Sports are an example of what actual hard work and dedication can achieve. And even the most unlikely athletes can climb to the top of their sport with commitment.
A sports game is often a perfect metaphor for life. We package life’s lessons into neat 60-minute games or perfect soundbites to remind us of whether we achieved at a high level at the end of the game.
Here is a list of the most inspiring quotes that will motivate you to work towards your full potential and achieve your goals and dreams.
69 Inspirational Sports Quotes To Achieve Your Success
1. “I became a good pitcher when I stopped trying to make them miss the ball and started trying to make them hit it.” ~ Sandy Koufax
2. “Cancer can take away all my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever.” ~ Jimmy Valvano
3. “The only way to prove that you’re a good sport is to lose.” ~ Ernie Banks
4. “The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory.” ~ Les Brown
5. “If you think it’s hard to meet new people, try picking up the wrong golf ball.” ~ Jack Lemmon
6. “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.” ~ Yogi Berra
7. “A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning.” ~ Billie Jean King
8. “You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.” ~ Michael Jordan
9. “Winners never quit and quitters never win.” ~ Vince Lombardi
10. “Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t.” ~ Jerry Rice
11. “If you aren’t going all the way, why go at all?” ~ Joe Namath
12. “You win a few, you lose a few. Some get rained out. But you got to dress for all of them.” ~ Satchel Paige
13. “I don’t plan on being disappointed. We plan on being really good, and obviously, we plan on winning.” ~ Gregg Troy
14. “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” ~ Wayne Gretzky
15. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” ~ Wayne Gretzky
16. “What makes something special is not just what you have to gain, but what you feel there is to lose.” ~ Andre Agassi
17. “When you’ve got something to prove, there’s nothing greater than a challenge.” ~ Terry Bradshaw
18. “If you fail to prepare, you’re prepared to fail.” ~ Mark Spitz
19. “Without self-discipline, success is impossible, period.” ~ Lou Holtz
20. “When you’re riding, only the race in which you’re riding is important.” ~ Bill Shoemaker
21. “It is not the size of a man but the size of his heart that matters.” ~ Evander Holyfield
22. “To uncover your true potential you must first find your own limits and then you have to have the courage to blow past them.” ~ Picabo Street
23. “One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than a hundred teaching it.” ~ Knute Rockne
24. Ronnie Lott was the most mentally tough player in history. He is known for having a finger cut off rather than enduring time out to treat the injury. He did not want to miss a second of any game because he believed he could win every down and every game.
25. “The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.” ~ Pele
26. “If you are afraid of failure you don’t deserve to be successful!” – Charles Barkley
27. “If you can believe it, the mind can achieve it.” ~ Ronnie Lott
28. “Good is not good when better is expected.” ~ Vin Scully
29. “Today, you have 100% of your life left.” ~ Tom Landry
30. “Champions keep playing until they get it right.” ~ Billie Jean King
31. “Do not let what you can not do interfere with what you can do.” ~ John Wooden
32. “Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up.” ~ Dean Karnazes
33. “Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way.” ~ Satchel Paige
34. “I don’t count my situps. I only start counting once it starts hurting.” ~ Muhammad Ali
35. “One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than 50 preaching it.” ~ Knute Rockne
36. “Finding good players is easy. Getting them to play as a team is another story.” ~ Casey Stengel
37. “There are only two options regarding commitment. You’re either IN or you’re OUT. There is no such thing as life in-between.” ~ Pat Riley
38. “The key is not the will to win. Everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important.” ~ Bobby Knight
39. “If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you.” ~ Fred Devito
40. “A champion needs a motivation above and beyond winning.” ~ Pat Riley
41. “The only way to prove you are a good sport is to lose.” ~ Ernie Banks
42. “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” ~ Babe Ruth
43. “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
44. “Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you.” ~ Arnold Palmer
45. “Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is.” ~ Vince Lombardi
46. “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.”— Vince Lombardi
47. “Wisdom is always an overmatch for strength.” ~ Phil Jackson
48. “If you can’t outplay them, outwork them.” ~ Ben Hogan
49. “Success is where preparation and opportunity meet.” ~ Bobby Unser
50. “Age is no barrier. It’s a limitation you put on your mind.” ~ Jackie Joyner-Kersee
51. “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
52. “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 habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.” ~ Vince Lombardi
53. “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” ~ Michael Jordan
54. “Make each day your masterpiece.” ~ John Wooden
55. “I always felt that my greatest asset was not my physical ability, it was my mental ability.” ~ Bruce Jenner
56. “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” ~ Tim Notke
57. “Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they’ve got a second.” ~ William James
58. “The man who has no imagination has no wings.” ~ Muhammad Ali
59. “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
60. “A champion is someone who gets up when he can’t.” ~ Jack Dempsey
61. “Stubbornness usually is considered a negative; but I think that trait has been a positive for me.” ~ Cal Ripken, Jr.
62. “Never say never because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.” ~ Michael Jordan
63. “Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it.” ~ George Halas
64. “A trophy carries dust. Memories last forever.” ~ Mary Lou Retton
65. “You were born to be a player. You were meant to be here. This moment is yours.” ~ Herb Brooks
66. “In the end, the game comes down to one thing: man against man. May the best man win.” ~ Sam Huff
67. “The road to Easy Street goes through the sewer.” ~ John Madden
68. “Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play.” ~ Mike Singletary
69. “Never give up! Failure and rejection are only the first step to succeeding.” ~ Jim Valvano
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