Quotes on Sports

You know my dad pushed me to believe that I was going to be the best. I just never thought of life without tennis, even looking forward.

Tennis is the loneliest sport.

Success comprises in itself the seeds of its own decline and sport is not spared by this law.

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?

About the last thing I ever wanted in life was a knighthood, and even today some forty years after the event, I find it difficult to come to terms with a life where old and valued friends insist on calling me 'Sir' instead of Don, simply because they think it is protocol. But I have consciously shouldered these burdens because I felt that I was the medium through which cricket could achieve a higher status and gain maximum support from the people, not only in Australia but throughout the world.

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.

I still bother with runners I call hamburgers. They're never going to run any record times. But they can fulfill their own potential.

I had to make my own living and my own opportunity. But I made it! Don't sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.

Sports do not build character. They reveal it.

It was impossible to get a conversation going, everybody was talking too much.

In the field of sports you are more or less accepted for what you do rather than what you are.

I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.

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

I don't know anything about luck, but that the harder I train, the luckier I get.

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

You are the stars and the world is watching you. By your presence, you send a message to every village, every city, every nation. A message of hope. A message of victory.

My first act after being named head coach of the Bulls was to formulate a vision for the team. I had to take into account not only what I wanted to achieve, but how I was going to get there.

Hard courts are very negative for the body. I know the sport is a business and creating these courts is easier than clay or grass, but I am 100 per cent sure it is wrong.

I think sports is one of the places where race plays itself out publicly. Although we pretend it doesn't.