Quotes on Motivational Sports

When I was a young fellow I was knocked down plenty. I wanted to stay down, but I couldn't. I had to collect the two dollars for winning or go hungry. I had to get up. I was one of those hungry fighters. You could have hit me on the chin with a sledgehammer for five dollars. When you haven't eaten for two days you'll understand.

When I was young, I never wanted to leave the court until I got things exactly correct. My dream was to become a pro.

When a great team loses through complacency, it will constantly search for new and more intricate explanations to explain away defeat.

For myself, losing is not coming second. It's getting out of the water knowing you could have done better. For myself, I have won every race I've been in

Coaches have to watch for what they don't want to see and listen to what they don't want to hear.

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

The willingness to experiment with change may be the most essential ingredient to success at anything.

We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.

If you don't do what's best for your body, you're the one who comes up on the short end.

Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.

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

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?

Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us.

If I lose at play, I blaspheme; if my fellow loses, he blasphemes. So, God is always the loser.

Wisdom is always an overmatch for strength.

Sports do not build character. They reveal it.

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

Giving yourself permission to lose guarantees a loss.

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

It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.

Winners are not born, they are self-made.