100 Inspirational Athlete Quotes to Motivate Your Journey

"Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."

- Michael Jordan

"Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them – a desire, a dream, a vision."

- Muhammad Ali

"Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard."

- Tim Notke

"You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take."

- Wayne Gretzky

"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."

- Michael Jordan

"You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take"

- Wayne Gretzky

"Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, and others make it happen."

- Michael Jordan

"I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying."

- Michael Jordan

"There’s no way around hard work. Embrace it. You have to put in the hours because there is always something you can improve on"

- Roger Federer

"Don’t get bitter, get better"

- Tiger Woods

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

- Muhammad Ali

"Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it or work around it."

- Michael Jordan

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

- John Wooden

"You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take."

- Wayne Gretzky

"If my mind can conceive it, if my heart can believe it – then I can achieve it."

- Muhammad Ali

"The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall."

- Vince Lombardi

"It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up."

- Vince Lombardi

"I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I cannot accept not trying."

- Michael Jordan

"Train hard, turn up, run your best and the rest will take care of itself."

- Usain Bolt

"If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you’ll never change the outcome."

- Michael Jordan

"A champion is someone who gets up when they can’t."

- Jack Dempsey

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

- Michael Jordan

"It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!"

- Rocky Balboa

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

- Vince Lombardi

"The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand."

- Vince Lombardi

"Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard."

- Kevin Durant

"Dreams are free. Goals have a cost. While you can daydream for free, goals don’t come without a price. Time, Effort, Sacrifice, and Sweat. How will you pay for your goals?"

- Usain Bolt

"The minute you get away from fundamentals – whether its proper technique, work ethic or mental preparation – the bottom can fall out of your game, your schoolwork, your job, whatever you’re doing."

- Michael Jordan

"The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination."

- Tommy Lasorda

"When I step onto the court, I don’t have to think about anything. If I have a problem off the court, I find that after I play, my mind is clearer and I can come up with a better solution. It’s like therapy. It relaxes me and allows me to solve problems."

- Michael Jordan

"Success is found in the running of the race – your planning, preparation, practice, and performance – counts for everything"

- John Wooden

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

- Muhammad Ali

"Nothing will work unless you do."

- Maya Angelou

"Champions aren't made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them -- a desire, a dream, a vision."

- Muhammad Ali

"Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen."

- Michael Jordan

"I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six 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."

- Michael Jordan

"Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing."

- Muhammad Ali

"It does not matter how many times you get knocked down. What matters is how many times you get up."

- Vince Lombardi

"Never say never because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion."

- Michael Jordan

"Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, love of what you are doing."

- Javier Báez

"It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen."

- Muhammad Ali

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

- Vince Lombardi

"Never give up! Failure and rejection are only the first step to succeeding."

- Jim Valvano

"A champion is someone who gets up when he can’t."

- Jack Dempsey

"I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I've been successful."

- Michael Jordan

"Sometimes, a defeat can be more beautiful and satisfying than certain victories. The English have a point in insisting that it matters not who won or lost, but how you played the game."

- Arthur Ashe

"It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it's the pebble in your shoe."

- Muhammad Ali

"If you can't accept losing, you can't win."

- Vince Lombardi

"Never let the fear of striking out get in your way."

- Babe Ruth

"Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best."

- Tim Duncan

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"Tough times never last, but tough people do."

- Robert Schuller

"When I step onto the court, I don't have to think about anything. If I have a problem off the court, I find that after I play, my mind is clearer and I can come up with a better solution. It's like therapy. It relaxes me and allows me to solve problems."

- Michael Jordan

"My thoughts before a big race are usually pretty simple. I tell myself: Get out of the blocks, run your race, stay relaxed. If you run your race, you'll win... channel your energy. Focus."

- Carl Lewis

"Believe you can and you're halfway there."

- Theodore Roosevelt

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm."

- Winston Churchill

"Champions keep playing until they get it right."

- Billie Jean King

"Your talent determines what you can do. Your motivation determines how much you are willing to do. Your attitude determines how well you do it."

- Lou Holtz

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts."

- Winston Churchill

"The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital."

- Joe Paterno

"The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary."

- Vidal Sassoon

"It's not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It's the will to prepare to win that matters."

- Paul "Bear" Bryant

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

- Wayne Gretzky

"Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude."

- Zig Ziglar

"To me, teamwork is the beauty of our sport, where you have five acting as one. You become selfless."

- Mike Krzyzewski

"You can’t control what people say about you and what they think about you. You can’t plan for bad luck. You can only work your hardest and do your best and tell the truth. In the end, it’s the effort that matters. The rest is beyond your control."

- Maria Sharapova

"We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort."

- Jesse Owens

"To me, football is so much about mental toughness, it's digging deep, it's doing whatever you need to do to help a team win and that comes in a lot of shapes and forms."

- Tom Brady

"Sport teaches you character, it teaches you to play by the rules, it teaches you to know what it feels like to win and lose - it teaches you about life."

- Billie Jean King

"Fail to prepare, prepare to fail"

- Roy Keane

"Talent is never enough. With few exceptions, the best players are the hardest workers"

- Magic Johnson

"The five S’s of sports training are: stamina, speed, strength, skill, and spirit; but the greatest of these is spirit."

- Ken Doherty

"The only one who can tell you ‘you can’t win’ is you and you don’t have to listen."

- Jessica Ennis-Hill

"The only way to prove that you’re a good sport is to lose."

- Ernie Banks

"It’s at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys."

- Emil Zatopek

"Somebody gives you an opportunity, say yes to it. So what if you fail? you won’t know if you fail or succeed unless you try."

- Ann Meyers

"Continuous effort—not strength or intelligence—is the key to unlocking our potential."

- Liane Cardes

"What you feel doesn’t matter in the end; it’s what you do that makes you brave."

- Andre Agassi

"Always work hard, never give up, and fight until the end because it’s never really over until the whistle blows."

- Alex Morgan

"I believe in the impossible because no one else does."

- Florence Griffith Joyner

"There is something about seeing myself improve that motivates and excites me."

- Jackie Joyner-Kersee

"Optimism is a happiness magnet. If you stay positive, good things and good people will be drawn to you."

- Mary Lou Retton

"You were born to be a player. You were meant to be here. This moment is yours."

- Herb Brooks

"Everyone wants to win. But to truly succeed—whether it is at a sport or at your job or in life—you have to be willing to do the hard work, overcome the challenges, and make the sacrifices it takes to be the best at what you do."

- Ronda Rousey

"My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having troubles off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging."

- Hank Aaron

"You control your own wins and losses."

- Maria Sharapova

"I’m chasing perfection… and if I don’t get it, I’m going to get this close."

- Kobe Bryant

"I don’t focus on what I’m up against. I focus on my goals and I try to ignore the rest."

- Venus Williams

"I always felt that my greatest asset was not my physical ability, it was my mental ability."

- Bruce Jenner

"Dream as big as you can dream, and anything is possible."

- Michael Phelps

"You’re playing a game, whether it’s Little League or Game 7 of the World Series. It’s impossible to do well unless you’re having a good time. People talk about pressure. Yeah, there’s pressure. But I just look at it as fun."

- Derek Jeter

"Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is."

- Vince Lombardi

"The reward is not so great without the struggle…. The triumph can’t be had without the struggle."

- Wilma Rudolph

"The greatest pleasure is obtained by improving."

- Ben Hogan

"When you read about an athlete or team that wins over and over and over, remind yourself, ‘More than ability, they have character.’"

- Carol Dweck

"For a team to be motivated enough to win, each individual member must be motivated."

- Tom Landry

"The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man’s determination."

- Tommy Lasorda

"Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement."

- Arnold Palmer

"One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team."

- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

"I hated every minute of it [training]. But I said to myself, ‘Suffer now, and live the rest of your life as a champion.’"

- Muhammad Ali

"It’s not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters."

- Paul Bryant

"If you fail to prepare, you’re prepared to fail."

- Mark Spitz

"When you fall, get right back up. Just keep going, keep pushing it."

- Lindsey Vonn

"What you are thinking, what shape your mind is in, is what makes the biggest difference of all."

- Willie Mays

"Competitive toughness is an acquired skill and not an inherited gift."

- Chris Evert

"I’ve been in a poor physical shape many times in my career and I’ve had some of my best results. My best performances happened because my mind was in the right place. The mind is definitely stronger than the body."

- Kelly Slater

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

- Lynn Jennings

"You’ve got to love what you’re doing. If you love it, you can overcome any handicap or the soreness or all the aches and pains, and continue to play for a long, long time."

- Gordie Howe

"Somewhere behind the athlete you’ve become and the hours of practice and the coaches who have pushed you is a little girl who fell in love with the game and never looked back… play for her."

- Mia Hamm

"Pressure is a privilege, it only comes to those who earn it"

- Billie Jean King

"If you can believe it, the mind can achieve it."

- Jimmy Demaret

"When I’m down or maybe when it’s close in the match, I feel like I’m still in it. I don’t feel like I’m letting down. Mentally, I’m still really, really, tough."

- Maria Sharapova

"You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the further you get."

- Michael Phelps

"My thoughts before a big race are usually pretty simple. I tell myself: Get out of the blocks, run your race, stay relaxed. If you run your race, you’ll win…channel your energy. Focus."

- Carl Lewis

"Concentration is a fine antidote to anxiety."

- Jack Nicklaus

"The principle is competing against yourself. It’s about self-improvement, about being better than you were the day before."

- Steve Young

"Push yourself again and again. Don’t give an inch until the final buzzer sounds."

- Larry Bird

"Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you."

- Michael Jordan

"Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way."

- Satchel Paige

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

- Joe Namath

"How you respond to the challenge in the second half will determine what you become after the game, whether you are a winner or a loser."

- Lou Holtz

"There are only two options regarding commitment. You’re either in or you’re out. There is no such thing as life in-between."

- Pat Riley

"You’re never a loser until you quit trying."

- Mike Ditka

"Difficulties in life are intended to make us better, not bitter."

- Dan Reeves

"Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do."

- Oprah Winfrey

"Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever."

- Lance Armstrong

"Sweat plus sacrifice equals success."

- Charles Finley

"A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning."

- Billie Jean King

"The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Dreams don't work unless you do."

- John C. Maxwell

"You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great."

- Zig Ziglar

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

- Pele

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

- Michael Jordan

"The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory."

- Les Brown

"Overpower. Overtake. Overcome."

- Serena Williams

"Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle."

- Christian D. Larson

"Don't count the days, make the days count."

- Muhammad Ali

"Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard."

- Tim Notke

"You don't have to be better than everybody else, you just have to be better than you ever thought you could be."

- Ken Venturi

"You can't put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get."

- Michael Phelps

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"If you want to be the best, you have to do things that other people aren't willing to do."

- Michael Phelps

"The only one who can tell you 'you can't win' is you and you don't have to listen."

- Jessica Ennis-Hill

"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment."

- Jim Rohn

"You have within you right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you."

- Brian Tracy

"Don't be afraid to fail. Failure is a part of life. The next time you fail, ask yourself, 'What did I learn from that?' and move on."

- Richard Branson

"There may be people that have more talent than you, but there's no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do."

- Derek Jeter

"I can't imagine anything more rewarding than striving for excellence and giving it your all."

- Michael Jordan

"The will to win is nothing without the will to prepare."

- Juma Ikangaa

"Set your goals high, and don't stop until you get there."

- Bo Jackson

"It's not about winning, it's about the will to win."

- Vince Lombardi

"The will to win is important, but what's more important is the will to prepare to win."

- Bobby Knight

"You can't climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pockets."

- Arnold Schwarzenegger

"The only limits that exist are the ones you place on yourself."

- Wayne Dyer

"Somebody gives you an opportunity, say yes to it. So what if you fail? you won't know if you fail or succeed unless you try."

- Ann Meyers

"I'd rather regret the risks that didn't work out than the chances I didn't take at all."

- Simone Biles

"The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender."

- Marv Levy

"The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary."

- Vince Lombardi

"Somewhere behind the athlete you’ve become and the hours of practice and the coaches who have pushed you is a little girl who fell in love with the game and never looked back … play for her."

- Mia Hamm

"A winner is a person that gets up one more time than she is knocked down."

- Mia Hamm

"I am building a fire, and every day I train, I add more fuel. At just the right moment, I light the match."

- Mia Hamm

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

- Wayne Gretzky

"It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up."

- Babe Ruth

"No matter how good you get you can always get better, and that's the exciting part."

- Tiger Woods

"Set your goals high, and don’t stop until you get there."

- Bo Jackson

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

- Carl Lewis

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

- Herschel Walker

"Adversity causes some to break; others to break records."

- William Ward

"Do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done the best way it can be done, and do it that way every time."

- Bobby Knight

"You have to remember that the hard days are what make you stronger. The bad days make you realize what a good day is. If you never had any bad days, you would never have that sense of accomplishment."

- Aly Raisman

"You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get."

- Michael Phelps

"Courage doesn’t mean you don’t get afraid. Courage means you don’t let fear stop you."

- Bethany Hamilton

"It doesn’t matter what your background is or where you came from. If you have dreams and goals, that’s all that matters."

- Serena Williams

"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can."

- Arthur Ashe

"You can't win if you don't play as a unit."

- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

"I am not a perfectionist, but I like to feel that things are done well. More important than that, I feel an endless need to learn, to improve, to evolve, not only to please the coach and the fans, but also to feel satisfied with myself. It is my conviction that there are no limits to learning, and that it can never stop, no matter what our age."

- Cristiano Ronaldo

"May you always remember to enjoy the road, especially when it’s a hard one."

- Kobe Bryant

"The measure of who we are is how we react if something doesn’t go our way."

- Usain Bolt

"Nobody who gave his best ever regretted it."

- George Halas

"It’s not wanting to win that makes you a winner; it’s refusing to fail."

- Peyton Manning

"Watch your actions, they become your habits. Watch your habits, they become your character."

- Vince Lombardi

"There’s no reward without work, no victory without effort, no battle won without risk."

- Nora Roberts

"Don’t make excuses for why you can’t get it done. Focus on all of the reasons why you must make it happen."

- Ralph Marston

"Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths."

- Arnold Schwarzenegger

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

- Tony Dorsett

"No matter the circumstances that you may be going through, just push through it."

- Ray Lewis

"Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough."

- Og Mandino

"The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do."

- Kobe Bryant

"The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence."

- Confucius

"Courage is not the absence of fear but the triumph over it."

- Nelson Mandela

"Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game."

- Michael Jordan

"Winning takes talent; to repeat takes character."

- John Wooden

"Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there."

- John Wooden

"The best competition I have is against myself to become better."

- John Wooden

"Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there."

- Bo Jackson

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

- John Wooden

"If you can’t outplay them, outwork them."

- Ben Hogan

"Without self-discipline, success is impossible, period."

- Lou Holtz

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

- Lou Holtz

"Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines practiced every day."

- Jim Rohn

"Winners, I am convinced, imagine their dreams first. They want it with all their heart and expect it to come true. There is, I believe, no other way to live."

- Joe Montana

"Focus, discipline, hard work, goal setting and, of course, the thrill of finally achieving your goals. These are all lessons in life."

- Kristi Yamaguchi

"Be humble. Be hungry. And always be the hardest worker in the room."

- Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

"The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it, as long as you really believe 100 percent."

- Arnold Schwarzenegger

"Don’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the further you get."

- Michael Phelps

"No matter how good you get, you can always get better and that’s the exciting part."

- Tiger Woods

"Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do."

- Bruce Lee

"Bet on yourself. If you bet on yourself, you’ll never lose."

- Greg Plitt

"Relentless is about never being satisfied, always driving to be the best, and then getting even better."

- Tim Grover

"Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t."

- Jerry Rice

"I’ve got a theory that if you give 100% all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end."

- Larry Bird

"I am lucky that whatever fear I have inside me, my desire to win is always stronger."

- Serena Williams

"Confidence isn’t given. It’s earned."

- Lindsey Vonn

"It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog."

- Archie Griffin

"I am confident because I put in the work."

- Simone Biles

"Confidence comes from discipline and training."

- Robert Kiyosaki

"Winning breeds confidence and confidence breeds winning."

- Hubert Green

"Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings."

- Samuel Johnson

"No one can define you but you. No one can stop you from reaching your dreams but you."

- Mia Hamm

"Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right."

- Henry Ford

"Courage isn’t having the strength to go on—it is going on when you don’t have strength."

- Napoleon Bonaparte

"What you do today can improve all your tomorrows."

- Ralph Marston

"The lessons of the sports field prepare you for the game of life."

- John Wooden

"You can’t always win, but you can always give your best effort."

- Derek Jeter

"A good coach can change a game. A great coach can change a life."

- John Wooden

"Sports teaches you character. It teaches you to play by the rules, it teaches you to know what it feels like to win and lose—it teaches you about life."

- Billie Jean King

"Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it."

- Charles Swindoll

"Champions behave like champions before they’re champions."

- Bill Walsh

"The road to success runs uphill."

- Willie Davis

"It is not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It is the will to prepare to win that matters."

- Paul "Bear" Bryant

"If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you."

- Fred Devito

"Winning is not everything, but making the effort to win is."

- Zig Ziglar

"Gold medals aren’t really made of gold. They’re made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts."

- Dan Gable

"It’s not who’s put up the fastest time in the world that year, or who’s put up the fastest time in the previous four years, but who can get their hand on the wall first today."

- Nathan Adrian

"People say to me all the time, ‘You have no fear.’ I tell them, ‘No, that’s not true. I’m scared all the time. You have to have fear in order to have courage. I’m a courageous person because I’m a scared person.”"

- Ronda Rousey

"I can only control my performance. If I do my best, then I can feel good at the end of the day"

- Michael Phelps

"I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and you put the work and time into it. I think your mind really controls everything."

- Michael Phelps

"Preparation is everything and focus is the key. It’s easy to say you gave it your all out on the pitch. But the point is if you’d prepared you’d have had more to give and you’ve played better."

- Eric Cantona

"The harder I work, the luckier I get."

- Gary Player

"It’s not about positive thinking it’s about taking positive action, no matter what you feel. There are no gold medals for the best positive self talk at the Olympics. Sport is a behaviour."

- Jonah Oliver

"It’s what you learn after you think you know it all that really counts."

- John Wooden

"Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles, and less-than-perfect conditions. So what? Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident, and more and more successful."

- Mark Victor Hansen

"Nothing is given. Everything is earned."

- LeBron James

"You can’t win together if you don’t work together."

- Joe Paterno

"You can’t expect great success without encountering great challenges."

- Deion Sanders

"The only one who can tell you “you can’t win” is you and you don’t have to listen."

- Jessica Ennis-Hill

"It always seems impossible until it’s done."

- Nelson Mandela

"Talent is never enough. With few exceptions, the best players are the hardest workers."

- Magic Johnson

"It takes a lot of unspectacular preparation to have spectacular results in both business and football."

- Roger Staubach

"Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them."

- Ann Landers

"Hard work has made it easy. That is my secret. That is why I win."

- Nadia Comaneci

"I don’t count my sit-ups; I only start counting when it starts hurting because they’re the only ones that count."

- Muhammad Ali

"Success isn’t measured by money or power or social rank. Success is measured by your discipline and inner peace."

- Mike Ditka

"Success is born out of faith, an undying passion, and a relentless drive."

- Stephen Curry

"You get what you work for, not what you wish for."

- Howard A. Tullman

"There’s no magic formula. I lift heavy, work hard, and aim to be the best."

- Ronnie Coleman

"I had to put in the work. I had to go the extra mile."

- Serena Williams

"Confidence is everything. If you start second-guessing yourself, you’re in trouble."

- Jason Day

"The most important thing is to believe in yourself and not be swayed by what other people think."

- Carli Lloyd

"Once you have confidence, you can do anything."

- Sloane Stephens

"When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. And when you have fun, you can do amazing things."

- Joe Namath

"My confidence comes from the daily grind—training my butt off day in and day out."

- Hope Solo

"Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records."

- William Arthur Ward

"The man who has confidence in himself gains the confidence of others."

- Hasidic Proverb

"The way to develop self-confidence is to do the thing you fear and get a record of successful experiences behind you."

- William Jennings Bryan

"Passion first and everything will fall into place."

- Holly Holm

"Show class, have pride and display character. If you do, winning takes care of itself."

- Paul "Bear" Bryant

"Successful people have fear, successful people have doubts, and successful people have worries. They just don’t let these feelings stop them."

- T. Harv Eker

"Every experience, good or bad, you have to learn from."

- Patrick Mahomes

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone."

- Neale Donald Walsch

"Confidence is a habit that can be developed by acting as if you already had the confidence you desire to have."

- Brian Tracy

"We can change our lives. We can do, have, and be exactly what we wish."

- Tony Robbins

"The most rewarding things you do in life are often the ones that look like they cannot be done."

- Arnold Palmer

"Sports do not build character. They reveal it."

- Heywood Broun

"Good teams become great ones when the members trust each other enough to surrender the Me for the We."

- Phil Jackson

"I think sometimes in life the biggest challenges end up being the best things that happen in your life."

- Tom Brady

"We have this thing in our mind of I gotta feel perfect, calm and confident and THEN I’ll perform well. Mate, if that’s the case you’re going to perform well a very, very small portion of the time."

- Peter Clarke

"Pressure is a privilege"

- Virgil van Dijk

"They don’t hand out winner’s medals to those who were feeling the best on the day, nor to those who were thinking clearly and positively. The medals only go to those who did the best."

- Gareth J. Mole

"The key is not the ‘will to win’ … Everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that matters."

- Coach Bobby Knight

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

- Evander Holyfield

"Pursue what you love, what you are passionate about. Don’t let somebody else dictate your life’s path."

- Jack Nicklaus

"The ideal attitude is to be physically loose and mentally tight."

- Arthur Ashe

"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today."

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

"You win a few, you lose a few. Some get rained out. But you got to dress for all of them."

- Satchel Paige

"Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"To give any less than your best is to sacrifice a gift."

- Steve Prefontaine

"Luck? Sure. But only after long practice and only with the ability to think under pressure."

- Babe Didrikson Zaharias

"Surround yourself with good people. People who are going to be honest with you and look out for your best interests."

- Derek Jeter

"Success is where preparation and opportunity meet."

- Bobby Unser

"Work hard in silence, let your success be the noise."

- Frank Ocean

"I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination."

- Jimmy Dean

"You owe it to yourself to be the best you can possibly be - in baseball and in life."

- Pete Rose

"Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better."

- Pat Riley

"I’ve never lost a game. I just ran out of time."

- Michael Jordan

"Work hard, stay positive, and get up early. It's the best part of the day."

- George Allen, Sr.

"Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value."

- Albert Einstein

"Why does everyone talk about the past? All that counts is tomorrow’s game."

- Roberto Clemente

"Don't be afraid of your fears. They're not there to scare you. They're there to let you know that something is worth it."

- C. JoyBell C.

"I just knew if it could be done, it had to be done, and I did it."

- Gertrude Ederle

"Don't watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going."

- Sam Levenson

"The five S's of sports training are: stamina, speed, strength, skill, and spirit; but the greatest of these is spirit."

- Ken Doherty

"It’s not how big you are but how big you play."

- John Wooden

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

- Wayne Gretzky

"Wisdom is always an overmatch for strength."

- Phil Jackson

"The only thing standing between you and your goal is the story you keep telling yourself as to why you can't achieve it."

- Jordan Belfort

"Make each day your masterpiece."

- John Wooden

"Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it."

- Henry David Thoreau

"Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles."

- Alex Karras

"Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy."

- Wayne Gretzky

"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful."

- Albert Pujols

"The best way to predict the future is to create it."

- Peter Drucker

"Sports serve society by providing vivid examples of excellence."

- George F. Will

"The best motivation always comes from within."

- Michael Johnson

"Even while they teach, men learn."

- Seneca the Younger

"Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire."

- Arnold H. Glasow

"Make sure your worst enemy doesn’t live between your own two ears."

- Laird Hamilton

"The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."

- Walter Bagehot

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

- Knute Rockne

"Success is not about the destination, but the journey."

- Zig Ziglar

"The only way to achieve the impossible is to believe it is possible."

- Charles Kingsley

"Show me a guy who’s afraid to look bad, and I’ll show you a guy you can beat every time."

- Lou Brock

"It's not about the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog."

- Archie Griffin

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

- Joe Namath

"The secret of winning football games is working more as a team, less as individuals. I play not my 11 best, but my best 11."

- Knute Rockne

"Success is not in what you have, but who you are."

- Bo Bennett

"One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than 50 preaching it."

- Knute Rockne

"If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves."

- Thomas Alva Edison

"Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical."

- Yogi Berra

"Know yourself and you will win all battles."

- Lao Tzu

"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sail. Explore. Dream. Discover."

- Mark Twain

"A trophy carries dust. Memories last forever."

- Mary Lou Retton

"Listen to everyone because even an idiot will have a good idea once or twice in their life. Then evaluate and pick out what works for you and commit to it."

- James Kneller

"You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realised how seldom they do."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"I never criticize a player until they are first convinced of my unconditional confidence in their abilities."

- John Robinson

"The rewards are going to come, but my happiness is just loving the sport and having fun performing."

- Jackie Joyner-Kersee

"It's a round ball and a round bat, and you got to hit it square."

- Pete Rose

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

"Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can do what others can’t."

"Pressure is something you feel when you don’t know what the hell you’re doing."

"I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have."

"If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced."

"It’s not always the fastest or the strongest who win, but those who refuse to lose."

- Unknown

"Life is like sports: Sometimes you lose, sometimes you win, but the key is to never stop playing."

- Unknown

"You don't have to be extraordinary to be successful; you just have to be consistent."

"The only person you should try to be better than is the person you were yesterday."

"Your attitude determines your direction."

"Never give up on your dreams. If you do, you'll end up with nothing."

"Believe in yourself and you will be unstoppable."

"Your potential is endless. Go do what you were created to do."

"Your dreams don't have an expiration date. Take a deep breath and try again."

"Great things never come from comfort zones."

"Your only limit is you."

- Unknown

"It's not about being the best. It's about being better than you were yesterday."

"Push yourself because no one else is going to do it for you."

"It's not about how many times you fall down, it's about how many times you get back up."

"Don't run away from challenges. Run over them."

"You are NOT your thoughts."

"Life is like a game of soccer. You need goals. If there are no goals in your life, you can’t win."

- Unknown