Y is for — Yoda, Jedi Master from the Star Wars movies
“Do or do not. There is no try.”
Such were the wise words of Yoda, legendary Jedi Master in George Lucas’ blockbuster film, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Yoda wants Luke Skywalker to lift Luke’s X-wing fighter space ship out of a swamp, using the Force, a sort of mystical energy that permeates everything. A skeptical Luke says he will try, at which point Yoda utters his profound words. When Luke fails to raise the ship and gives up, saying it can’t be done, Yoda calmly and very easily raises it out the muck himself, proving that it can, indeed, be done.
Yoda is one of my favorite characters from the original Star Wars saga. Small, green, and wizened, he is a wonderful blend of wisdom, humor, and inner strength — a formidable opponent of the Dark Side. No one knows exactly what he is. His species and origin have never been revealed. In The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Yoda is actually a puppet, voiced and performed by Frank Oz, the man behind Muppets Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear, and Cookie Monster, Bert, and Grover from Sesame Street.
Yoda’s nuggets of wisdom and manner of speech (“When nine hundred years old you reach, look as good you will not.” Return of the Jedi) are instantly recognizable, even by many who’ve never seen the Star Wars movies. Of all Yoda’s famous quotes, I like best “Do or do not. There is no try.” Very inspirational to me it is.
Yoda from
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Photo Credit: Wikipedia
Writing, Reading, and the Pursuit of Dreams 
Frank Oz really has a gift for creating engaging, small, green guys. Yoda’s speech patterns remind me a bit of German grammar, which tends to push verbs to the end of the sentence.
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Yes, he does. That’s interesting about the German. I wonder if there was some influence there?
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Yoda is the wise one! I still have a post up of his most inspirational quotes inside my classroom. Kids repeat at least one of the quotes daily – kind of cool!
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I love it! That’s so neat!
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I’m not too familiar with Yoda quotes. But I love the straightforward & no-nonsense attitude in the words: “Do or do not. There is no try.”
Ha! To the point.
Writer In Transit
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Yes. Exactly.
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He is a Wise Mentor. Like Dumbledore or Gandalf. Nothing else matters.
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I so agree!
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I loved that lightsaber fight between Yoda and Count Dooku. And everyone in the theater cheering!
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That was a great scene!
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Very inspirational to me it is, too! One of my all-time favourite sayings. 🙂
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Mine, too!
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Yoda is why I can’t stand the word “try”. He’s so cool.
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Absolutely!
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