Sport is a lot like any business you can think of. There’s training, followed by competition, and there are winners and losers which all revolves around passion and hard work. Just as inspiration is required in business, it’s also required in Sports. Like a footballer, an entrepreneur could find inspiration from motivating sports quotes.
Meanwhile, one of the major things every sportsman needs is motivation. Every sportsman needs to be continually motivated in order to stay on top of their game. Life itself is a game and to keep winning, we all need motivation. Here is a huge list of best sports quotes to fuel and propel your passion towards your dreams.
Inspiring Sports Quotes
1. “It ain’t over till it’s over.” – Yogi Berra
2. “You’re never a loser until you quit trying.” – Mike Ditka
3. “Never give up! Failure and rejection are only the first steps to succeeding.” – Jim Valvano
4. “I never left the field saying I could have done more to get ready and that gives me peace of mind.” – Peyton Manning
5. “Leadership, like coaching, is fighting for the hearts and souls of men and getting them to believe in you.” – Eddie Robinson
6. “You win some, you lose some, and some get rained out, but you gotta suit up for them all.” – J. Askenberg
7. “Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you.” – Arnold Palmer
8. “I know what I have to do, and I’m going to do whatever it takes. If I do it, I’ll come out a winner, and it doesn’t matter what anyone else does.” – Florence Griffith Joyner8.
9. “An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head.” – Emil Zatopek
10. “To give any less than your best is to sacrifice a gift.” – Steve Prefontaine
11. “Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up.” – Dean Karnazes
12.“Competing at the highest level is the greatest test of one’s character.” – Russell Mark (Double trap clay target shooter and shooting coach)
13. “Success for an athlete follows many years of hard work and dedication.” – Michael Diamond (target shooter)
14. “Every time you sleep in, every time you miss a workout, you make it that much easier for me to beat you.” – Unknown
15. “If good luck exists, it is that which results from hard work and preparation.” – Unknown
16. “Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t.” – Jerry Rice
17. “The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.” – Pele
18. “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, sacrifice and most of all, love for what you are doing or learning to do.” – Pele
19. “If you only ever give 90% in training then you will only ever give 90% when it matters.” – Michael Owen
20. “You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself, your own highest standards, and when you reach your limits, that is a real joy.” – Arthur Ashe
21. “What makes something special is not just what you have to gain, but what you feel there is to lose.” – Andre Agassi
22. “The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.” – Pele
23. “One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team. ” – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
24. “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
25. “If you can’t outplay them, outwork them.” – Ben Hogan
26. “People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” – Rogers Hornsby
27. “Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they’ve got a second.” – William James
28. “Just keep going. Everybody gets better if they keep at it.” – Ted Williams
29. “Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way.” – Satchel Paige
30. “It ain’t over till it’s over.” – Yogi Berra
31. “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
32. “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” – Babe Ruth
33. “Follow your dreams, work hard, practice and persevere. Get plenty of exercise and maintain a healthy lifestyle.” – Sasha Cohen (figure skater)
34. “You can have results or you can have your excuses. You cannot have both.” – Unknown
35. “Obsessed is just a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated.” – Unknown
36. “Show me a guy who’s afraid to look bad, and I’ll show you a guy you can beat every time.” – Lou Brock
37. “One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than 50 preaching it.” – Knute Rockne
38. “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
39. “My attitude is that if you push me towards a weakness, I will turn that weakness into a strength.” – Michael Jordan
40. “I have failed many times, but I have never gone into a game expecting myself to fail.” – Michael Jordan
41. “One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team.” – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
42. “Push yourself again and again. Don’t give an inch until the final buzzer sounds.” – Larry Bird
43. “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
44. “Without self-discipline, success is impossible, period.” – Lou Holtz
45. “Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement.” – Matt Biondi
46. “If you fail to prepare, you’re prepared to fail.” – Mark Spitz
47. “The wisdom acquired with the passage of time is a useless gift unless you share it.” – Esther Williams
48. “The highest compliment that you can pay me is to say that I work hard every day, that I never dog it.” – Wayne Gretzky
49. “Gold medals aren’t really made of gold. They’re made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts.”– Dan Gable
50. “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
51. “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi
52. “Age is no barrier. It’s a limitation you put on your mind.” – Jackie Joyner-Kersee
53. “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life a champion.” – Muhammad Ali
54. “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” – Muhammad Ali
55. “It is not the size of a man but the size of his heart that matters.” – Evander Holyfield
56. “You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.” – Wayne Gretzky
57. “The highest compliment that you can pay me is to say that I work hard every day.” – Wayne Gretzky
58. “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
59. “You have to believe in yourself when no one else does – that makes you a winner right there.” – Venus Williams
60. “The only way to prove that you’re a good sport is to lose.” – Ernie Banks
61. “Only he who can see the invisible can do the impossible.” – Frank L. Gaines
62. “When you’re riding, only the race in which you’re riding is important.” – Bill Shoemaker
63. “Your biggest opponent isn’t the other guy. It’s human nature.” – Bobby Knight
64. “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
65. “Do not let what you can not do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden
66. “We must train hard. It’s not about denying a weakness may exist but about denying its right to persist.” – Vince McConnell (Personal coach)
67. “If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you.” – Fred Devito (Fitness trainer)
68. “I’ve learned that something constructive comes from every defeat.” – Tom Landry
69. “The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital.” – Joe Paterno
70. “You’re never a loser until you quit trying.” – Mike Ditka
71. “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
72. “Wisdom is always an overmatch for strength.” – Phil Jackson
73. “Some people say I have attitude – maybe I do…but I think you have to. You have to believe in yourself when no one else does – that makes you a winner right there. ” – Venus Williams
74. “Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.”– Babe Ruth
75. “It is not the size of a man but the size of his heart that matters.” – Evander Holyfield
Muhammad Ali
76. “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
77. “The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital.” – Joe Paterno
78. “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi
79. “The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.” – Vince Lombardi
80.“Under pressure you can perform fifteen percent better or worse.” – Scott Hamilton (Figure skater)
“If you dream and you allow yourself to dream you can do anything.” – Clara Hughes (Cyclist and speed skater)
81. “Never give up! Failure and rejection are only the first step to succeeding.” – Jim Valvano
82. “Age is no barrier. It’s a limitation you put on your mind.” – Jackie Joyner-Kersee
83. “Talent is never enough. With few exceptions the best players are the hardest workers.” – Magic Johnson
84. “If you are afraid of failure you don’t deserve to be successful!” – Charles Barkley
85. “You can’t get much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good.” – Jerry West
86. “It’s all about the journey, not the outcome.” – Carl Lewis
87. “Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. The potential for greatness lives within each of us.” – Wilma Rudolph
88. “When I race my mind is full of doubts – who will finish second, who will finish third?” – Noureddine Morceli
89. “I always felt that my greatest asset was not my physical ability, it was my mental ability.” – Bruce Jenner
90. “A trophy carries dust. Memories last forever.” – Mary Lou Retton
91. “Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play.” – Mike Singletary
92. “If at first you don’t succeed, you are running about average.” – M.H. Alderson
93. “Continuous effort — not strength or intelligence — is the key to unlocking our potential.” – Liane Cardes
94. “Most talented players don’t always succeed. Some don’t even make the team. It’s more what’s inside.” – Brett Favre
95. “You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.” – Michael Jordan
96. “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
97. “If a team wants to intimidate you physically and you let them, they’ve won.” – Mia Hamm
98. “It is more difficult to stay on top than to get there.” – Mia Hamm
99. “The vision of a champion is someone who is bent over, drenched in sweat, at the point of exhaustion, when no one else is watching.” – Anson Dorrance
100. “If we perform as a unit and if every single player gives it his very best, everything can happen.” – Oliver Kahn
Check Out: 200 Fun Trivia Questions And Answers
Famous Sports Quotes
101. “Everything is practice.” – Bill Shankley
102. “Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.” – Pat Riley
103. “Win If You Can, Lose If You Must, But NEVER QUIT!” – Cameron Trammell
104. “Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play.” – Mike Singletary
105. “You have to do something in your life that is honorable and not cowardly if you are to live in peace with yourself.” – Larry Brown
106. “There may be people that have more talent than you, but theres no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do.” – Derek Jeter33
107. “Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer.” – Ted Williams
108. “One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than 50 preaching it.” – Knute Rockne
109. “The five S’s of sports training are: stamina, speed, strength, skill, and spirit; but the greatest of these is spirit.” – Ken Doherty
110. “If you have everything under control, you’re not moving fast enough.” – Mario Andretti
111. “I am building a fire, and everyday I train, I add more fuel. At just the right moment, I light the match.” – Mia Hamm
112. “Show me a guy who’s afraid to look bad, and I’ll show you a guy you can beat every time.” – Lou Brock
113. “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
114. “Good is not good when better is expected.” – Vin Scully
115. “Number one is just to gain a passion for running. To love the morning, to love the trail, to love the pace on the track. And if some kid gets really good at it, that’s cool too.” – Pat Tyson
116. “Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from a winning touchdown.” – Ross Perot
117. “A trophy carries dust. Memories last forever.” – Mary Lou Retton
118. “You have to train your mind like you train your body.” – Bruce Jenner
119. “This ability to conquer oneself is no doubt the most precious of all things sports bestows.” – Olga Korbut
120. “If you can believe it, the mind can achieve it.” – Ronnie Lott
121. “Without self-discipline, success is impossible, period.” – Lou Holtz
122. “If you don’t have confidence, you’ll always find a way not to win.” – Carl Lewis
123. “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
124. “Make each day your masterpiece.” – John Wooden
125. “Each of us has a fire in our hearts for something. It’s our goal in life to find it and keep it lit.” – Mary Lou Retton
126. “It took me time to realize that the men who won Olympic gold medals in the decathlon are just men, just like me.” – Dan O’Brien
127. “Concentration is why some athletes are better than others. You develop that concentration in training and concentrate in a meet.” – Edwin Moses
128. “Mental will is a muscle that needs exercise, just like muscles of the body.” – Lynn Jennings
129. “Champions keep playing until they get it right.” – Billie Jean King
130. “What makes something special is not just what you have to gain, but what you feel there is to lose.” – Andre Agassi
131. “Basketball doesn’t build character. It reveals it.” – Unknown
132. “What to do with a mistake: recognize it, admit it, learn from it, forget it.” – Dean Smith
133. “Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you.” – Arnold Palmer (Professional golfer)
134. “Push yourself again and again. Don’t give an inch until the final buzzer sounds.” – Larry Bird
135. “If you aren’t going all the way, why go at all?” – Joe Namath
136. “You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get.” – Michael Phelps
137. “Do not let what you can not do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden
138. “Make sure your worst enemy doesn’t live between your own two ears.” – Laird Hamilton (Professional Surfer)
139. “If you have everything under control, you’re not moving fast enough.” – Mario Andretti (Racing driver)
140. “An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head.” – Emil Zatopek
141. “Somewhere behind the athlete you’ve become and the hours of practice and the coaches who have pushed you is a little girl who fell in love with the game and never looked back… play for her.” – Mia Hamm
142. “When you’ve got something to prove, there’s nothing greater than a challenge.” – Terry Bradshaw
143. “You were born to be a player. You were meant to be here. This moment is yours.” – Herb Brooks
144. “What you lack in talent can be made up with desire, hustle, and giving 110 percent all the time.” – Don Zimmer
145. “If you fail to prepare, you’re prepared to fail.” – Mark Spitz
146. “How you respond to the challenge in the second half will determine what you become after the game, whether you are a winner or a loser.” – Lou Holtz
147. “Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement.” – Matt Biondi
148. “Sports serve society by providing vivid examples of excellence.” – George F. Will
149. “I’ve learned that something constructive comes from every defeat.” – Tom Landry
Motivational Quotes For Athletes
150. “Make sure your worst enemy doesn’t live between your own two ears.” – Laird Hamilton
151. “Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there.” – Bo Jackson
152. “Just keep going. Everybody gets better if they keep at it.” – Ted Williams
153. “What to do with a mistake: recognize it, admit it, learn from it, forget it.” – Dean Smith
154. “The principle is competing against yourself. It’s about self-improvement, about being better than you were the day before.” – Steve Young
155. “The road to Easy Street goes through the sewer.” – John Madden
156. “Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it.” – George Halas
157. “Stubbornness usually is considered a negative; but I think that trait has been a positive for me.” – Cal Ripken Jr.
158. “You’ve got to take the initiative and play your game. In a decisive set, confidence is the difference.” – Chris Evert
159. “When you win, say nothing, when you lose, say less.” – Paul Brown
160. “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. When you have the killer instinct to fight through that, it is very special.” – Eddie Reese
161. “The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it, as long as you really believe 100 percent.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
162. “When I go out there, I have no pity on my brother. I am out there to win.” – Joe Frazier
163. “During my 18 years I came to bat almost 10,000 times. I struck out about 1,700 times and walked maybe 1,800 times. You figure a ballplayer will average about 500 at bats a season. That means I played seven years without ever hitting the ball.” – Mickey Mantle
164. “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky
165. “Adversity cause some men to break; others to break records.” – William A. Ward
166. “Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way.” – Satchel Paige
167. “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
168. “A champion is someone who gets up when he can’t.” – Jack Dempsey
169. “I’ve got a theory that if you give 100% all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end.” – Larry Bird
170. “Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best.” – Tim Duncan
171. “Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there.” – Bo Jackson
172. “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” – Tommy Lasorda
173. “Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play.” – Mike Singletary
174. “If you can believe it, the mind can achieve it.” – Ronnie Lott
175. “If you aren’t going all the way, why go at all?” – Joe Namath
176. “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” – Tommy Lasorda
177. “Champions keep playing until they get it right.” – Billie Jean King
178. “A champion is someone who gets up when he can’t.” – Jack Dempsey
179. “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.” – Muhammad Ali
180. “Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy.” – Wayne Gretzky
181. “You find that you have peace of mind and can enjoy yourself, get more sleep, and rest when you know that it was a one hundred percent effort that you gave–win or lose.” – Gordie Howe
182. “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 (Alpine ski racer)
183. “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger (Professional bodybuilder)
184. “You find that you have peace of mind and can enjoy yourself, get more sleep, and rest when you know that it was a one hundred percent effort that you gave–win or lose.” – Gordie Howe
185. “My motto was always 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
186. “I didn’t believe in team motivation. I believe in getting a team prepared so it knows it will have the necessary confidence when it steps on the field and be prepared to play a good game.” – Tom Landry
187. “If you train hard, you’ll not only be hard, you’ll be hard to beat.” – Herschel Walker
188. “Your biggest opponent isn’t the other guy. It’s human nature.” – Bobby Knight
189. “Never give up, never give in, and when the upper hand is ours, may we have the ability to handle the win with the dignity that we absorbed the loss.” – Doug Williams
190. “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
191. “Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement.” – Marv Levy
192. “The man who cannot believe in himself cannot believe in anything else.” – Unknown
193. “Quitters never win, and winners never quit.” – Unknown
194. “I don’t believe skill was, or ever will be, the result of coaches. It is a result of a love affair between the child and the ball.” – Roy Keane
195. “The person that said winning isn’t everything, never won anything.” – Mia Hamm
196. “All good athletes make mistakes; the great ones learn to make that mistake only once.” – Raul Lopez
197. “Every defeat is a victory in itself.” – Francisco Maturana García
198. “There is no pressure when you are making a dream come true.” – Neymar Santos
199. “In football, the worst blindness is only seeing the ball.” – Nelson Falcão Rodrigues
200. “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.” – Pele