Inspirational sports quotes hold a unique and powerful position. They are not mere letters and sounds; they embody perseverance, the triumph of will over adversity, and the beauty of pursuing excellence. The quotes below are a collection of wisdom gleaned from the best and brightest in the world of athletics.
- “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky
- “The only way to prove that you’re a good sport is to lose.” – Ernie Banks
- “Never say never because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.” – Michael Jordan
- “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” – Babe Ruth
- “The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” – Phil Jackson
- “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” – Vince Lombardi
- “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” – Michael Jordan
- “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi
- “Champions keep playing until they get it right.” – Billie Jean King
- “You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get.” – Michael Phelps
- “Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play.” – Mike Singletary
- “The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.” – Pelé
- “One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than 50 preaching it.” – Knute Rockne
- “It ain’t over till it’s over.” – Yogi Berra
- “The only way to prove that you’re a good sport is to lose.” – Ernie Banks
- “Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement.” – Matt Biondi
- “Sports serve society by providing vivid examples of excellence.” – George F. Will
- “The road to Easy Street goes through the sewer.” – John Madden
- “Good is not good when better is expected.” – Vin Scully
- “Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there.” – Bo Jackson
- “What you lack in talent can be made up with desire, hustle and giving 110% all the time.” – Don Zimmer
- “Wisdom is always an overmatch for strength.” – Phil Jackson
- “It’s not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.” – Paul Bryant
- “The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
- “A trophy carries dust. Memories last forever.” – Mary Lou Retton
- “If you can’t outplay them, outwork them.” – Ben Hogan
- “The principle is competing against yourself. It’s about self-improvement, about being better than you were the day before.” – Steve Young
- “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” – Tommy Lasorda
- “The hardest skill to acquire in this sport is the one where you compete all out, give it all you have, and you are still getting beat no matter what you do.” – Steve Prefontaine
- “Without self-discipline, success is impossible, period.” – Lou Holtz
- “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
- “An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head.” – Emil Zatopek
- “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
- “You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.” – Michael Jordan
- “Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up.” – Dean Karnazes
- “I’ve learned that something constructive comes from every defeat.” – Tom Landry
- “Make each day your masterpiece.” – John Wooden
- “You can’t control the outcome, but you can control the effort.” – Effort Quote
- “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.” – Archie Griffin
- “The best motivation always comes from within.” – Michael Johnson
- “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” – Tim Notke
- “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow is our doubts of today.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
- “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius
- “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden
- “The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory.” – Les Brown
- “What makes something special is not just what you have to gain, but what you feel there is to lose.” – Andre Agassi
- “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” – Scott Hamilton
- “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” – Abraham Lincoln
- “You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself.” – Arthur Ashe
- “You can’t get much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good.” – Jerry West
- The man who has no imagination has no wings.” – Muhammad Ali
- “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
- “Only he who can see the invisible can do the impossible.” – Frank L. Gaines
- “You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.” – Michael Jordan
- “To give any less than your best is to sacrifice a gift.” – Steve Prefontaine
- “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” – Michael Jordan
- “Don’t count the days, make the days count.” – Muhammad Ali
- “A champion is someone who gets up when he can’t.” – Jack Dempsey
- “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi
- “The only one who can tell you ‘you can’t win’ is you and you don’t have to listen.” – Jessica Ennis-Hill
- “Age is no barrier. It’s a limitation you put on your mind.” – Jackie Joyner-Kersee
- “I don’t count my sit-ups; I only start counting when it starts hurting because they’re the only ones that count.” – Muhammad Ali
- “The mind is absolutely instrumental in achieving results, even for athletes.” – Craig Townsend
- “The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital.” – Joe Paterno
- “Continuous effort — not strength or intelligence — is the key to unlocking our potential.” – Liane Cardes
- “Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records.” – William A. Ward
- “It is not the size of a man but the size of his heart that matters.” – Evander Holyfield
- “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will.” – Vince Lombardi
- “If you don’t have confidence, you’ll always find a way not to win.” – Carl Lewis
- “It’s not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.” – Paul Bryant
- “The highest compliment that you can pay me is to say that I work hard every day.” – Wayne Gretzky
- “Circumstances may cause interruptions and delays, but never lose sight of your goal.” – Mario Andretti
- “Your biggest opponent isn’t the other guy. It’s human nature.” – Bobby Knight
- “An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head.” – Emil Zatopek
- “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin
- “If you fail to prepare, you’re prepared to fail.” – Mark Spitz
- “The more you dream, the farther you get.” – Michael Phelps
- “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'” – Muhammad Ali
- “The five S’s of sports training are: stamina, speed, strength, skill, and spirit; but the greatest of these is spirit.” – Ken Doherty
- “Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.” – Lance Armstrong
- “Success is where preparation and opportunity meet.” – Bobby Unser
- “It’s not the triumph but the struggle that makes a person a champion.” – Pierre de Coubertin
- “The harder you work, the luckier you get.” – Gary Player
- “Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” – Michael Jordan
- “The only way to prove you are a good sport is to lose.” – Ernie Banks
- “To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you’re not, pretend you are.” – Muhammad Ali
- “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” – Vince Lombardi
- “I always felt that my greatest asset was not my physical ability, it was my mental ability.” – Caitlyn Jenner (formerly Bruce Jenner)
- “Gold medals aren’t really made of gold. They’re made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts.” – Dan Gable
- “The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.” – Pelé
- “You have to believe in yourself when no one else does – that makes you a winner right there.” – Venus Williams
- “A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning.” – Billie Jean King
- “Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.” – Pat Riley
- “The only one who can tell you ‘you can’t’ is you. And you don’t have to listen.” – Nike
- “It’s not the team with the best players that win. It’s the players with the best team that wins.” – Unknown
- “If you don’t have confidence, you’ll always find a way not to win.” – Carl Lewis
- “The key is not the will to win… everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important.” – Bobby Knight
- “The road to athletic greatness is not marked by perfection, but the ability to constantly overcome adversity and failure.” – Nike
- “I don’t count my sit-ups. I only start counting when it starts hurting because they’re the only ones that count.” – Muhammad Ali
- “You were born to be a player. You were meant to be here. This moment is yours.” – Herb Brooks
- “If you aren’t going all the way, why go at all?” – Joe Namath
- “You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get.” – Michael Phelps
- “I’ve learned that something constructive comes from every defeat.” – Tom Landry
- “The most rewarding things you do in life are often the ones that look like they cannot be done.” – Arnold Palmer
- “Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play.” – Mike Singletary
- “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
- “If you fail to prepare, you’re prepared to fail.” – Mark Spitz
- “Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy.” – Wayne Gretzky
- “I’ve never lost a game. I just ran out of time.” – Michael Jordan
- “The only way to prove that you’re a good sport is to lose.” – Ernie Banks
- “You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.” – Michael Jordan
- “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi
- The man who has no imagination has no wings.” – Muhammad Ali
- “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky
- “Winners never quit and quitters never win.” – Vince Lombardi
- “It’s not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.” – Paul Bryant
- “Just keep going. Everybody gets better if they keep at it.” – Ted Williams
- “What do you do with a mistake: recognize it, admit it, learn from it, forget it.” – Dean Smith
- “It is not the size of a man but the size of his heart that matters.” – Evander Holyfield
- “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
- “The only way to become a champion is through hard and dedicated work.” – Don Bradman
- “A trophy carries dust. Memories last forever.” – Mary Lou Retton
- “It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” – Edmund Hillary
- “You are never a loser until you quit trying.” – Mike Ditka
- “Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.” – Babe Ruth
- “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” – Tommy Lasorda
- “Sports do not build character. They reveal it.” – Heywood Broun
- “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” – Michael Jordan
- “The road to Easy Street goes through the sewer.” – John Madden
- “The only one who can tell you ‘you can’t’ is you. And you don’t have to listen.” – Nike
- “You can motivate by fear, and you can motivate by reward. But both those methods are only temporary. The only lasting thing is self-motivation.” – Homer Rice
- “One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than 50 preaching it.” – Knute Rockne
- “An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head.” – Emil Zatopek
- “If you can’t outplay them, outwork them.” – Ben Hogan
- “Winning means you’re willing to go longer, work harder, and give more than anyone else.” – Vince Lombardi
- “The more you sweat in practice, the less you bleed in battle.” – Norman Schwarzkopf
- “I am building a fire, and everyday I train, I add more fuel. At just the right moment, I light the match.” – Mia Hamm
- “The secret of winning football games is working more as a team, less as individuals.” – Knute Rockne
- “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
- “Winners never quit and quitters never win.” – Vince Lombardi
- “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden
- “Excellence is not a singular act, but a habit. You are what you repeatedly do.” – Shaquille O’Neal
- “It’s not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.” – Paul Bryant
- “Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it.” – George Halas
- “Your love makes me strong, your hate makes me unstoppable!” – Cristiano Ronaldo
- “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will.” – Vince Lombardi
- “The strength of the group is the strength of the leaders.” – Vince Lombardi
- “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin
- Continuous effort — not strength or intelligence — is the key to unlocking our potential.” – Winston Churchill
- “Good is not good when better is expected.” – Vin Scully
- “The only way to prove that you’re a good sport is to lose.” – Ernie Banks
- “You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get.” – Michael Phelps
- “Gold medals aren’t really made of gold. They’re made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts.” – Dan Gable
- “What makes something special is not just what you have to gain, but what you feel there is to lose.” – Andre Agassi
- “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” – Scott Hamilton
- “Age is no barrier. It’s a limitation you put on your mind.” – Jackie Joyner-Kersee
- “A champion is someone who gets up when he can’t.” – Jack Dempsey
- “Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records.” – William Arthur Ward
- “Just keep going. Everybody gets better if they keep at it.” – Ted Williams
- “If you aren’t going all the way, why go at all?” – Joe Namath
- “The road to success is always under construction.” – Arnold Palmer
- “A champion needs a motivation above and beyond winning.” – Pat Riley
- “The only one who can beat me is me.” – Michael Johnson
- “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” – Tommy Lasorda
- “The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.” – Pelé
- “You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get.” – Michael Phelps
- “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin
- “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi
- “The only way to prove that you’re a good sport is to lose.” – Ernie Banks
- “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky
- “Age is no barrier. It’s a limitation you put on your mind.” – Jackie Joyner-Kersee
- “Adversity cause some men to break; others to break records.” – William Arthur Ward
- “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden
- “Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is.” – Vince Lombardi
- “It’s not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.” – Paul Bryant
- “Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement.” – Matt Biondi
- “Sports serve society by providing vivid examples of excellence.” – George F. Will
- “Good is not good when better is expected.” – Vin Scully
- “Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there.” – Bo Jackson
- “What you lack in talent can be made up with desire, hustle and giving 110% all the time.” – Don Zimmer
- “Wisdom is always an overmatch for strength.” – Phil Jackson
- “The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
- “A trophy carries dust. Memories last forever.” – Mary Lou Retton
- “If you can’t outplay them, outwork them.” – Ben Hogan
- “The principle is competing against yourself. It’s about self-improvement, about being better than you were the day before.” – Steve Young
- “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” – Tommy Lasorda
- “The hardest skill to acquire in this sport is the one where you compete all out, give it all you have, and you are still getting beat no matter what you do.” – Steve Prefontaine
- “Without self-discipline, success is impossible, period.” – Lou Holtz
- “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
- “An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head.” – Emil Zatopek
- “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
- “You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.” – Michael Jordan
- “Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up.” – Dean Karnazes
- “I’ve learned that something constructive comes from every defeat.” – Tom Landry
- “Make each day your masterpiece.” – John Wooden
- “You can’t control the outcome, but you can control the effort.” – Unknown
- “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.” – Archie Griffin
- “The best motivation always comes from within.” – Michael Johnson
- “I don’t count my sit-ups; I only start counting when it starts hurting because they’re the only ones that count.” – Muhammad Ali
- “You have to believe in yourself when no one else does – that makes you a winner right there.” – Venus Williams
If you like sports quotes, you might like to check out this collection of Inky Johnson quotes. Powerful lessons on resilience, hard work, and personal growth from a motivational quotes sports icon. Get inspired!
