Motivational Sports Quotes - Moving You to Victory

What a great Championship game! Congratulations to Duke and to Butler. Inches short of being the greatest basketball finish of all time.


Excel - Basketball
Dare to be your best.
22 in. x 28 in.
$13.99
Order yours today


Muhammad Ali quotes
Vince Lombardi quotes
John Wooden quotes

I never doubted my ability, but when you hear all your life you're inferior, it makes you wonder if all the other guys have something you've never seen before. If they do, I'm still looking for it.
-Hank Aaron, baseball

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

My motto has always been 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, baseball

One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, basketball

Your mind is what makes everything else work.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, basketball

An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.
-Andre Agassi, tennis

Nothing can substitute for just plain hard work. I had to put in the time to get back. And it was a grind. It meant training and sweating everyday. But I was completely committed to working out to prove to myself that I could still do it.
-Andre Agassi, tennis

What makes something special is not just what you have to gain, but what you feel there is to lose.
-Andre Agassi, tennis

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.
-Andre Agassi, tennis

Losing doesn't eat at me the way it used to. I just get ready for the next play, the next game, the next season.
-Troy Aikman, football

Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.
-Muhammad Ali, boxing

Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even.
-Muhammad Ali, boxing

It's lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challlenges, and I believe in myself.
-Muhammad Ali, boxing

The fight is won or lost far away from the witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.
-Muhammad Ali, boxing

The man who has no imagination has no wings.
-Muhammad Ali, boxing

To be a great champion you must first believe you are the best. If you're not, pretend you are.
-Muhammad Ali, boxing

Winning can be defined as the science of being totally prepared.
-George Allen, football

If everything's under control, you're going too slow.
-Mario Andretti, auto racing

Desire is the key to motivation, but it's the determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek.
-Mario Andretti, auto racing

Circumstances may cause interruptions and delays, but never lose sight of your goal. Prepare yourself in every way you can by increasing your knowledge and adding to your experiences, so that you can make the most of an opportunity when it occurs.
-Mario Andretti, auto racing

Regardless of how you feel inside, always try to look like a winner.
-Arthur Ashe, tennis

From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.
-Arthur Ashe, tennis

One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.
-Arthur Ashe, tennis

Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.
-Arthur Ashe, tennis

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, tennis

The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.
-Roger Bannister, track

Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours.
-Yogi Berra, baseball

Baseball is 90% physical - the other half is mental.
-Yogi Berra, baseball

How did I like school? Well, I liked it closed.
-Yogi Berra, baseball

I really didn't say everything I said.
-Yogi Berra, baseball

If the people don't want to come out to the park, nobody's gonna stop them.
-Yogi Berra, baseball

If you can't imitate him, don't copy him.
-Yogi Berra, baseball

If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up somewhere else.
-Yogi Berra, baseball

It's like deja-vu, all over again.
-Yogi Berra, baseball

Ninety percent of the game is half mental.
-Yogi Berra, baseball

No one goes there anymore -- it's too crowded.
-Yogi Berra, baseball

We have deep depth.
-Yogi Berra, baseball

We made too many wrong mistakes.
-Yogi Berra, baseball

When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
-Yogi Berra, baseball

Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel.
-Yogi Berra, baseball

You couldn't get a conversation started-everybody was talking to each other.
-Yogi Berra, baseball

I don't think that once you get to one level, you can relax. You've got to keep pushing.
-Larry Bird, basketball

A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals.
-Larry Bird, basketball

I would rather sleep only five hours and wake up at 5 or 5:30 a.m. and be in control of my time than to sleep later and spend the entire day controlled by time.
-Dan Bouchard, hockey

Sports do not build character. They reveal it.
-Heywood Broun, sports writing

The tragedy of life is not that a man loses, but that he almost wins.
-Heywood Broun, sports writing

If any thing goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, we did it. If anything goes really good, then you did it. That's all it takes to get people to win football games for you.
-Paul "Bear" Bryant, football

If you are going to be a successful duck hunter, you must go where the ducks are.
-Paul "Bear" Bryant, football

The first time you quit, it's hard. The second time, it gets easier. The third time, you don't even have to think about it.
-Paul "Bear" Bryant, football

There's a lot of blood, sweat, and guts between dreams and success.
-Paul "Bear" Bryant, football

Little things make the difference. Everyone is well prepared in the big things, but only the winners perfect the little things.
-Paul "Bear" Bryant, football

If you are going to be a successful duck hunter, you must go where the ducks are.
-Paul "Bear" Bryant, football

If you want to coach you have three rules to follow to win. One, surround yourself with people who can't live without football. I've had a lot of them. Two, be able to recognize winners. They come in all forms. And, three, have a plan for everything. A plan for practice, a plan for the game. A plan for being ahead, and a plan for being behind 20-0 at half, with your quarterback hurt and the phones dead, with it raining cats and dogs and no rain gear because the equipment man left it at home.
-Paul "Bear" Bryant, football

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, football

I don't belive the old statement, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." If that were the case, then Cadillacs and Jaguars and Mercedes would never make a change. I've always looked for ways to make things better.
-Vic Bubas, basketball

The opera ain't over 'till the fat lady sings.
-Dan Cook, sports writer

Fight one more round. When your arms are so tired that you can hardly lift your hands to come on guard, fight one more round. When your nose is bleeding and your eyes are black and you are so tired that you wish your opponent would crack you one on the jaw and put you to sleep, fight one more round  remembering that the man who always fights one more round is never whipped.
-James J. Corbett, boxing

To become a champion, fight one more round.
-James J. Corbett, boxing

When you're prepared, you're more confident. When you have a strategy, you're more comfortable.
-Fred Couples, golf

If I've got correct goals, and if I keep pursuing them the best way I know how, everything falls into line. If I do the right thing right, I'm going to succeed.
-Dan Dierdorf, football

Success isn't permanent, and failure isn't fatal.
-Mike Dikta, football

You are never a loser until you quit trying.
-Mike Ditka, football,

If you keep thinking about what you want to do or what you hope will happen, you don't do it, and it won't happen.
-Joe DiMaggio, baseball

Get out of the blocks, run your race, stay relaxed. If you run your race, you'll win. Channel your energy. Focus.
-Fitzhugh Dodson, track

The question isnt at what age I want to retire; its at what income.
-George Foreman, boxing

So I close in saying that I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for.
-Lou Gehrig, baseball

Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.
-Lou Gehrig, baseball

You dont get the breaks unless you play with the team instead of against it.
-Lou Gehrig, baseball

The secret to success is to start from scratch and keep on scratching.
-Dennis Green, football

I miss all the shots I don't take.
-Wayne Gretzky, hockey

One hundred percent of the shots you don't take don't go in.
-Wayne Gretzky, hockey

I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it is.
-Wayne Gretzky, hockey

Learn to differentiate between what is truly important and what can be dealt with at another time.
-Mia Hamm, soccer

You may get skinned knees and elbows, but it's worth it if you score a spectacular goal.
-Mia Hamm, soccer

It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.
-Edmund Hillary, mountain climbing

You don't have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things -- to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals.
-Edmund Hillary, mountain climbing

Reverse every natural instinct and do the opposite of what you are inclined to do, and you will probably come very close to having a perfect golf swing.
-Ben Hogan, golf

Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.
-Lou Holtz, football

Adversity is another way to measure the greatness of individuals. I never had a crises that didn't make me stronger.
-Lou Holtz, football

I can't believe that God put us on this earth to be ordinary.
-Lou Holtz, football

In life, be a participant, not a spectator.
-Lou Holtz, football

It's a better view if you're standing up than if you're laying down.
-Lou Holtz, football

No one has ever drowned in sweat.
-Lou Holtz, football

The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely the one who dropped it.
-Lou Holtz, football

If you want to be successful in the gym, in the classroom, in college or when you get out and go into the world of work, that is going to be determined by how hard you are willing to work.
-Robert Hughes, basketball

The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare.
-Juma Ikanga'a,

I have no regrets because I know I did my best - all I could do.
-Midori Ito, ice skating

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

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.
-Jimmy Johnson, football

If you accept the negative expectations of others, you never will chance the outcome.
-Michael Jordan, basketball

I maintain my edge by staying a student - you always have something to learn.
-Jackie Joyner-Kersee, track

My attitude is never to be satisfied. Never.
-Bela Karolyi, gymnastics

To win, you have to risk loss.
-Jean-Claude Killy, skiing

Be bold. If you're going to make an error, make a doozy, and don't be afraid to hit the ball.
-Billie Jean King, tennis

The will to succeed is important, but whats even more important is the will to prepare.
-Bobby Knight, basketabll

Always have a plan, and believe in it. Nothing happens by accident.
-Chuck Knox, football

A coach is someone who tells you what you don't want to hear, who has you see what you don't want to see, so you can be who you have always known you could be.
-Tom Landry, football

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, football

The secret to winning is consistent, enlightened management.
-Tom Landry, football

If you are prepared, you will be confident, and will do the job.
-Tom Landry, football

The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in not giving up.
-Tommy Lasorda, baseball

The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.
-Bruce Lee, martial arts

I believe the brain is like a muscle - like any other it can be improved.
-Ivan Lendl, tennis

All right Mister, let me tell you what winning means you're willing to go longer, work harder, give more than anyone else.
-Vince Lombardi, football

And the trouble with me is that my ego just can't accept a loss. I suppose that if I were more perfectly adjusted, I would toss off defeat, but my name is on this ball club. Thirty-six men publicly reflect me and reflect on me, and it's a matter of my pride.
-Vince Lombardi, football

Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.
-Vince Lombardi, football

I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted, but victorious, on the field of battle.
-Vince Lombardi, football

If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm.
-Vince Lombardi, football

If you cant accept losing, you cant win.
-Vince Lombardi, football

If you'll not settle for anything less than your best, you'll be amazed at what you can accomplish in your lives.
-Vince Lombardi, football

In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.
-Vince Lombardi, football

It is time for us all to stand and cheer for the doer, the achiever  the one who recognizes the challenge and does something about it.
-Vince Lombardi, football

Its not whether you get knocked down. Its whether you get up again.
-Vince Lombardi, football

It's easy to have faith in yourself and have discipline when you're a winner, when you're No. 1. What you've got to have is faith and discipline when you're not yet a winner.
-Vince Lombardi, football

Leadership rests not only on outstanding ability. It also rests on commitment, loyalty and pride. It rests on followers who are ready to accept guidance. Leadership is the ability to direct people and - more important - to have those people accept that direction.
-Vince Lombardi, football

Once you agree upon the price you and your family must pay for success it enables you to ignore the minor hurts, the opponent's pressure, the temporary failures.
-Vince Lombardi, football

Practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.
-Vince Lombardi, football

Regardless of what you do put in, every game boils down to doing the things you do best and doing them over and over again.
-Vince Lombardi, football

The achievements of an organization are the result of the combined efforts of each individual.
-Vince Lombardi, football

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

The greatest achievement is not in never failing, but in rising again after you fall.
-Vince Lombardi, football

The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.
-Vince Lombardi, football

The only place where success comes before hard work is in the dictionary.
-Vince Lombardi, football

The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence, regardless of his chosen field of endeavor.
-Vince Lombardi, football

To me, a leader is a visionary that energizes others. This definition of leadership has two kew dimensions: a) creating the vision of the future, and b) inspiring others to make the vision a reality.
-Vince Lombardi, football

Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all time thing. You don't win once in a while, you don't do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.
-Vince Lombardi, football

Winning isn't everything, but the will to win is everything.
-Vince Lombardi, football

You carry on no matter what are the obstacles. You simply refuse to give up - and, when the going gets tough, you get tougher. And, you win.
-Vince Lombardi, football

You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time.
-Vince Lombardi, football

You've got to be in top physical condition. Fatigue makes cowards of us all.
-Vince Lombardi, football

Success demands singleness of purpose.
-Vince Lombardi, football

Because it's there.
-George H. L. Mallory, mountain climbing

I have always adhered to two principles. The first is to train hard and get into the best possible physical condition. The second is to forget all about the other fellow until you face him I the ring and the bell sounds for the fight.
-Rocky Marciano, boxing

You win not by chance, but by preparation.
-Roger Maris, baseball

No one can play whatever position he chooses. If that happened in baseball, there'd be nine pitchers.
-Billy Martin, baseball

The idea in this game isn't to win popularity polls or be a good guy to everyone. The name of the game is to win.
-Billy Martin, baseball

Some days you tame the tiger. And some days the tiger has you for lunch.
-Christy Mathewson, baseball

Some days you tame the tiger. And some days the tiger has you for lunch.
-Frank Edwin McGraw, baseball

You measure a player from the head up.
-Al McGuire, basketball

To finish first you must first finish.
-Rick Mears, auto racing

If you play to win, as I do, the game never ends.
-Stan Mikita, hockey

Every passion has its destiny.
-Billy Mills, track

If you arent going all the way, why go at all?
-Joe Namath, football

The moment of victory is much too short to live for that and nothing else.
-Martina Navratilova, tennis

Setting goals for your game is an art. The trick is in setting them at the right level neither too low nor too high.
-Greg Norman, golf

Find the good. It's all around you. Find it, showcase it and you'll start believing in it.
-Jesse Owens, track

Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you.
-Satchel Paige, baseball

Money and women. They're two of the strongest things in the world. The things you do for a woman you wouldn't do for anything else. Same with money.
-Satchel Paige, baseball

Smile well and often. It makes people wonder what your up to.
-Satchel Paige, baseball

The most rewarding things you do in life are often the ones that look like they cannot be done.
-Arnold Palmer, golf

The secret of concentration is the secret of self-discovery. You reach inside yourself to discover your personal resources, and what it takes to match them to the challenge.
-Arnold Palmer, golf

Any penalty - I've told you a hundred times - can be eliminated by concentration or good judgement.
-Bill Parcells, football

I don't like celebrity quarterbacks. We don't need those. We need battlefield commanders.
-Bill Parcells, football

I love the game. I think it's a great game because you find out a lot about yourself. You test your mettle every week. There's no grey area, there's instant gratification and there are no quarterly reports. We're not just doing a little bit better. You know every Sunday what happened.
-Bill Parcells, football

I only want my team to play to its potential, as I perceive it to be. I really don't have any regard for anyone else's perception.
-Bill Parcells, football

I talked to the team a lot about staying power. You never find out if you have that until you've been beaten down a few times.
-Bill Parcells, football

I'm trying to keep my own house from burning down. I can't worry about someone else's house.
-Bill Parcells, football

Look, when you are starting to put something together, you want the pudding to come out good. You're trying to to put in the right ingredients.
-Bill Parcells, football

My job is to call attention to the things that I think are the difference between winning and losing. If I can't do that then I have failed as a coach.
-Bill Parcells, football

The quarterback is in charge of the chuck wagon. He's handing it out here and there, but he can't just throw it out there indiscriminately or the wolves will get him.
-Bill Parcells, football

The time to worry is before you place the bet - not after the wheel is spinning. Once it spins, you forget about it.
-Bill Parcells, football

There are two sides to a pancake. One is brown and fluffy; the other is burnt.
-Bill Parcells, football

This season isn't going to be without several crises. There's no doubt about it. They're coming.
-Bill Parcells, football

We're not playing solitaire out here.
-Bill Parcells, football

Succes without honor is an uneasoned dish. It will satisfy your hunger, but it won't taste good.
-Joe Paterno, football

The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital.
-Joe Paterno, football

Act like you expect to get into the end zone.
-Joe Paterno, football

Failure is good. It's fertilizer. Everything I've learned about coaching I've learned from making mistakes.
-Rick Pitino, basketball

You are trying not only to reach your potential but to move beyond it. If you are not in the best shape you can be, these things simply become more difficult to achieve.
-Rick Pitino, basketball

To give anything less than your best is to sacrafice the gift.
-Steve Prefontaine, track

I wanted to be a football coach from the time I was eleven. I work sixteen hours a day at it, but I feel I've never worked a day in my life.
-John Ralston, football

A champion needs a motivation above and beyond winning.
-Pat Riley, basketball

Don't let other people tell you what you want.
-Pat Riley, basketball

The most important thing to do is to set goals. Training is a waste of time if you don't have goals.
-Samantha Riley, swimming

A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.
-Jackie Robinson, baseball

I'm not concerned with you liking or disliking me. All I ask is that you respect me as a human being.
-Jackie Robinson, baseball

One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than 50 preaching it.
-Knute Rockne, football

One player practicing sportsmanship is far better than fifty preaching it.
-Knute Rockne, football

The coach is the team, and the team is the coach. You reflect each other.
-Darrell Royal, football

I wouldn't give one iota to make a trip from the cradle to the grave unless I could live in a competitive world.
-Adolph Rupp, basketball

Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.
-Babe Ruth, baseball

It's hard to beat a person who never gives up.
-Babe Ruth, baseball

I had a clear vision of myself winning the Mr. Universe contest. It was a very spiritual thing, in a way, because I had such faith in the route, the path, that there was never a question in my mind that I would make it.
-Arnold Schwarzenegger, body building

Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.
-Arnold Schwarzenegger, body building

When you are riding, only the race in which youre riding is important.
-Bill Shoemaker, horse racing

As a coach, your high standards of performance, attention to detail and - above all - how hard you work set the stage for how your players perform.
-Don Shula, football

If you treat every situation as a life-and-death matter, you're going to die a lot of times.
-Dean Smith, basketball

Experience tells you what to do; confidence allows you to do it.
-Stan Smith, tennis

Don't be sharp or flat; just be natural.
-Willie Stargell, baseball

Play every game as if your job depended on it. It just might.
-Casey Stengal, baseball

All right everyone, line up alphabetically according to your height.
-Casey Stengal, baseball

The trick is growing up without growing old.
-Casey Stengal, baseball

There comes a time in every man's life at lease once, and I've had plenty of them.
-Casey Stengal, baseball

Fear causes people to draw back from situations. It brings on mediocrity, it dulls creativity, it sets one up to be a loser in life.
-Fran Tarkenton, football

If a person has enough desire, he will acquire the talent, he will build his skills.
-Bobby Unser, auto racing

How do you go from where you are to where you want to be? I think you have to have enthusiam for life. You have to have a dream, a goal, and you have to be willing to work for it.
-Jim Valvano, basketball

We have a lot of players in their first year. Some of them also are in their last year.
-Bill Walsh, football

If the lion didnt bite the tamer every once in awhile, it wouldnt be exciting.
-Darrell Waltrip, auto racing

It's what you learn after you think you know it all that counts.
-Earl Weaver, baseball

Always think of passing the ball before shooting it.
-John Wooden, basketball

Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
-John Wooden, basketball

I don't believe in looking back. If you make a decision that you think is the proper one at a time, then that's the correct decision.
-John Wooden, basketball

It's not so important who starts the game but who finishes it.
-John Wooden, basketball

Never mistake activity for achievement.
-John Wooden, basketball

The most important key to achieving great success is to decide upon your goal and launch, get started, take action, move.
-John Wooden, basketball

Success is peace of mind that is the direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.
-John Wooden, basketball

Nothing will work unless you do.
-John Wooden, basketball

One of the things that my parents have taught me is never listen to other people's expectations. You should live your own life and live it up to your own expectations, and those are the only things I really care about.
-Tiger Woods, golf

What is Set Sail? | Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Site Credits | Related Sites

© 2004-2010 Set Sail Productions, LLC. All rights reserved.
Set Sail and the Set Sail logo are trademarks of Set Sail Productions, LLC.