100 Inspirational Sports Quotes On Success, Greatness, Work Ethic, & Life

motivational quotes Jan 05, 2024

100 Inspirational Sports Quotes From The Top Athletes & Coaches In History:

Whether you're a professional athlete, a weekend warrior, or simply a sports fan, this collection of the best inspirational sports quotes from famous athletes and coaches will serve as a powerful source of motivation, encouragement, and wisdom.

Gain insight from some of the best athletes and coaches of all time about topics like success, greatness, confidence, hard work, preparation, adversity, life, attitude, teamwork, and chasing your dreams.

Talent and skill helped these players be good, but their mindset and attitude is what made them great.

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Best Sports Quotes About Success and Winning

"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

"A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning." - Billie Jean King

"My hunger is not for success, it is for excellence. Because when you attain excellence, success just naturally follows." - Coach K

"Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming." - Coach John Wooden

"If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride - and never quit, you'll be a winner. The price of victory is high but so are the rewards." - Bear Bryant

"If you want to be a Champion, you've got to feel like one, you've got to act like one, you've got to look like one." - Red Auerbach

"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." - Pelé

"Success is a result of consistent practice of winning skills and actions. There is nothing miraculous about the process. There is no luck involved." - Bill Russell

More quotes: Top 50 Michael Jordan Quotes About Basketball and Life >>

Sports Quotes To Inspire Greatness

"To sum up what Mamba Mentality is, it means to be able to constantly try to be the best version of yourself." - Kobe Bryant

"I know I’m capable of greatness, and I’m expecting to reach that level." - Aaron Rodgers

"Great players want to be driven, to be pushed to the edge. They don't want to be cheated. Ordinary players want it to be easy." - Pat Riley

"The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra." - Jimmy Johnson

"Success isn't owned - it's leased. And rent is due every day. Every single day, someone's coming for your job. Someone's coming for your greatness. If you're the greatest, someone wants to be the greatest, and so if you're not constantly improving your game, somebody else is." - J.J. Watt

"You can never let anything distract you from your main objective. My only goal is to be great. That's all I want. That's all I ever aspire to be. Greatness is something nobody can ever take away from you, no matter what happens. So I put all my energy and focus into my craft." - Larry Fitzgerald

Read also: What Is The Mamba Mentality? >>

More quotes: The 24 Best Kobe Bryant Mamba Mentality Quotes >>

Famous Sports Quotes About Work Ethic and Preparation

"The will to succeed is important, but what's more important is the will to prepare." - Coach Bobby Knight

"It's about doing it in a way that it can't be done any better. That is the goal every day." - Geno Auriemma

"I think the thing about that was I was always willing to work; I was not the fastest or biggest player but I was determined to be the best football player I could be on the football field and I think I was able to accomplish that through hard work." - Jerry Rice

"There are other players who were more talented, but there is no one who could out-prepare me." - Peyton Manning

"Everyone talks about age, but it's not about age. It's about work ethic. Winning never gets old." - Lisa Leslie

"Just because I made it look easy doesn't mean that it was and you don't work hard and become a Hall of Famer without working day in and day out." - Ken Griffey, Jr.

"It is said that good things come to those who wait. I believe that good things come to those who work." - Wilt Chamberlain

"When you get to that level, it’s not a matter of talent anymore – because all the players are so talented – it’s about preparation, about playing smart and making good decisions." - Allen Iverson

"Pressure is something you feel when you don't know what you're doing." Chuck Noll

"I never stop looking for things to try and make myself better." - Barry Bonds

"It's not all about talent. It's about dependability, consistency, and being able to improve. If you work hard and you're coachable, and you understand what you need to do, you can improve." - Bill Belichick

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Top Sports Quotes About Life, Adversity, and Overcoming Failure

"Don't give up. Don't ever give up." - Coach Jimmy Valvano

"The one thing you learn is when you can step out of your comfort zone and be uncomfortable, you see what you're made of and who you are." - Sue Bird

"One thing about championship teams is that they're resilient. No matter what is thrown at them, no matter how deep the hole, they find a way to bounce back and overcome adversity." - Nick Saban

"Unless you have bad times, you can't appreciate the good times." - Joe Torre

"If you don’t fall how are you going to know what getting up is like." - Steph Curry

"When the going gets tough, I'm not always sure what you do. I'm not saying that I know how to fix everything when the going gets tough, but I do know this: when the going goes tough, you don't quit. And you don't fold up. And you don't go in the other direction." - John Madden

"Life is meant to be a challenge, because challenges make you grow." - Manny Pacquiao

"I love to win; but I love to lose almost as much. I love the thrill of victory, and I also love the challenge of defeat." - Lou Gehrig

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Confidence And Character Quotes For Athletes

"Play without fear, and you will be successful." - Mario Lemieux

"You should never be defined by what you do, by the things you have; you've got to define yourself by who you are and who you impact and how you impact people." - Tony Dungy

"You have to believe in yourself when no one else does." - Serena Williams

"There will always be critics. On one hand, criticism can be positive. On the other hand, criticism can be negative. But critics will always be watching the game. If you listen to everybody, you can go crazy. I have my own point of view, and I always try to keep it." - Alexander Ovechkin

"People will hate you, rate you, shake you, and break you. But how strong you stand is what makes you." - LeBron James

"I don't compare 'em, I just catch 'em." - Willie Mays

"Never let the fear of striking out get in your way." - Babe Ruth

"I know I'm never as good or bad as one single performance. I've never believed in my critics or my worshippers, and I've always been able to leave the game at the arena." - Charles Barkley

"Try not to get lost in comparing yourself to others. Discover your gifts and let them shine!" - Jennie Finch

"I think luck falls on not just the brave but also the ones who believe they belong there." - Novak Djokovic

"We cannot live being obsessed with what other people think about us. It's impossible to live like that. Not even God managed to please the entire world." - Cristiano Ronaldo

"When you win, you don't get carried away. But if you go step by step, with confidence, you can go far." - Diego Maradona

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Encouraging Sports Sayings About Chasing Your Dreams

"Barrier-breaking is about not staying in your lane and not being something that the world expects you to be. It's about not accepting limitations." - Candace Parker

"Set your goals high, and don't stop till you get there." - Bo Jackson

"Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan." - Tom Landry

"If your dream ain't bigger than you, there's a problem with your dream." - Deion Sanders

"I'm a dreamer. I have to dream and reach for the stars, and if I miss a star then I grab a handful of clouds." - Mike Tyson

"Dreams are so important. You need to have big goals and expect a lot of yourself but you have to enjoy the ride too." - Sidney Crosby

"You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it." - Lionel Messi

"You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the further you get." - Michael Phelps

"A man has to have goals - for a day, for a lifetime - and that was mine, to have people say, 'There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.'" - Ted Williams

"The most rewarding things you do in life are often the ones that look like they cannot be done." - Arnold Palmer

"I’ve worked too hard and too long to let anything stand in the way of my goals. I will not let my teammates down, and I will not let myself down." - Mia Hamm

"If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else." - Yogi Berra

"You might not make it to the top, but if you are doing what you love, there is much more happiness there than being rich or famous." - Tony Hawk

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Best Motivational Sports Quotes About Attitude, Mindset, and Effort

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." - Wayne Gretzky

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

"Attitude is a choice. Think positive thoughts daily. Believe in yourself." - Pat Summitt

"I would rather try a shot to win than play safe and finish second." - Phil Mickelson

"Impossible is just a word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing." - Muhammad Ali

"The only person who can really motivate you is you." - Shaq

"I just want to be better every day, to get better every day, not to be better than anyone else." - Neymar

"Never listen to other people's expectations. You should live your life and live up to your own expectations." - Tiger Woods

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

"In life, winning and losing will both happen. What is never acceptable is quitting." - Magic Johnson

"The glory is being happy. The glory is not winning here or winning there. The glory is enjoying practicing, enjoy every day, enjoying to work hard, trying to be a better player than before." - Rafael Nadal

"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

"The more you seek the uncomfortable, the more you will become comfortable." - Conor McGregor

"I push myself to be the best I can be. I don't worry about what other people are doing, and I don't think about things I can't control." - Annika Sorenstam

"All I really try and do is live up to my potential and do as well as I possibly could and to bring to the ballpark each and every day a good effort..." - Cal Ripken, Jr.

"You must not only have competitiveness but ability, regardless of the circumstance you face, to never quit." - Abby Wambach

"I'm a very positive thinker, and I think that is what helps me the most in difficult moments." - Roger Federer

"I’d rather regret the risks that didn’t work out than the chances I didn’t take at all." - Simone Biles

"The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in determination." - Usain Bolt

"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

Guided Meditation: Pregame Meditation for Basketball (or any sport really) >>

Inspirational Sports Quotes About the Process and the Journey

"You have to believe in your process. You have to believe in the things that you are doing to help the team win. I think you have to take the good with the bad." - Tom Brady

"Winning and losing isn't everything; sometimes, the journey is just as important as the outcome." - Alex Morgan

"You can't let one bad moment spoil a bunch of good ones." - Dale Earnhardt

"I've learned that winning isn't everything, and it's more about the journey. But at the end of the day, I just want to stand on the podium with the gold medal." - Hope Solo

"You have good days, you have bad days. But the main thing is to grow mentally." - Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

More quotes: 36 Steph Curry Quotes On Shooting Confidence and Basketball >>

Motivational Sports Sayings About Living In The Moment

"Tomorrow's not promised so you've really got to take advantage of what you have in the present." - Diana Taurasi

"Winners live in the present tense. People who come up short are consumed with future or past. I want to be living in the now." - Alex Rodriguez

"Remember, tomorrow is promised to no one." - Walter Payton

"I don't focus on what I'm up against. I focus on my goals and I try to ignore the rest." - Venus Williams

Sports Quotes On Teamwork And Sacrifice

"The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team." - Phil Jackson

"Great players are willing to give up their own personal achievement for the achievement of the group. It enhances everybody." - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

"I don't feel I'm a step above anyone on this team. I'm just another link in the chain." Jeff Gordon

"Losers assemble in small groups and complain, winners assemble as a team and find ways to win." - Bill Parcells

More quotes: 73 Coach John Wooden Quotes And Sayings About Basketball And Life >>

Other Motivational Quotes For Athletes

"Watch your actions, they become your habits. Watch your habits, they become your character." – Vince Lombardi

"Focus on remedies not faults." - Jack Nicklaus

"A person always doing his or her best becomes a natural leader, just by example." - Joe DiMaggio

"It's not how you start the season, it's how you finish." - Albert Pujols

"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." - Jackie Robinson

"I want to be different. If everyone is wearing black, I want to be wearing red." - Maria Sharapova

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." - Roberto Clemente

"Refuse to accept any other reality." - Ronda Rousey

"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

"Anything that disturbs your comfort factor is good for you." - Tony La Russa

"Motivation is temporary. Inspiration is permanent." - Kelly Slater

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