Quotations about Sports & Competition

“A champion is one who gets up when he can't.”

Jack Dempsey

“It's hard to beat a person who never gives up.”

Babe Ruth

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

John Robinson

“Somebody will always break your records. It is how you live that counts.”

Earl Campbell

“I love the winning, I can take the losing, but most of all I love to play.”

Boris Becker

“It's not necessarily the amount of time you spend at practice that counts; it's what you put into the practice.”

Eric Lindros

“Adversity cause some men to break; others to break records.”

William A. Ward

“Most games are lost, not won.”

Casey Stengel

“Even as a fierce competitor I try to smile.”

Magic Johnson

“There is no victory at bargain basement prices.”

Dwight David Eisenhower



“The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”

Thomas Paine

“You can't be a winner and be afraid to lose.”

Charles Lynch

“It's not so important who starts the game but who finishes it.”

John Wooden

“Winning is a habit. Unfortuantely, so is losing.”

Vince Lombardi

“The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur.”

Vince Lombardi

“I don't care how good you play, you can find somebody who can beat you, and I don't care how bad you play, you can find somebody you can beat.”

Harvey Penick

“The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.”

Roger Bannister

“If you are not big enough to lose, you are not big enough to win.”

Walter Reuther

“The vision of a champion is someone who is bent over, drenched in sweat, at the point of exhaustion when no one else is watching.”

Anson Dorrance

“Before you can win, you have to believe you are worthy.”

Mike Ditka



“One hundred percent of the shots you don't take don't go in.c”

Wayne Gretzky

“It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.”

Archie Griffen

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

John Wooden

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

Joe Paterno

“Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.”

Tom Landry

“The best and fastest way to learn a sport is to watch and imitate a champion.”

Jean-Claude Killy

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

Michael Jordan

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

Mike Singletary

“Everytime you are not practicing, someone else is...when you play them, they will win.”

Unknown

“Failure is not fatal; failing to change will be.”

John Wooden



“Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it.”

George Halas

“You can only go as far as you push.”

Unknown

“Play every game like it's the last one you're going to play.”

Joey R. Mendoza

“How a man plays a game shows something of his character, how he loses shows all of it.”

Unknown

“Sports do not build character. They reveal it.”

John Wooden