Athletes, in addition to excelling on the court, track, field, or ring, have produced some of the best quotes. Whether it’s in a postgame press conference, hall of fame speech, or autobiography, athletes from all sports have some of the most iconic quotes in history.
“It doesn’t matter what you’re trying to accomplish. It’s all a matter of discipline.”
Wilma Rudolph
“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”
Muhammad Ali
“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.
Michael Jordan
“There’s no talent here, this is hard work. This is an obsession. Talent does not exist, we are all equals as human beings. You could be anyone if you put in the time. You will reach the top, and that’s that. I am not talented. I am obsessed.”
Conor McGregor
“It’s no accident, I think, that tennis uses the language of life. Advantage, service, fault, break, love, the basic elements of tennis are those of everyday existence, because every match is a life in miniature. Even the structure of tennis, the way the pieces fit inside one another like Russian nesting dolls, mimics the structure of our days. Points become games become sets become tournaments, and it’s all so tightly connected that any point can become the turning point. It reminds me of the way seconds become minutes become hours, and any hour can be our finest. Or darkest. It’s our choice.”
Andre Agassi
“Just believe in yourself. Even if you don’t, pretend that you do, and at some point, you will.”
Venus Williams
“A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.”
Muhammad Ali
“Fans don’t boo nobodies.”
Reggie Jackson
“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
“Never tell your problems to anyone, 20% don’t care and the other 80% are glad you have them.”
Lou Holtz
“I have self-doubt. I have insecurity. I have fear of failure. I have nights when I show up at the arena and I’m like, ‘My back hurts, my feet hurt, my knees hurt. I don’t have it. I just want to chill.’ We all have self-doubt. You don’t deny it, but you also don’t capitulate to it. You embrace it.”
Kobe Bryant
“If you want to look good in front of thousands, you have to out work thousands in front of nobody.”
Damian Lillard
“I don’t feel pressure … I don’t give a toss about it. I spent the afternoon of Sunday, 9 July, 2006 in Berlin sleeping and playing the PlayStation. In the evening, I went out and won the World Cup.”
Andrea Pirlo
“Everyone has a plan ’til they get punched in the mouth.”
Mike Tyson
“The hero and the coward both feel the same thing, but the hero uses his fear, projects it onto his opponent, while the coward runs. It’s the same thing, fear, but it’s what you do with it that matters.”
Cus D’Amato
“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
“Social media made you all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it.”
Mike Tyson
“The only person who can stop you from reaching your goals is you.”
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
“Once you find that peace, that place of peace and quiet, harmony and confidence, that’s when you start playing your best.”
Roger Federer
“A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more.”
Steve Prefontaine
“A champion is someone who gets up when he can’t.”
Jack Dempsey
“It is more difficult to stay on top than to get there.”
Mia Hamm
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