Great Athletic Quotes

You play to win the game.

Doctors and scientists said breaking the four-minute mile was impossible, that one would die in the attempt. Thus, when I got up from the track after collapsing at the finish line, I figured I was dead

Every kid around the world who plays soccer wants to be Pele. I have a great responsibility to show them not just how to be like a soccer player, but how to be like a man.

A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are.

In the end, it's extra effort that separates a winner from second place. But winning takes a lot more that that, too. It starts with complete command of the fundamentals. Then it takes desire, determination, discipline, and self-sacrifice. And finally, it takes a great deal of love, fairness and respect for your fellow man. Put all these together, and even if you don't win, how can you lose?

The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.

I run on the road long before I dance under the lights.

A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.

The difference between the old ballplayer and the new ballplayer is the jersey. The old ballplayer cared about the name on the front. The new ballplayer cares about the name on the back.

Mental will is a muscle that needs exercise, just like the muscles of the body.

The way a team plays as a whole determines its success.

The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.

The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime.

I learned that if you want to make it bad enough, no matter how bad it is, you can make it.

You're never a loser until you quit trying.

Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.

If you're bored with life - you don't get up every morning with a burning desire to do things - you don't have enough goals.

You find that you have peace of mind and can enjoy yourself, get more sleep, and rest when you know that it was a one hundred percent effort that you gave - win or lose.

The highest compliment that you can pay me is to say that I work hard every day, that I never dog it.

You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.

Just keep going. Everybody gets better if they keep at it.

If you don't have confidence, you'll always find a way not to win.

You have to believe in yourself when no one else does.

You can't get much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good.

To be a champ you have to believe in yourself when no one else will.

It is not the size of a man but the size of his heart that matters.

It's not whether you win or lose - but whether I win or lose.

Whoever said, 'It's not whether you win or lose that counts,' probably lost.

If you aren't going all the way, why go at all?

One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than a hundred teaching it.

If you train hard, you'll not only be hard, you'll be hard to beat.

I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'

It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up.

To succeed, you need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you.

I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

My prototypical quarterback is a competitive guy that's a winner, somebody that has great athletic instincts, somebody who is very accurate throwing the football, a quick-minded guy who can think fast on his feet and can make decisions quickly, someone who has leadership ability, an understanding of timing and can make really good decisions.

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.

I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.

Attitude determines how well you do it.

Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.

Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.