Inspiring Quotes for Athletes: Fuel Your Passion and Drive

"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

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

- Steve Prefontaine

"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 change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination."

- Jimmy Dean

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

- Michael Jordan

"The only way to do great work is to love what you do."

- Steve Jobs

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

- Frank Ocean

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

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

"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

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

- Sam Levenson

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

- Joe Paterno

"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

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

- Vidal Sassoon

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

- Wayne Gretzky

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

- Henry David Thoreau

"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

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

- Bo Bennett

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

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

- Javier Báez

"Dreams don’t work unless you do."

- John C. Maxwell

"Make each day your masterpiece."

- John Wooden

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

- Zig Ziglar

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

- Theodore Roosevelt

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

- Nelson Mandela

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

- Michael Jordan

"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

"A goal without a plan is just a wish; make your dreams a reality."

- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

"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

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

- Les Brown

"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

"It’s not about perfect. It’s about effort. And when you bring that effort every single day, that’s where transformation happens."

- Jillian Michaels

"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out."

- Robert Collier

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

- Winston Churchill

"Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot, but make it hot by striking."

- William Butler Yeats

"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.

"The hardest skill to acquire in this sport is the one where you compete all out, give it all you have, and you are still getting beat no matter what you do."

- Bo Jackson

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

- Joe Namath

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

- Peter Drucker

"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

"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

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

- Arnold H. Glasow

"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

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

- Wayne Dyer

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

- Walter Bagehot

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

- Winston Churchill

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

- Eleanor Roosevelt

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

- Arnold Schwarzenegger

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

- George Allen, Sr.

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

- Zig Ziglar

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

- Bobby Knight

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

- Charles Kingsley

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

- Vince Lombardi

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

- Michael Phelps

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

- Bo Jackson

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

- Juma Ikangaa

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

- Archie Griffin

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

- Michael Jordan

"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment."

- Jim Rohn

"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

"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

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

- Jerry Rice

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

- Dan Gable

"Don’t get bitter, get better."

- Tiger Woods

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

- Muhammad Ali

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

- Michael Jordan

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

- John Wooden

"Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from a winning touchdown."

- Ross Perot

"The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in determination."

- Usain Bolt

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

- Lou Brock

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

- Michael Jordan

"A man who has no imagination has no wings."

- Muhammad Ali

"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

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

- Michael Phelps

"There’s no better feeling than stepping out on the field and stunning them all by doing what none of them thought you could do."

- Ashlyn Harris

"Never give up, never give in, and when the upper hand is ours, may we have the ability to handle the win with the dignity that we absorbed in the loss."

- Doug Williams

"The strength of the team is in each individual member…the strength of each member is the team."

- Phil Jackson

"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

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

- Michael Jordan

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

- Jerry Rice

"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

"If you don’t love what you do, you won’t do it with much conviction or passion."

- Mia Hamm

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

- Satchel Paige

"You just can’t beat the person who never gives up."

- Babe Ruth

"In baseball and in business, there are three types of people. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happened."

- Tommy Lasorda

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

- Bethany Hamilton

"The road to success runs uphill."

- Willie Davis

"Each of us has a fire in our hearts for something. It’s our goal in life to find it and keep it lit."

- Mary Lou Retton

"Most of us never run far enough on their first wind to find out they’ve got a second."

- William James

"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

"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

"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

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

- Kevin Durant

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

- Michael Jordan

"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

"Doctors and scientists said that 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."

- Roger Bannister

"Champions keep playing until they get it right."

- Billie Jean King

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

- Paul Bryant

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

- Pele

"Overpower. Overtake. Overcome."

- Serena Williams

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

- 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

"Success is where preparation and opportunity meet."

- Bobby Unser

"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

"Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there."

- Will Rogers

"Nothing will work unless you do."

- Maya Angelou

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

- Tim Duncan

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

- Bruce Jenner

"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

"What makes something special is not just what you have to gain, but what you feel there is to lose."

- 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

"Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness, heart, talent, guts. That’s what little girls are made of; the heck with sugar and spice."

- Bethany Hamilton

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

- Ray Lewis

"You’ve got to be confident when you’re competing. You’ve got to be a beast."

- Gabby Douglas

"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

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

- Herb Brooks

"You can motivate by fear, and you can motivate by reward. But both those methods are only temporary. The only lasting thing is self-motivation."

- Homer Rice

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

- Hank Aaron

"There is always going to be a reason why you can’t do something; your job is to constantly look for the reasons why you can achieve your dreams."

- Shannon Miller

"You control your own wins and losses."

- Maria Sharapova

"You must not only have competitiveness but ability, regardless of the circumstance you face, to never quit."

- Abby Wambach

"Just believe in yourself. Even if you don’t pretend that you do and, and some point, you will."

- Venus Williams

"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

"Don’t be afraid of failure. This is the way to succeed."

- LeBron James

"You dream. You plan. You reach. There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, with belief, with confidence and trust in yourself and those around you, there are no limits."

- Michael Phelps

"If something stands between you and your success, move it. Never be denied."

- Dwayne Johnson

"Winners never quit and quitters never win."

- Vince Lombardi

"You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself, your own highest standards, and when you reach your limits, that is real joy."

- Arthur Ashe

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

- Ben Hogan

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

- Liane Cardes

"In a growth mindset, challenges are exciting rather than threatening. So rather than thinking, oh, I’m going to reveal my weaknesses, you say, wow, here’s a chance to grow."

- Carol Dweck

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

- Tommy Lasorda

"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 training, but I said, don’t quit, suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion."

- Muhammad Ali

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

- Mark Spitz

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

- Steve Young

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

- Lindsey Vonn

"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

"Change failure into extraordinary achievement."

- Gail Devers

"Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe."

- Gail Devers

"Never give up, never give in, and when the upper hand is ours, may we have the ability to handle the win with the dignity that we absorbed the loss."

- Lance Armstrong

"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."

- Yogi Berra

"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."

- Archie Griffin

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

- Andre Agassi

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

- Jimmy Demaret

"Ask not what your teammates can do for you. Ask what you can do for your teammates."

- Tom Landry

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

- Tony Dorsett

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

- Gale Sayers

"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 percent of the shots you don't take."

- Wayne Gretzky

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

- Michael Jordan

"You'll never know what you're capable of until you take that first step and just go for it."

- Natasha Hastings

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

- Derek Jeter

"I really think a champion is defined not by their wins, but how they can recover when they fall."

- Serena Williams

"We don't want to tell our dreams, we want to show them."

- Cristiano Ronaldo

"If you go around being afraid, you're never going to enjoy life. You have only one chance, so you've got to have fun."

- Lindsey Vonn

"But effort? Nobody can judge that because effort is between you and you."

- Ray Lewis

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

- Kobe Bryant

"Nothing can stop you and nothing can define you."

- Adeel Alam

"The wall is your mind playing tricks on you. You just need to say, 'One more step, I can do this. I have more in me.' You'll be so proud of yourself once you push past your threshold."

- Kerri Walsh

"Hard days are the best because that’s when champions are made."

- Gabby Douglas

"You can motivate by fear, and you can motivate by reward. But those methods are only temporary. The only lasting thing is self motivation."

- Homer Rice

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

- Fred Devito

"If you only ever give 90% in training then you will only ever give 90% when it matters."

- Michael Owen

"He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life."

- Muhammad Ali

"Find the good. It’s all around you. Find it, showcase it, and you’ll start believing it."

- Jesse Owens

"Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful."

- John Wooden

"One thing about championship teams is that they’re resilient. No matter what is thrown at them, no matter how deep the hole, they find a way to bounce back and overcome adversity."

- Nick Saban

"Every champion was once a contender that refused to give up."

- Rocky Balboa

"I think team first. It allows me to succeed, and it allows my team to succeed."

- LeBron James

"I may win and I may lose, but I will never be defeated."

- Emmitt Smith

"Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement."

- Arnold Palmer

"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

"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

"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

"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

"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

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

- Phil Jackson

"A team isn’t a bunch of kids out to win. A team is something you belong to, something you feel, something you have to earn."

- Floyd Mayweather Jr.

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

- Gary Player

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

- John Wooden

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

- William Arthur Ward

"Driven by the moral imperative of paying the price to be great."

- Vince Lombardi

"Mate, if that’s the case you’re going to perform well a very, very small portion of the time."

- Peter Clarke

"I never left the field saying I could have done more to get ready and that gives me peace of mind."

- Peyton Manning

"Believe me, the reward is not so great without the struggle."

- Wilma Rudolph

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

- Neale Donald Walsch

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

- Babe Didrikson Zaharias

"It is action that creates motivation."

- Steve Backley

"If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes."

- Andrew Carnegie

"I’ve learned that something constructive comes from every defeat."

- Tom Landry

"The hardest skill to acquire in this sport is the one where you compete all out, give it all you have, and you are still getting beat no matter what you do. When you have the killer instinct to fight through that, it is very special."

- Eddie Reese

"Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play."

- Mike Singletary

"Being nervous is not something you should be ashamed of. Nervous means you care, you really want to do well."

- Paula Creamer

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

- Laird Hamilton

"They say discipline and dedication and respect are the key factors, but patience is a virtue that is absolutely essential!"

- Ria Ramnarine

"You should never stay at the same level. Always push yourself to the next."

- Marnelli Dimzon

"Number one is just to gain a passion for running. To love the morning, to love the trail, to love the pace on the track. And if some kid gets really good at it, that’s cool too."

- Pat Tyson

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

- John McEnroe

"If you think you’re done, you always have at least 40 percent more."

- Lauren Crandall

"I always try to start out with some type of goal. Then I work backward and think of what I need to do to get there and give myself smaller goals that are more immediate."

- Kristi Yamaguchi

"For me, winning isn't something that happens suddenly on the field when the whistle blows and the crowds roar. Winning is something that builds physically and mentally every day that you train and every night that you dream."

- Jacques Plante

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

- Florence Griffith Joyner

"Many times, I had to dig deep and perform. All of that adversity helped me and drove me to want to be the best."

- Hayley Wickenheiser

"The Spirit of Sports: The spirit of sports gives each of us who participate an opportunity to be creative. Sports knows no sex, age, race or religion. Sports gives us all the ability to test ourselves mentally, physically and emotionally in a way no other aspect of life can. For many of us who struggle with ‘fitting in’ or our identity – sports gives us our first face of confidence. That first bit of confidence can be a gateway to many other great things!"

- Gordie Howe

"Sports creates a bond between contemporaries that lasts a lifetime. It also gives your life structure, discipline and a genuine, sincere, pure fulfillment that few other areas of endeavor provide."

- Bobby Jones

"Competitive sports are played mainly on a five-and-a-half inch court, the space between your ears."

- Arthur Ashe

"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."

- Jimmy Johnson

"Treat a person as he is, and he will remain as he is. Treat him as he could be, and he will become what he should be."

- Doug Williams

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

- Mike Ditka

"You have to be able to center yourself, to let all of your emotions go. Don’t ever forget that you play with your soul as well as your body."

- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

"Age is no barrier. It’s a limitation you put on your mind."

- Jackie Joyner-Kersee

"My dad has always taught me these words: care and share. That's why we put on clinics. The only thing I can do is try to give back. If it works, it works."

- Tiger Woods

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

- Greg LeMond

"You need to play with supreme confidence, or else you'll lose again, and then losing becomes a habit."

- Pat Riley

"You have to have the mentality of executing your game when you don't feel like there's a lot of hope. I think the best feeling is when somebody pushes you to the limit and you dig down a little bit extra. By the same token, you also need a little luck. Sometimes they come together."

- Ronnie Lott

"When you get that nice celebration coming into the dugout and you’re getting your ass hammered by guys—there’s no better feeling than to have that done."

- Jerry Rice

"It’s going to be a journey. It’s not a sprint to get in shape."

- Kerri Walsh Jennings

"Passion first and everything will fall into place."

- Holly Holm

"The past doesn’t matter. Take today."

- Becky Sauerbrunn

"As athletes, we have ups and downs. Unfortunately, you can't pick the days they come on."

- Deena Kastor

"Once you give them the power to tell you you’re great, you’ve also given them the power to tell you you’re unworthy. Once you start caring about people’s opinions of you, you give up control."

- Ronda Rousey

"The ability to conquer one’s self is no doubt the most precious of all things that sports bestows."

- Olga Korbut

"Sweat is the cologne of accomplishment."

- Heywood Hale Broun

"You can’t always be the best. You have to remember that everyone makes mistakes sometimes."

- Aly Raisman

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

- Steve Garvey

"I don’t want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant."

- Kobe Bryant

"It's not pressure unless you are not prepared."

- Colin Kaepernick

"An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head."

- Gary Player

"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

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

- Gertrude Ederle

"Leadership is a matter of having people look at you and gain confidence, seeing how you react. If you're in control, they're in control."

- Marv Levy

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

- Ken Doherty

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

- Arthur Ashe

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

- Brian Tracy

"Our brain craves reducing uncertainty. Uncertainty is the hardest human emotion."

- Jonah Oliver

"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

"Pressure is a privilege."

- Virgil van Dijk

"Champions have their triumphs before millions and their failures, the later is the real test of character."

- Former TV Sports Broadcaster

"A trophy carries dust. Memories last forever."

- Mary Lou Retton

"I figure practice puts your brains in your muscles."

- Emil Zatopek

"Perhaps the single most important element in mastering the techniques and tactics of racing is experience. But once you have the fundamentals, acquiring the experience is a matter of time."

- Joe Paterno

"You win some, you lose some, and some get rained out, but you gotta suit up for them all."

- J. Askenberg

"I have always tried to be true to myself, to pick those battles I felt were important. My ultimate responsibility is to myself. I could never be anything else."

- Pele

"The more I practice, the luckier I get."

- Ted Walsh

"Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I'm very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that."

- Bill Shankly

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

- George F. Will

"I always tell kids, you have two eyes and one mouth. Keep two open and one closed. You never learn anything if you’re the one talking."

- Bob Cousy

"Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical."

- Yogi Berra

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

- Knute Rockne

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

- Ernie Banks

"Football doesn't build character, it reveals character!"

- Herschel Walker

"I'll let the racket do the talking."

- Babe Ruth

"You play to win the game...Hello. You play to win the game."

- Harry Caray

"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."

- John Madden

"I feel like I'm the best, but you're not going to get me to say that."

- Pat Williams

"I put the team on my back doh."

- Greg Jennings

"Age is no barrier. It's a limitation you put on your mind."

- Jackie Joyner-Kersee

"One day of practice is like one day of clean living. It doesn't do you any good."

- Sam Snead

"Ambition beyond ability is almost as bad as having no ambition at all."

- Former TV Sports Broadcaster

"Leave while they still want you."

- Former TV Sports Broadcaster

"Any time Detroit scores more than 100 points and holds the other team below 100 points, they almost always win."

- Rocky Graziano

"We can't win at home. We can't win on the road. As general manager, I just can't figure out where else to play."

- Doug Collins

"The fewer rules a coach has, the fewer rules there are for players to break."

- Abe Lemons

"Basketball is like war in that offensive weapons are developed first, and it always takes a while for the defense to catch up."

- Dale Earnhardt

"Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein."

- Mike Cameron

"Statistics are like bikinis—they show a lot but not everything."

- Michael Jordan

"Golf and sex are the only things you can enjoy without being good at them!"

- Magic Johnson

"Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer."

- Ted Williams

"I quit school in the sixth grade because of pneumonia. Not because I had it, but because I couldn't spell it."

- George Best

"The sun has been there for 500, 600 years."

- Mike Tyson

"[He] called me a ‘rapist’ and a ‘recluse.’ I’m not a recluse."

- Herman Edwards

"Booze, broads and bullshit. If you got all that, what else do you need?"

- Dennis Rodman

"Chemistry is a class you take in high school or college, where you figure out two plus two is 10, or something."

- George Brett

"If a tie is like kissing your sister, losing is like kissing your grandmother with her teeth out!"

- Ted Williams

"Baseball is like church. Many attend but few understand."

- Allen Iverson

"We talkin' bout practice?"

- Doug Plank

"Most football players are temperamental. That's 90 percent temper and 10 percent mental."

- Bruce Coslet

"I don't know what he has. A pulled groin. A hip flexor. I don't know. A pulled something. I never pulled anything. You can't pull fat."

- Chad Ochocinco

"Child please!"

- Red Auerbach

"You win some, lose some, and wreck some."

- Jim Mora

"What's that? Ah – Playoffs? Don't talk about – playoffs?! You kidding me?! Playoffs?! I just hope we can win a game! Another game!"

- Jackie Joyner-Kersee

"Close don't count in baseball. Close only counts in horseshoes and grenades."

- Steffi Graf

"When you lose a couple of times, it makes you realize how difficult it is to win."

- Hank Aaron

"It took me seventeen years to get three thousand hits in baseball. I did it in one afternoon on the golf course."

- Emmitt Smith

"Goaltending is a normal job, sure. How would you like it in your job if every time you made a small mistake, a red light went on over your desk and 15,000 people stood up and yelled at you?"

- Wilt Chamberlain

"Nobody roots for Goliath."

- Bo Jackson

"Your body can stand almost anything. It’s your mind that you have to convince."

- Anon

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

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

"Conquer from within, and no external force can stand in your way."

"The secret to success lies in the art of embracing failure."

"Take the lead in your life’s race; victory belongs to the bold."

"Dreams are the architects of the future; build them with purpose."

"Success is a reflection of the effort you’re willing to invest."

"Failure is a detour, not a dead end; reroute and keep moving forward."

"Discover the strength within; it’s the foundation of endurance."

"Your story is written with every step you take; make each one count."

"Be a craftsman of your destiny; mold it with passion and purpose."

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and each step matters."

"The pursuit of greatness requires the courage to embrace discomfort."

"Triumph over self-doubt; confidence is the key to unlocking potential."

"Perfection is an illusion; excellence is a journey with room for growth."

"Victory is not found in the absence of challenges but in the perseverance through them."

"Fuel your ambition with determination; success is the byproduct."

"In the tapestry of success, each thread represents resilience and determination."

"Fortune favors the audacious; take risks, reap rewards."

"Elevate your mindset, and success will follow suit."

"Celebrate progress; each small step contributes to the grand mosaic of achievement."

"Success is a journey, not a destination; savor the process."

"Champion your dreams with unwavering belief; victory will echo your dedication."

"Master the art of discipline; it’s the bridge between goals and accomplishments."

"Adversity introduces you to the warrior within; embrace the battle."

"Courage is the compass guiding you through uncharted territories of success."

"Rise from the ashes of failure, for every fall is an opportunity to soar higher."

"Success is not bestowed; it’s earned through dedication and hard work."

"Perseverance transforms obstacles into stepping stones; ascend with determination."

"Shatter the limits imposed by fear; embrace the boundless potential within."

"Dare to stand out in a world where conformity is commonplace."

"Fuel your journey with passion; it’s the driving force behind every triumph."

"Success is not confined to the elite; it welcomes the persistent and the determined."

"Chase excellence with vigor; mediocrity has no place in the realm of achievement."

"Triumph is born in the moments when you refuse to surrender."

"Craft your destiny with the choices you make; each decision shapes your narrative."

"Let determination be your guide through the labyrinth of challenges."

"Embrace the discomfort of growth; success lies beyond your comfort zone."

"Fortify your spirit with resilience; it’s the armor against adversity."

"Every setback is a stepping stone to a greater comeback; rise and rebuild."

"Success is not just about making money. It’s about making a difference."

"Dreams unfurl their wings when nurtured with passion and commitment."

"The journey of a champion begins with the decision to strive for greatness."

"Success is not a destination but a continuous journey of self-discovery and growth."

"The road to success is dotted with obstacles; navigate with determination."

"Confront challenges with a warrior’s spirit; victory is the reward of the valiant."

"Every moment is an opportunity to redefine your limits."

"Celebrate the journey; success is not a sprint but a marathon of endurance."

"This is really a lovely horse, I once rode her mother."

"One day you won't be an athlete anymore. You won't have that training before competition. You won't have those long bus rides with your teammates anymore. One day you won't be an athlete anymore. You'll just have memories of one."

"Strength does not come from the body. It comes from the will."

"What's the difference between a 3-week-old puppy and a sportswriter? In six weeks, the puppy stops whining."

"Your attitude determines your direction."

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

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

"Great things never come from comfort zones."

"The more you sweat in practice, the less you bleed in battle."

"Your dreams are the architects of your reality."

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

"Believe in yourself and you will be unstoppable."

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

"Success is not just about winning; it’s about the lessons learned through the journey."

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

"Hard work is a two-way street. You get back exactly what you put in."

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

"Your only limit is you."

- Unknown

"Don’t stop when you’re tired, stop when you’re done."

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

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

"The pain you feel today will be the strength you feel tomorrow."

"Success is not for the chosen few, but for the few who choose."

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

"Seeds of success are planted in the soil of determination."

"Embrace challenges as stepping stones to triumph, not stumbling blocks."

"To achieve something you’ve never had before, you must do something you’ve never done before."

"The summit is never reached without first conquering the valleys."

"Your journey is like a fingerprint, unique and defined by your choices."

"Dare to dream big; the universe tends to conspire with the dreamers."

"Every setback is a setup for a greater comeback."

"Strive for progress, not perfection; it’s the small steps that lead to significant leaps."

"Chase your goals with the ferocity of a lion hunting its prey."

"Turn your fear into fuel for achievement."

"The path to success is paved with resilience, determination, and unwavering belief."

"Success is not a destination; it’s a continuous journey of growth and self-discovery."

"Believe in the power of persistence; it turns ordinary into extraordinary."

"Make your actions speak louder than your doubts."

"In the realm of possibility, there are no limits; dare to explore."

"Let your passion be the compass guiding you through uncharted territories."

"Every sunrise brings a new opportunity to rewrite your story."

"You have good days, you have bad days. But the main thing is to grow mentally."

"If at first you don’t succeed, try doing what your coach told you to do the first time."

"You are NOT your thoughts."

"It never gets easier, you just get better."

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