An athlete (also sportswoman or sportsman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed or endurance. Inspirational athlete quotes will encourage you to think a little deeper than you usually would and broaden your perspective.
If you’re searching for inspirational sports quotes and famous soccer quotes that perfectly capture what you’d like to say or just want to feel inspired yourself, browse through an amazing collection of top bodybuilding quotes, popular swimming quotes and encouraging hockey quotes.
Famous Athlete Quotes
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
You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get. – Michael Phelps
Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it. – George Halas
Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game. – Michael Jordan
I don’t want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant. – Kobe Bryant
Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. – Tim Notke
Gold medals aren’t really made of gold. They’re made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts. – Dan Gable
I’ll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it’s sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot. – Kobe Bryant
To me, it doesn’t matter how good you are. Sport is all about playing and competing. – Ian Botham
It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up. – Babe Ruth
The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do. – Kobe Bryant
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
You can’t win unless you learn how to lose. – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory. – Les Brown
Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen. – Michael Jordan
Sports do not build character. They reveal it. – Heywood Broun
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
If winning isn’t everything, why do they keep score? – Vince Lombardi
If you do the work you get rewarded. There are no shortcuts in life. – Michael Jordan
Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence. In other words, it is war minus the shooting. – George Orwell
Without self-discipline, success is impossible, period. – Lou Holtz
As an athlete, I’d average 4 hours a day. It doesn’t sound like a lot when some people say they’re training for 10 hours, but theirs includes lunch, massage and break. My four hours was packed with work. – Michael Johnson
I am building a fire, and everyday I train, I add more fuel. At just the right moment, I light the match. – Mia Hamm
Make each day your masterpiece. – John Wooden
You can’t control what the other athlete; you can’t control anything except for your competition and how you execute the race or how you execute the task. – Michael Johnson
Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records. – William Arthur Ward
If you aren’t going all the way, why go at all? – Joe Namath
He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life. – Muhammad Ali
Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you. – Satchel Paige
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
Just be patient. Let the game come to you. Don’t rush. Be quick, but don’t hurry. – Earl Monroe
It’s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself. – Muhammad Ali
Champions keep playing until they get it right. – Billie Jean King
Every day of my life, I’m trying to find a way to get better. – Ray Lewis
Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play. – Mike Singletary
Greatness is a lot of small things done well. – Ray Lewis
Nobody’s a natural. You work hard to get good and then work to get better. It’s hard to stay on top. – Paul Coffey
Don’t walk through life just playing football. Don’t walk through life just being an athlete. Athletics will fade. Character and integrity and really making an impact on someone’s life, that’s the ultimate vision, that’s the ultimate goal bottom line. – Ray Lewis
The only way to prove that you’re a good sport is to lose. – Ernie Banks
No matter the circumstances that you may be going through, just push through it. – Ray Lewis
It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up. – Vince Lombardi
You’re playing a game, whether it’s Little League or Game 7 of the Word Series. It’s impossible to do well unless you’re having a good time. People talk about pressure. Yeah, there’s pressure. But I just look at it as fun. – Derek Jeter
Only he who can see the invisible can do the impossible – Frank L. Gaines
A champion is someone who gets up when he can’t. – Jack Dempsey
I always felt that my greatest asset was not my physical ability, it was my mental ability. – Bruce Jenner
I’d like to thank everyone who voted for me. And the one guy who didn’t vote for me, thank you, too. – Shaquille O’Neal
I like to hit the gym early in the morning. I feel better throughout the day when I get in a workout first thing in the morning. – Derek Jeter
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
A trophy carries dust. Memories last forever. – Mary Lou Retton
When I was younger, I was always taught not to make excuses. – Derek Jeter
What makes something special is not just what you have to gain, but what you feel there is to lose. – Andre Agassi
The five Ss of sports training are: stamina, speed, strength, skill, and spirit, but the greatest of these is spirit. – Ken Doherty
I want to be able to separate the average from the good and from the great. I want to separate the ordinary from the extraordinary. – Floyd Mayweather
Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row. – Vitas Gerulaitis
An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head. – Emil Zatopek
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
If you are afraid of failure you don’t deserve to be successful! – Charles Barkley
It’s about having personality…it’s not about being the bad guy, it’s about entertaining people. – Floyd Mayweather
I’ve learned that something constructive comes from every defeat. – Tom Landry
You’re never a loser until you quit trying. – Mike Ditka
The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand. – Vince Lombardi
If you can’t outplay them, outwork them. – Ben Hogan
It is not the size of a man but the size of his heart that matters. – Evander Holyfield
Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence. – Vince Lombardi
Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they’ve got a second. – William James
The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary. – Vince LombardiIf at first you don’t succeed, you are running about average. – M.H. Alderson
Continuous effort, not strength or intelligence, is the key to unlocking our potential. – Liane Cardes
Winners never quit and quitters never win. – Vince Lombardi
Pain is only temporary but victory is forever. – Jeremy H.
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
Winning means you’re willing to go longer, work harder, and give more than anyone else. – Vince Lombardi
“ – Don’t practice until you get it right. Practice until you can’t get it wrong. – Author Unknown
When you put on that jersey, the name on the front is more important then the name on the back. – Author Unknown
I’ve learned over the years that if you start thinking about the race, it stresses you out a little bit. I just try to relax and think about video games, what I’m gonna do after the race, what I’m gonna do just to chill. Stuff like that to relax a little before the race. – Usain Bolt
Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them — a desire, a dream, a vision. – Muhammad Ali
Don’t think about the start of the race, think about the ending. – Usain Bolt
Love is playing every game as if it’s your last. – Michael Jordan
The highest compliment that you can pay me is to say that I work hard every day, that I never dog it. – Wayne Gretzky
There is no glory in practice, but without practice, there is no glory. – Author Unknown
You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take. – Wayne Gretzky
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
Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement. – Matt Biondi
To give any less than your best is to sacrifice a gift. – Steve Prefontaine
You and your opponent want the same thing. The only thing that matters is who works the hardest for it. – Author Unknown
Do not let what you can not do interfere with what you can do. – John Wooden
You don’t always get what you wish for, you get what you work for. – Author Unknown
The best athletes in the world are those who are willing to push harder then anyone else, and go through more pain then anyone else. – Ashley M.L.
Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up. – Dean Karnazes
Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. – Satchel Paige
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
It’s all about the journey, not the outcome. – Carl Lewis
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
The score never interested me, only the game. – Mae West
You have to give 100 percent in the first half of the game. If that isn’t enough, in the second half, you have to give what’s left. – Yogi Berra
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
You don’t just want to beat a team. You want to leave a lasting impression in their minds so they never want to see your face again. – Mia Hamm
Build up your weaknesses until they become your strong points. – Knute Rockne
I’m the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be. – Bret Hart
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
I always turn to the sports section first. The sports page records people’s accomplishments: the front page has nothing but man’s failures. – Earl Warren
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
Sports is human life in microcosm. – Howard Cosell
If you don’t have confidence, you’ll always find a way not to win. – Carl Lewis
The more you sweat in practice, the less you bleed in battle. – Author Unknown
If you have everything under control, you’re not moving fast enough. – Mario Andretti
The more I practice, the luckier I get. – Jerry Barber
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
I figure practice puts your brains in your muscles. – Sam Snead
