Words of wisdom from 10 power players

    By Patricia Sellers

    It was a power-packed Sunday. Usain Bolt beat his own world record. Y.E. Yang came out of obscurity to trounce Tiger Woods in the PGA Championship. Don Draper returned, tortured as ever. So many juicy Power Points–our quotes of the day–to choose from. So why not kick off a slow summer week with a whole bunch of ‘em, from sports to business to politics… — Patricia Sellers and Jessica Shambora

    “You never know in life, this might be my last win as a golfer.” — Y.E. Yang, after beating Tiger Woods. This was the first time ever that Woods had the lead going into the final round of a major, and lost. Yang, from South Korea, seemed humble, relaxed, even zen-like throughout the nail-biting final holes. Yang said afterwards: “Tiger’s good, but he could always have a bad day. Guess this is one of those days.”

    “For me, it was all about going and winning, because I knew these guys were ready.” — Usain Bolt, Jamaican track star, after setting a new 100-meter sprint record of 9.58 seconds at the World Track and Field championships yesterday. Instead of aiming to break his own world record, Bolt says he went into the race focused on beating his rivals. Maybe a good business lesson there.

    “I keep going different places, and always winding up where I’ve already been.” — Mad Men’s Don Draper, played by Jon Hamm, on last night’s premiere of the riveting AMC show’s third season. (Yes, we love it.) The anti-Usain Bolt, the iconic ’60s ad man is haunted by his past and can’t move past it.

    “What you carry on your belt is now your MP3 player, will be your plasma TV, is your social-networking machine, is your Internet terminal, your camera, your personal navigation device.” — Research in Motion (RIMM) co-CEO Jim Balsillie, from Jessi Hempel’s cover story in the current issue of Fortune . RIM is No. 1 on Fortune’s just-released list of 100 Fastest-Growing Companies.

    “I’ve been putting sand in my salad; I eat sand.” — Shaquille O’Neal, about taking on Olympic beach volleyball Gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh in “Shaq Vs.,” his new primetime reality show in which he tries to beat the world’s greatest athletes at their own games. Shaq, who identifies himself as “Very Quotatious” on his Twitter page, told the New York Times, “I want to thank both these beautiful ladies for accepting this challenge. I hope they don’t mess up their nails too much.” The show premieres tomorrow night on ABC (DIS).

    “I encourage you to love your animals — whatever animals you have, whether it’s a dog, a cat, a reptile, if it’s a horse. I encourage you to love that animal dearly and with all your heart.” — Michael Vick, ex-con and Philadelphia Eagles backup quarterback, struggling to make amends for his involvement in running a dog-fighting operation. (Love your reptiles? Paging the PR police!!)

    “We are just a small little company that has gone through some challenging times that is trying to find a way to come up with ideas that will connect with an audience.”– Tim Armstrong, the new CEO of AOL, on his efforts to revitalize the struggling web pioneer as it prepares to split from parent TimeWarner (TWX).

    “It has become pretty clear that advertising alone is not going to sustain on-line business models. Quality journalism has to be paid for.” — John Ridding, CEO of The Financial Times, in the New York Times, on the paper’s 2001 decision to charge readers for access to its website. Now that other publishers are looking to do the same, Ridding is enjoying the company. “It was pretty lonely out there for while in paid land.”

    “Specter got it all wrong that I ever used words ‘death boards.’ Even liberal press never accused me of that. So change ur last Tweet Arlen.” — Chuck Grassley, Republican Senator of Iowa, to Democratic Senator Arlen Specter on Twitter. The two were feuding about health-care reform, specifically end-of-life care.

    “One of my colleagues locks the door at the meeting start. Trust me, no one ever arrives late a second time.” — Mattel (MAT) CEO Bob Eckert, in “The Best Advice I Ever Got” in the new issue of Fortune.