life. You can read inspirational basketball quotes to take you forward in the game of life. Jason Kidd A lot of late nights in the gym, a lot of early mornings, especially when your friends are going out, youre going to the gym, those are the sacrifices that you have to make if you want to be an NBA basketball player. Magic Johnson Ask not what your teammates can do for you. Ask what you can do for your teammates. Elgin Baylor Coaching is easy. Winning is the hard part. Michael Jordan Even when Im old and grey, I wont be able to play it, but Ill still love the game. Obstacles dont have to stop you. If you run into a wall, dont turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen. Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships. The game is my wife. It demands loyalty and responsibility, and it gives me back fulfillment and peace. Ive missed more than 9000 shots in my career. Ive lost almost 300 games. Twenty six times, Ive been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. Ive failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. I would tell players to relax and never think about whats at stake. Just think about the basketball game. If you start to think about who is going to win the championship, youve lost your focus. Wilt Chamberlain Everybody pulls for David, nobody roots for Goliath. Kobe Bryant Everything negative pressure, challenges are all an opportunity for me to rise. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Great players are willing to give up their own personal achievement for the achievement of the group. It enhances everybody. I can accept failure, but I cant accept not trying. I think someone should explain to the child that its ok to make mistakes. Thats how we learn. When we compete, we make mistakes. Ive had enough success for two lifetimes, my success is talent put together with hard work and luck. Dennis Rodman I couldnt care less if the guy Im guarding has HIV. Im going to slam him anyway. Julius Erving I think that my God-given physical attributes, big hands, and big feet, the way that Im built, proportion-wise, just made basketball the most inviting sport for me to play. If you dont do whats best for your body, youre the one who comes up on the short end. Larry Bird Once you are labeled the best you want to stay up there, and you cant do it by loafing around. If I dont keep changing, Im history. Push yourself again and again. Dont give an inch until the final buzzer sounds. Ive got a theory that if you give 100 percent all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end. Leadership is diving for a loose ball, getting the crowd involved, getting other players involved. Its being able to take it as well as dish it out. Thats the only way youre going to get respect from the players. James Naismith The invention of basketball was not an accident. It was developed to meet a need. Those boys simply would not play Drop the Handkerchief. Jerry West You cant get much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good. Charles Barkley If you are afraid of failure you dont deserve to be successful! Elgin Baylor If you look up the definition of greatness in the dictionary, it will say Michael Jordan. Isiah Thomas If you want consistency, then you perform. This is a performance job. You get paid to perform. Your money is guaranteed, but your minutes are not. My greatest gift that I have in life is basketball. Pete Maravich Love never fails. Character never quits. And with patience and persistence, dreams do come true. Shaquille ONeal Me shooting 40% at the foul line is just Gods way to say nobodys perfect. Kevin Johnson No matter what you say, you can have as many receivers as you want; there are enough balls to go around.

A History of Adinkra Symbols

A History of Adinkra Symbols Adinkra is a cotton cloth produced in Ghana and Cà ´te dIvoire which has traditional Akan symbols stamped upon it. The adinkra symbols represent popular proverbs and maxims, record historical events, express particular attitudes or behavior related to depicted figures, or concepts uniquely related to abstract shapes. It is one of several traditional cloths produced in the region. The other well-known cloths are kente and adanudo. The symbols were often linked with a proverb, so they convey more meaning than a single word. Robert Sutherland  Rattray compiled a list of 53 adinkra symbols in his book, Religion and Art in Ashanti, in 1927. The History of Adinkra Cloth and Symbols The Akan people (of what is now Ghana and Cà ´te dIvoire) had developed significant skills in weaving by the sixteenth century, with Nsoko (present-day Begho) being an important weaving center. Adinkra, originally produced by the Gyaaman clans of the Brong region, was the exclusive right of royalty and spiritual leaders, and only used for important ceremonies such as funerals. Adinkra means goodbye. During a military conflict at the beginning of the nineteenth century, caused by the Gyaaman trying to copy the neighboring Asantes golden stool (the symbol of the Asante nation), the Gyaaman king was killed. His adinkra robe was taken by Nana Osei Bonsu-Panyin, the  Asante Hene  (Asante King), as a trophy. With the robe came the knowledge of adinkra aduru (the special ink used in the printing process) and the process of stamping the designs onto cotton cloth. Over time the Asante further developed adinkra symbology, incorporating their own philosophies, folk tales, and culture. Adinkra symbols were also used on pottery, metalwork (especially  abosodee), and are now incorporated into modern commercial designs (where their related meanings give added significance to the product), architecture and sculpture. Adinkra Cloth Today Adinkra cloth is more widely available today, although the traditional methods of production are very much in use. The traditional ink (adinkra aduru) used for stamping is obtained by boiling the bark of the Badie tree with iron slag. Because the ink is not fixed, the material should not be washed. Adinkra cloth is used in Ghana for special occasions such as weddings and initiation rites. Note that African fabrics often differ between those made for local use and those that are exported. The cloth for local use is usually replete with hidden meanings or local proverbs, allowing locals to make particular statements with their costume. Those fabrics produced for overseas markets tend to use more sanitized symbology. Use of Adinkra Symbols You will find adinkra symbols on many exported items, such as furniture, sculpture, pottery, t-shirts, hats and other clothing items in addition to fabric. Another popular use of the symbols is for tattoo art. You should further research the meaning of any symbol before deciding to use it for a tattoo to ensure it conveys the message you desire.

Case Study Based Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Case Study Based Report - Essay Example Samsung electronics was a brand that was known for producing cheap products. It used to make black and white television and calculators from the year 1969 to 1990. But then things started to change. Samsung unveiled a new strategy called â€Å"new management† which was a top to bottom strategy for the whole company. In the year 2009, Samsung reached a revenue of $117 billion with profit of $8.3 billion. Inter-brand selected Samsung as the fastest growing brand for a time span of more than five years. Samsung electronics became one of the leading producers of semiconductors. Samsung became one of the largest consumer electronic conglomerates in the world. As a brand, Samsung also got listed in the list of Fortune Magazine’s hundred largest global corporations. ... Hence, the main focus should be on as to what are the factors that led to such a massive transformation. Based on the case analysis it can be figured out that the Top to bottom strategy adopted by Lee Byung Chull had three important factors that were instrumental is providing strategic direction to the company. The three main factors happened to be the new product development process, adoption of product test marketing and positioning strategy of the products (Czinzota, Ronkainen, Moffett, Marinova & Marinov, 2009, pp. 423-429). New Product development focus Samsung hired some new fresh young designers to get a set of fresh ideas. These designers unleashed a surge of new products. The product development team focused on producing sleek, beautiful and bold products to target high end user in terms of product quality. The difference with the past was that the team was not looking to produce â€Å"me-too† products. The concentration of the company on new product development, exis ting product improvement and overall R&D was the key (Henry, 2008, p. 89). Adoption of the test marketing concept Product test marketing is an actually one of the steps of the new product development. In order to be a really â€Å"Wow† product each and every product produced by the company started going through market testing. Products that did not a get â€Å"Wow† feedback from the customers went back to the design lab. Samsung started conducting integrated tests of the products as well as the total marketing program including branding, advertising, distribution, packaging, segmentation, targeting, positioning at each and every marketing and budgeting levels. This helped the management to get valuable information regarding the â€Å"go or no go

History Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

History - Term Paper Example New Confucianism became the dominant political ideology for nearly 1,000 years to come. In fact, the rise of money economy along with new systems of landholding and taxation that took over in the middle of the Song Dynasty changed the Chinese economy throughout its history† (232). During the Song Dynasty, â€Å"the severe restrictions on women began to appear, and with the rise of Neo-Confucianism, women’s roles began to diminish and to receive strict definition. The boundary of activities for women revolved merely within the family’s needs† (Tierney, 232). II. Discussion â€Å"The feudal China made women more submissive to men† (Fan, 196). It was during this time women stayed at home, took care of the household chores, bear children, reared and nurtured them. â€Å"This became the most significant role of women who were merely associated as men’s attachments, slaves and possessions† (Fan, 196). â€Å"Footbinding became the ultimate to ol to deny women the physical expression of freedom† (Fan, 196). It became a symbol of oppression as women because victims of physical and psychological abuses. â€Å"More often than not, a woman accepted her own physical castration and acknowledged herself as inferior and accepted the negative roles of femininity. Footbinding was therefore the pre-eminent symbol of sexual oppression† (Fan, 196). The late nineteenth century was the period when anti-footbinding campaigns began in China. It was during the visit of Helen Snow to Yan’an in 1939 when she noticed that most of the women in that area, including peasants had bound feet. It was during this time when equality between men and women was declared by women’s associations. The rationale behind the practice of foot-binding among Chinese women is that â€Å"it marked the beginning of the womanhood of a young girl† (Rosanlee, 143). It became a family affair and not just a private occasion as the mothe r of the young girl sought the â€Å"divine blessings prior to the commencement of footbinding† (Rosanlee, 143). It became a part of the family’s heritage, as the â€Å"technique of footbinding varied not just from different regions, but from different families as well, and was sort of knowledge and work that was passed on from mothers to daughters and from aunts to nieces† (Rosanlee, 143). â€Å"Correct attire was a sign of civility of Wen, the woman’s needlework and artifacts, whose meaning encompasses not only literary patterns of artifacts and clothing† (Rosanlee, 144). In the seventeenth century, â€Å"footbinding in China was regarded as: First: an expression of Chinese wen civility; Second: a marker of ethnic boundaries separating the Han from the Manchu; and Third: an ornament of the body that is the correct concealment of the female body† (Rosanlee, 144). III. Conclusion Chiu Chin became a symbol of freedom and liberation among Chin ese women. â€Å"Towards the end of her short life, she became one of the most passionate and influential among revolutionaries and was beheaded by the still-ruling Manchus when she was only 31 years of age. Before her death, she fought valiantly for the rights of the women, the poor and the oppressed†

Is General Will Compatible With Individual Freedom Politics Essay

Is General Will Compatible With Individual Freedom Politics Essay Jean-Jacque Rousseau wrote at a time before great social and political change in Europe. His texts remain one of the classic concepts of political theory. His writings have been thought of by many as, the bible for the French Revolution for his foresight and perhaps predictions for the violence and terror that followed. His text, The Social Contract (1762) is made up of 4 books. In Books 1 and 2 he aimed to address the problem of political morality and the theory of institutions in Books 3 and 4. Rousseau was a defender of democracy, an advocate for individual liberty and an egalitarian. Rousseau begins with the famous opening lines, Men are born free, yet everywhere are in chains He starts by explaining the way in which men are bound to the chains of civil society which restrain the natural right of man to an objective independent freedom. He believed that civil society does not give man the freedom, liberty and equality that were promised to him when joining society. Rousseau believed that the only way to prevent these shackles from becoming uncomfortable would be by the collective creation of a body in society forming a single will, the general will. When answering the question it is important to understand the idea of the rule of the general will to see if it is compatible with the freedom of the individual. The general will is expressed by the sovereign (either an individual with a unified will or a collective body in society). The definition and purpose of this general will is to act in the needs and desires of the collective and to sustain the common good for all people. Rousseau explains, The English people believed itself to be free. It is greatly mistaken; it is free only during the election of the members of Parliament. Once they are elected, the populace is enslaved; it is nothing . To Rousseau the idea of the general will is one of free debate in an assembly of individuals and equals of what is of common interest. In Chapter 15 of Book 3 he puts forward the idea that sovereignty cannot be represented, because it consists of the general will and the general will cannot be represented . J. Plamenatz (1992) gives this reason for Rousseaus argument for direct as apposed to representative democracy. Every citizen in Rousseaus ideal society should make the laws themselves and not entrust this job in the places of others. This was Rousseaus third principle. In essence general will gives every individual in the collective the freedom to vote how he pleases in the assembly and ultimately everyone has a say in the running of the society as the democracy is direct. However, Rousseau retains that general will should not be the desire of the individual will, but what will be beneficial for everyone. Rousseau also believed that whoever went against obeying the general will ought to be enforced to do so by the whole body. This means nothing other than that he shall be forced to be free . What Rousseau means by this is that by people having the obligation to adhere to the social contract and by having to receive the benefit of the general will, theyre gaining freedom. This is in contrast to Hobbes and Locke who believed laws were created to stop us wandering from the path of civil obedience and referred to as hedges. Rousseau asserts that it is the process of law making that sets us free. His key argument was that if we are the authors of the law then we could manifest our own freedom and independence. According to Rousseau we are all born free and have the capacity to be free but to achieve this Rousseau believed we have to build a social government that does not enslave us. It could be argued that Rousseaus idea of the rule of the general will, is compatible with the freedom of the individual. This is because Rousseau described the notion of there being 2 different types of freedom. There is social freedom and a personal freedom. He also refers to personal freedom as the state of nature. Rousseau said that freedom was only reachable when the populace obeyed the laws it set itself. J. Plamenatz (1992) describes this by explaining ideally we would say, I alone have made the law that I obey but that this is impossible and instead the most we can hope for is that each should say, I obey the law that we have made rather than I obey the law that they have made. This ideal is that every citizen should identify himself with the community that makes the law . Rousseau bellied that the ab ility to follow these rules and laws would only be possible once one recognised themselves as a part and member of the community of lawmakers. Rousseau had previously discussed the first explanatory problem of the origins of how we became unfree, when we are born naturally free in the state of nature. He wrote about this in Discourse on the Origin of Inequality (1755). It is in The Social Contract (1762) that he explained the second problem, the justificatory problem and suggested an answer. Rousseau asserted that power only becomes legitimate once the people consent to it and. He said, Each of us puts his person and all his power in common under the supreme direction of the general will; and in a body we receive each member as an indivisible part of the whole In conclusion, Iain Hampsher-Monk writes in A History of Modern Polticial Thought that, part of the main, objective of the general will, therefore is its constant tendency to equality . He says that the notion of obeying ourselves is a difficult one to understand, however he explains that in this way of setting and obeying our own rules, tyranny can be guarded against . Whilst some scholars have regarded Rousseaus political thought as pointing towards totalitarianism, (as he advocates complete subservience to the state) many others regard him as a firm liberal and a defender of freedom and equality. For this reason it is believed that Rousseaus idea of the rule of the general will is compatible with the freedom of the individual, as in Rousseaus state; the popular sovereignty effectively governs themselves by legitimising the chains of society and reconciling sovereignty , freedom and authority.

An Analysis of Anti-technology Themes in The Machine Stops and WALL-E E

In 1909 E.M. Forster wrote the ground-breaking short story â€Å"The Machine Stops†, it foretold of a dystopian society where mankind entrusted itself to a machine which took care of al their wants and needs, and ultimately lead to their demise. In Forster’s â€Å"The Machine Stops†, he illustrates the need for man to become less dependent on machines and technology for their livelihoods and life in general. In Disney’s â€Å"WALL-E† we se many of these themes again. In both cases humans have become so inept at taking care of themselves that the loss of the machine or machines that care for them would be catastrophic and deadly. Humans have invested so much trust and power into these machines that they no longer have any real control, in addition their dependence on technology has severely distanced them from nature and more importantly their own human nature. In both stories one of the major themes is the autonomy of the â€Å"Machine†, and the lack of control the humans have over them. In â€Å"The Machine Stops† this theme is best illustrated through the â€Å"Mending Apparatus† (Reader, 153), it automatically â€Å"mends† any problem it sees, including retrieving Kuno when he ventures to the surface as well as killing one of the surface dwellers who â€Å"was entangled by the worms, and, †¦, was killed by one of them piercing her throat.†. This shows the ruthless autonomy of the machine. Later in the story we see how little the people who inhabit â€Å"The Machine† have over it, when it begins to break down, they have so little understanding o its workings that they are powerless to fix it, without the â€Å"Mending Apparatus† to fix â€Å"The Machine† they are unable to save themselves. In Disney’s â€Å"WALL-E† the ship aboard which the humans are living is c ontroll... ...oth depictions people communicate almost exclusively through machines, in â€Å"The Machine Stops† face to face contact is rare and essentially feared. In â€Å"WALL-E† people are shown talking to each other on screens while they are right next to each other and they seem completely lost when it comes to face to face conversations. In conclusion, â€Å"The Machine Stops† and â€Å"WALL-E† both use anti-technological themes to illustrate the dangers of technological advance, in particular our dependence on machines and technology for our survival. They showed that the combination of a dependence on an autonomous and out-of-control machine, a disconnection from nature, and an extreme loss of humanity can have disastrous consequences for us and our society. The question now is whether or not we can learn from these works and works like these and prevent a dark and inhuman future.

Argumentative Reflection War Essay

Nobody likes war; it is so costly in so many ways. Lives are lost, property is destroyed, people are injured and some are disabled mentally and physically. Because of this many people think war must be avoided at all costs. All these facts regarding the high cost of war on a country are true. On the other hand there are situations in which a nation has an obligation to go to war. Their were many times in the United States history when the decision to enter a war was in question. World War II was a time when people were arguing about whether or not the United States should enter a war against Germany, Japan and their allies. When this war started WWI was still fresh in people’s memories. The citizens knew how bad war could be. Many people felt that these new problems were not the United States problems and war should be avoided. Author Jon Bridgman tells us in an article in the Seattle Post- Intelligencer â€Å"The nation was deeply and bitterly divided on the question of our participation in the war. American isolationists felt that the war in Europe and Asia was not our problem and that we should stay out of it†. Of course other people knew that war was going to come, because Germany and Japan were proving they wanted to take over the world. The argument was settled by Japan. There sneak attack on Pearl Harbor solved the argument. They forced us into the war. The attack they made in Pearl Harbor was a direct attack on the United States military and a direct attack on United States land. Now US citizens knew it was all out war for the countries survival. On September 11, 2001 the US was again attacked. This time it wasn’t by another country but by terrorists. It was similar to the Pearl Harbor attack because Americans were surprised and thousands of people lost their lives. The big difference was that the attack was not done by a country but by terrorists from many different countries. The citizens of the United States pretty much agreed that this was an evil act and that the terrorists needed to be stopped so that they could not attack again. The problem was that it was not a country that attacked but a terrorist group hiding and spread out across several countries. Who could the United States blame and hold responsible for the attacks? President George Bush immediately blamed Afghanistan and later Iraq for letting terrorists use their countries to train and operate. He felt these countries should be attacked so terrorists could be stopped. The President sent our troops to Afghanistan and the troops were successful in that area and then President Bush decided the US needed to invade Iraq. This is when the argument about going to war in another country was the United States concern. A lot of people had heard that, Saddam Hussein, the leader of Iraq was a supporter of terrorists and also a threat to the world. The argument about attacking Iraq was big. If you look b ack to 2003 when people were arguing this you can see that their was enough people who wanted to go to war. Nicholas Lemann wrote in an article in the New Yorker magazine that â€Å"Everyone agrees that Saddam Hussein is truly evil, everyone agrees he has weapons of mass destruction†. On the other side of the argument many countries and people disagreed with attacking Iraq. Many inspections done by the United Nations could not find weapons of mass destruction. President Bush eventually convinced the United States Congress that Iraq was dangerous and the US army attacked Iraq. It turned out after a tough fight, the United States military could not find any weapons of mass destruction. A report in the Washington Post said â€Å"The new report from the Iraq Survey Group has confirmed beyond any reasonable doubt what most people have assumed for the past year: At the time of the 2003 U.S. invasion, Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction, and most of its programs to produce them were dormant.† The United States was wrong about the weapons. Even though the pro- war people were wrong about the weapons of mass destruction they felt that they were stopping a horrible dictator who could have been a big threat in the future. At least the army fought terrorists because as the war dragged on the United States did eventually find itself fighting terrorists because many terrorists came to Iraq to face the United States army. Lionel Beehner reported in the Backgrounder magazine that â€Å"Large-scale suicide attacks in Iraq are up in recent months, demonstrating that al-Qaeda in Iraq and its homegrown affiliates remain a potent force.† In both of these cases the United States went to war to provide safety for United States citizens. In both these cases the United States was attacked. In both these case people debated and argued about going to war .Yes many people were killed and injured but these examples show that there is definitely situations when a country is obligated to go to war. Works Cited John Bridgman â€Å"Lessons learned from two days of infamy† Seattle Post -Intelligencer Sunday December 2, 2001 Nicholas Lemann â€Å" How It Came To War† The New Yorker March 31, 2003 Editorial â€Å"Weapons That Weren’t There† The Washington Post October 7,2004 Lionel Beehner â€Å"Al-Qaeda in Iraq: Resurging or Splintering? Backgrounder