Skip to main content

Motivation Quote by Yogi Berra

"I just want to thank everyone who made this day necessary"

About this Quote

The gratitude lands with a twist. Instead of thanking those who made the day possible, Yogi Berra thanks those who made it necessary. That slip, half malapropism and half wry wisdom, turns a formulaic thank-you into a little parable about why celebrations happen at all. Possibility is about logistics; necessity is about meaning. The day exists not merely because it could be organized, but because so many people cared enough to make it matter.

That is the heart of Berra’s charm. His famous Yogi-isms bend cliches until a different truth pops out. The surface joke is the mismatch of the expected word, but underneath sits a surprisingly precise sense of gratitude. By saying necessary, he shifts the credit outward. The crowd, the teammates, the organizers, the game itself created the need for the moment. He casts himself less as the reason for the ceremony than as its beneficiary, carried by a community that insisted on it.

Baseball’s rituals can be heavy with pomp, yet Berra’s language cuts the ceremony down to human size. The misstatement is disarming, an unpolished, everyday voice interrupting a formal script. That voice was part of his public identity: a working-class wit whose offhand remarks made people laugh and then nod. Language for him is a field to play in. The humor comes first, and then the sense arrives, almost despite itself.

There is also a hint of fate in the line. When a day becomes necessary, it feels inevitable, as if it had to happen given the affection and history surrounding it. That sentiment, folded into a comic stumble, sums up the communal spirit of sports. The moment belongs to everybody, and the honoree is grateful not for possibility, but for the collective insistence that the moment be marked. That is why the line endures: humility, gratitude, and a sideways grin, all in one breath.

Quote Details

TopicThank You
More Quotes by Yogi Add to List
I just want to thank everyone who made this day necessary
Click to enlarge Portrait | Landscape

About the Author

USA Flag

Yogi Berra (born May 12, 1925) is a Athlete from USA.

40 more quotes available

View Profile

Similar Quotes