Like Zorro
One of my favourite movie quotes is from the movie Jerry Maguire. It’s not my favourite movie (that’s Goodfellas, if you’re interested), but it’s up there.
There’s a scene in the movie where Jerry (Tom Cruise) and Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.) are sitting on an airplane while Jerry is getting drunk. Jerry is wallowing in his misery and feeling sorry for himself and telling Rod that he can no longer help him because he (Jerry) is “cloaked in failure”. Rod is frustrated with Jerry’s sudden lack of confidence:
Anybody else would have left you by now, but I'm sticking with you. I said I would. And if I got to ride your ass like Zorro, you're gonna show me the money.
I’ve seen the movie a few times, and that line always sticks with me. There are times when everyone loses their nerve or their confidence drops. Hopefully when that happens, someone close, usually out of frustration and being tired of hearing your self-loathing B.S., pushes you on.
Related posts:
About Eric Wroolie
Eric Wroolie is a software developer specialising in project Outsourcing and Offshoring.
As a software developer since 1998, he has built applications for Barclays Capital, BBC, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and Omega Logic.
In 2004, he founded Overpass, a company that provides offshoring services to UK and US organisations.
He is a San Diego native who has spent the last 10 years living in England and working in London.
Eric speaks Chinese Mandarin and served in the US Army as a Mandarin and Vietnamese linguist.
In addition to being able to speak Mandarin, Eric can juggle three balls for almost twenty seconds, and make fart noises using his hands only (this is more difficult than it sounds-- try it).
Eric has an MCSD in Visual Basic 6 and previous languages, but now works with .Net. He holds ScrumMaster Certification with Scrum Alliance.
Eric on Twitter
- Slept in until 6:30. Went back to bed after ten minutes when I got up at 4. I'm being hit by mid-week fatigue. 14 hrs ago
- @jiffer I thought the Power of Less was alright, but not fantastic. If you've never read GTD (and who hasn't read that!), it's fine. Okay. in reply to jiffer 2 days ago
- @AlexBowman I was with you until you got to "sushi role" in reply to AlexBowman 2 days ago
- 3 mile run this morning. Also did a couple of hours work for a client. Baseball season is only a month away! 2 days ago
- Finished reading Linchpin by Seth Godin. Really enjoyed the book. Now I'm on "Power of Less" by Leo Babauta. 1 week ago
- More updates...
Recent Comments
- Edward Sheldon on Importance of back-ups
- Priyancka on New Years Resolutions
- Eric Wroolie on France and Germany say “No IE”—Corporate apps will suffer
- Priyancka on France and Germany say “No IE”—Corporate apps will suffer
- Bj Highfield on In love with our own lingo
Contact
Business Blogs
Development Blogs
Favourite Posts
- Connecting to the Nike+ API with C#
- If Superman had a Boss
- Jumping from the Moving Train
- Maintaining Treeview State in Asp.Net 2 with a Sitemap
- Silverlight on Expression Blend with AVG Anti-Virus
My Sites
Old Posts
- February 2010 (6)
- January 2010 (4)
- December 2009 (6)
- November 2009 (4)
- October 2009 (1)
- September 2009 (8)
- August 2009 (1)
- July 2009 (10)
- June 2009 (9)
- May 2009 (6)
- April 2009 (9)
- March 2009 (6)
- February 2009 (10)
- January 2009 (9)
- December 2008 (5)
- November 2008 (2)
- October 2008 (14)
- September 2008 (4)
- August 2008 (1)
- July 2008 (3)
- June 2008 (3)
- May 2008 (4)
- April 2008 (1)
- March 2008 (2)
- February 2008 (1)
- January 2008 (3)
- November 2007 (1)
- October 2007 (9)
- September 2007 (2)
- August 2007 (5)
- July 2007 (7)
- June 2007 (10)
- May 2007 (3)
- April 2007 (4)
- March 2007 (3)
- February 2007 (6)
- January 2007 (4)
- December 2006 (4)
- November 2006 (3)
- October 2006 (15)
- September 2006 (3)
- June 2006 (1)
- March 2006 (3)
- February 2006 (1)
- September 2005 (1)
- July 2005 (6)
- December 2004 (2)
- October 2004 (4)
- September 2004 (2)
- August 2004 (6)
- July 2004 (1)
January 1st, 1970 - 00:00
December 17th, 2009 - 18:22
Im sure you know who that person in your life is!
December 17th, 2009 - 21:01
There's been a few actually. Lucky me. They always make me feel stupid at the time.