Bad day Quote by Jonathan Yardley
![“David [Halberstam] kept on doing what he did because he loved it. One of the obituaries I read quoted him as saying that he did journalism for the same reason the great Julius Irving did basketball: He loved doing it even when he was having a bad day.” quote by Jonathan Yardley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/021/jonathan-yardley-53847_bad-day_david-halberstam-kept-on-doing-what-he-d_896102.jpg)
“David [Halberstam] kept on doing what he did because he loved it. One of the obituaries I read quoted him as saying that he did journalism for the same reason the great Julius Irving did basketball: He loved doing it even when he was having a bad day.”
About This Quote
Source Book: The New York Times Book Review, 1990s (journalism profile)
The journalist persisted because love for the work outweighed daily hardships, similar to athletes playing for passion.
In simple terms: Love for work sustains through bad days.
Key Takeaway
Let passion drive perseverance.
Themes
passion
perseverance
work
journalism
motivation
Mood
inspired
determined
reflective
Type
career
motivational
When to use this quote
- newsrooms
- creative projects
- sports
- any demanding profession
Key Concepts
career fulfillment
intrinsic motivation
resilience
Questions to Reflect On
- What drives you when work feels draining?
- Can love for a craft sustain long‑term career satisfaction?
A Different Perspective
Passion may not compensate for systemic issues like burnout or low pay.
![“One of my pet theories is that readers have built-in BS detectors that enable them to recognize insincerity in writers. David [Halberstam] was sincerity to the core. He believed in what he wrote, and that conviction conveyed itself to readers.” quote by Jonathan Yardley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/933/jonathan-yardley-53847_books_one-of-my-pet-theories-is-that-readers-h_754322.jpg)
![“You don't have to be Dave Halberstam to see that the American role in both conflicts [the Iraq war and the Vietnam conflict] is characterized by arrogance, ignorance and self-delusion at the highest levels of government.” quote by Jonathan Yardley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/63b/jonathan-yardley-53847_arrogance_you-don-t-have-to-be-dave-halberstam-to_3034695.jpg)
