Intrinsically motivated athletes typically concentrate on skill improvement and their growth as athletes. Extrinsic motivation refers to athletic behavior that is geared toward earning external rewards or to avoid punishment. Profoundly motivational quotes for athletes will challenge the way you think, and help guide you through any life experience.
If you’re searching for famous sports quotes and powerful running quotes that perfectly capture what you’d like to say or just want to feel inspired yourself, browse through an amazing collection of powerful gymnastics quotes, encouraging athlete quotes, and famous bodybuilding quotes.
Most Motivating Quotes For Athletes
I don’t count my situps. I only start counting once it starts hurting. – Muhammad Ali
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
Cancer can take away all my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever. – Jimmy Valvano
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
Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there. – Bo Jackson
Only he who can see the invisible can do the impossible. – Frank L. Gaines
Without self-discipline, success is impossible, period. – Lou Holtz
I’ve failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. – Michael Jordan
The only way to prove you are a good sport is to lose. – Ernie Banks
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
If you fail to prepare, you’re prepared to fail. – Mark Spitz
One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than 50 preaching it. – Knute Rockne
In baseball and in business, there are three types of people. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happened. – Tommy Lasorda
If you aren’t going all the way, why go at all? – Joe Namath
Do not let what you can not do interfere with what you can do. – John Wooden
The road to Easy Street goes through the sewer. – John Madden
Stubbornness usually is considered a negative; but I think that trait has been a positive for me. – Cal Ripken, Jr.
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
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
Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play. – Mike Singletary
You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take. – Wayne Gretzky
We can change our lives. We can do, have, and be exactly what we wish. – Tony Robbins
Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement. – Matt Biondi
Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. – Satchel Paige
It is not the size of a man but the size of his heart that matters. – Evander Holyfield
Wisdom is always an overmatch for strength. – Phil Jackson
It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up. – Vince Lombardi
Focus, discipline, hard work, goal setting and, of course, the thrill of finally achieving your goals. These are all lessons in life. – Kristi Yamaguchi
He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life. – Muhammad Ali
Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. – Tim Notke
Never say never because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion. – Michael Jordan
Good is not good when better is expected. – Vin Scully
An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head. – Emil Zatopek
Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they’ve got a second. – William James
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
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
Champions keep playing until they get it right. – Billie Jean King
If you can’t outplay them, outwork them. – Ben Hogan
It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up. – Babe Ruth
A trophy carries dust. Memories last forever. – Mary Lou Retton
Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you. – Arnold Palmer
Age is no barrier. It’s a limitation you put on your mind. – Jackie Joyner-Kersee
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
Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up. – Dean Karnazes
What makes something special is not just what you have to gain, but what you feel there is to lose. – Andre Agassi
Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. – Lou Holtz
The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning. – Pele
You win a few, you lose a few. Some get rained out. But you got to dress for all of them. – Satchel Paige
Never give up! Failure and rejection are only the first step to succeeding. – Jim Valvano
I always felt that my greatest asset was not my physical ability, it was my mental ability. – Bruce Jenner
I think sometimes in life the biggest challenges end up being the best things that happen in your life. – Tom Brady
Pursue what you love, what you are passionate about. Don’t let somebody else dictate your life’s path. – Jack Nicklaus
Victory is in having done your best. If you’ve done your best, you’ve won. – Billy Bowerman
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
Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines practiced every day. – Jim Rohn
Winners, I am convinced, imagine their dreams first. They want it with all their heart and expect it to come true. There is, I believe, no other way to live. – Joe Montana
The pain you feel today, will be the strength that you feel tomorrow.
You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them. – Michael Jordan
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
Be humble. Be hungry. And always be the hardest worker in the room. – Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson
Train hard, turn up, run your best and the rest will take care of itself. – Usain Bolt
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
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
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
Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. – Arthur Ashe
I don’t plan on being disappointed. We plan on being really good, and obviously, we plan on winning. – Gregg Troy
The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination. – Tommy Lasorda
The five S’s of sports training are: stamina, speed, strength, skill, and spirit; but the greatest of these is spirit. – Ken Doherty
Don’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the further you get. – Michael Phelps
If you are afraid of failure you don’t deserve to be successful! – Charles Barkley
The most rewarding things you do in life are often the ones that look like they cannot be done. – Arnold Palmer
Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, and others make it happen. – Michael Jordan
The principle is competing against yourself. It’s about self-improvement, about being better than you were the day before. – Steve Young
Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t. – Jerry Rice
You were born to be a player. You were meant to be here. This moment is yours. – Herb Brooks
No matter how good you get, you can always get better and that’s the exciting part. – Tiger Woods
Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do. – Bruce Lee
What do you do with a mistake: recognize it, admit it, learn from it, forget it. – Dean Smith
Sports serve society by providing vivid examples of excellence. – George F. Will
You can’t get much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good. – Jerry West
You have to believe in yourself when no one else does, that makes you a winner right there. – Venus Williams
