Athletic Motivational Quotes:

Age is no barrier. It's a limitation you put on your mind.

- Jackie Joyner-Kersee

topic: Sports, Athlete, Mind, Over 50, Sports Stars

Mental will is a muscle that needs exercise, just like the muscles of the body.

- Lynn Jennings

topic: Motivational, Running, Exercise, Marathon Motivational, Marathon Runners

To be a champ you have to believe in yourself when no one else will.

- Sugar Ray Robinson

topic: Inspirational, Motivational, Positive, Inspirational Athlete, Inspirational Attitude

One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than a hundred teaching it.

- Knute Rockne

topic: Inspirational, Motivational, Positive, Notre Dame, Inspirational Football

Never give up! Failure and rejection are only the first step to succeeding.

- Jim Valvano

topic: Giving Up, Athlete, Rejection, Give It Your All, Best Athlete

The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man's determination.

- Tommy Lasorda

source: Twitter post from Aug 24, 2015

topic: Inspirational, Motivational, Sports, Baseball Games, Inspirational Determination

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.

- Vince Lombardi

topic: Inspirational, Motivational, Success, Best Success, Inspirational Football

It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up.

- Vince Lombardi

source: Vince Lombardi, Jr. (2012). “What It Takes to Be Number One”, p.31, Thomas Nelson Inc

topic: Love, Inspirational, Life, Inspirational Football, Softball Team

Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.

- Vince Lombardi

topic: Inspirational, Motivational, Leadership, Inspirational Football, Individual Performance

If you aren't going all the way, why go at all?

- Joe Namath

topic: Inspirational, Motivational, Sports, Inspirational Football, Baseball Games

The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.

- Pele

topic: Athlete, Winning, Victory, Favorite Sports, Inspirational Athlete

Your biggest opponent isn't the other guy. It's human nature.

- Bobby Knight

topic: Athlete, Guy, Opponents, Inspirational Athlete, Inspirational History

It is not the size of a man but the size of his heart that matters.

- Evander Holyfield

topic: Heart, Athlete, Men, Inspirational Athlete, Sports In General

The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime.

- Babe Ruth

source: "Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

topic: Leadership, Basketball, Teamwork, Baseball Games, Softball Player

Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.

- Babe Ruth

topic: Inspirational, Sports, Running, Inspirational Athlete, Inspirational Baseball

Today I will do what others won't, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can't.

- Jerry Rice

source: "Getting Earnest With Movement". Noisey Interveiw, noisey.vice.com.

topic: Athlete, Today, Tomorrow, Inspirational Athlete, Inspirational Football Coach

One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team.

- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

source: Twitter post from Mar 27, 2013

topic: Teamwork, Sports, Athlete, Drills, Inspirational Athlete

You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.

- Michael Jordan

topic: Inspirational, Motivational, Happiness, Improve Self Esteem, Just Believe In Yourself

What to do with a mistake: recognize it, admit it, learn from it, forget it.

- Dean Smith

topic: Inspiring, Basketball, Sports, Inspirational Coach, Inspirational Coaching

To succeed, you need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you.

- Tony Dorsett

source: Tony Dorsett, Harvey Frommer (1989). “Running tough: memoirs of a football maverick”, Doubleday Books

topic: Inspirational, Motivational, Success, Sports Spirit, Professional Career

A champion is someone who gets up when he can't.

- Jack Dempsey

topic: Inspirational, Motivational, Positive, Inspirational History, Sportive

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

source: "It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life". Book by Lance Armstrong and Sally Jenkins, May 22, 2000.

topic: Inspirational, Motivational, Perseverance, Love Pain, Sports Mental Toughness

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

source: Twitter post from Feb 20, 2011

topic: Inspirational, Motivational, Fitness, I Am The Best, Inspirational Coach

You're never a loser until you quit trying.

- Mike Ditka

topic: Inspirational, Motivational, Sports, Baseball Games, Inspirational History

If you're bored with life - you don't get up every morning with a burning desire to do things - you don't have enough goals.

- Lou Holtz

topic: Inspirational, Life, Motivational, Inspirational Goal, Being Bored

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

- Andre Agassi

source: Twitter post from Jan 25, 2016

topic: Inspirational, Sports, Athlete, Victory Inspirational, Give 100 Percent

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

topic: Inspirational, Motivational, Sports, Inspirational Hockey, Sports Competition

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

source: "Nike Culture : The Sign of the Swoosh". Book by Robert Goldman, Stephen Papson (p. 49), 1998.

topic: Inspirational, Life, Motivational, Favorite Sports, Best Success

Every kid around the world who plays soccer wants to be Pele. I have a great responsibility to show them not just how to be like a soccer player, but how to be like a man.

- Pele

topic: Soccer, Kids, Responsibility, Favorite Sports, Inspirational Soccer

If you can't outplay them, outwork them.

- Ben Hogan

topic: Athlete, Sports Stars, Athletic Inspirational, Athletic Motivational

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

topic: Athlete, Past, Blow, Inspirational Athlete, Inspirational Winning

Doctors and scientists said breaking the four-minute mile was impossible, that one would die in the attempt. Thus, when I got up from the track after collapsing at the finish line, I figured I was dead

- Roger Bannister

topic: Sports, Doctors, Track, Sports In General, Sports Training

A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are.

- Ara Parseghian

topic: Motivational, Sports, Teamwork, Inspirational Coaching, Sports Coach

Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.

- Lou Holtz

topic: Inspirational, Life, Positive, Inspirational Football, Softball Player

The difference between the old ballplayer and the new ballplayer is the jersey. The old ballplayer cared about the name on the front. The new ballplayer cares about the name on the back.

- Steve Garvey

source: "There's No I in Team, But Me Plays a Big Role" by Tom Gerdy, www.huffingtonpost.com. January 19, 2012.

topic: Sports, Baseball, Athlete, Inspirational Baseball, Popular Sports

If you only ever give 90% in training then you will only ever give 90% when it matters.

- Michael Owen

topic: Athlete, Giving, Training, Sports Training, Inspiring Athlete

When I'd get tired and want to stop, I'd wonder what my next opponent was doing. I'd wonder if he was still working out. I'd tried to visualize him. When I could see him working, I'd start pushing myself. When I could see him in the shower, I'd push myself harder.

- Dan Gable

topic: Motivational, Tired, Athlete, Sports Training, Motivational Wrestling

If a team is to reach its potential, each player must be willing to subordinate his personal goals to the good of the team.

- Bud Wilkinson

source: Bud Wilkinson (1993). “Football: Winning Offense”, p.13, Sports Illustrated

topic: Teamwork, Player, Goal, Inspirational Football, Sports Team

Great teamwork is the only way we create the breakthroughs that define our careers.

- Pat Riley

source: Pat Riley (1993). “Winner Within Success”, Putnam Publishing Group

topic: Teamwork, Careers, Way, Inspirational Coach, Sports Coach

I've got a theory that if you give 100% all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end.

- Larry Bird

topic: Motivational, Basketball, Sports, Give It All You Got, Inspirational Hard Work

If you think and achieve as a team, the individual accolades will take care of themselves. Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.

- Michael Jordan

source: Michael Jordan (1994). “I can't accept not trying: Michael Jordan on the pursuit of excellence”

topic: Teamwork, Winning, Thinking, Individual Goals, Individual Performance

I've learned that something constructive comes from every defeat.

- Tom Landry

topic: Inspirational, Sports, Athlete, Inspirational Athlete, Inspirational History

Football is like life - it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority.

- Vince Lombardi

topic: Football, Respect, Perseverance, Soccer Player, Inspirational Football Coach

A team is where a boy can prove his courage on his own. A gang is where a coward goes to hide.

- Mickey Mantle

source: Mickey Mantle (1964). “The Quality of Courage”, p.90, U of Nebraska Press

topic: Teamwork, Sports, Baseball, Team Player, Coward And Courage

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

topic: Running, Pain, Race, Marathon Motivational, Marathon Runners

A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.

- Wayne Gretzky

topic: Sports, Athlete, Hockey, Inspirational Hockey, Sports Competition

Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy.

- Wayne Gretzky

topic: Motivational, Sports, Congratulations, Inspirational Hockey, Motivational Hockey

The highest compliment that you can pay me is to say that I work hard every day, that I never dog it.

- Wayne Gretzky

topic: Motivational, Sports, Dog, Inspirational Athlete, Inspirational Hockey