Athlete Quotes

Always work hard, never give up, and fight until the end because it's never really over until the whistle blows.

Good athletes do not know what tiredness is. They do not know what discouragement is. Good athletes only know what victory is.

Luck has nothing to do with it, because I have spent many, many hours, countless hours, on the court working for my one moment in time, not knowing when it would come.

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

A bird can fly as high as it wants but it eventually has to come down to earth and get some water... and when it comes down to get that water that's when you strike.

There is something that can happen to every athlete and every human being; the instinct to slack off, to give in to pain, to give less than your best; the instinct to hope you can win through luck or through your opponent not doing his best, instead of going to the limit and past your limit where victory is always found. Defeating those negative instincts that are out to defeat us, is the difference between winning and losing - and we all face that battle every day.

He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.

The prayer offered to God in the morning during your quiet time is the key that unlocks the door of the day. Any athlete knows that it is the start that ensures a good finish.

[T]here seems to have been an actual decline in rational thinking. The United States had become a place where entertainers and professional athletes were mistaken for people of importance. They were idolized and treated as leaders; their opinions were sought on everything and they took themselves just as seriously-after all, if an athlete is paid a million or more a year, he knows he is important ... so his opinions of foreign affairs and domestic policies must be important, too, even though he proves himself to be ignorant and subliterate every time he opens his mouth.

I have often been asked whether I am a women or an athlete. The question is absurd. Men are not asked that. I am an athlete. I am a women.

I want to be remembered as a great athlete. As a boxing champion.

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

Let your workings remain a mystery. Just show people the results.

The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any.

If you have a body, you are an athlete!

The concussion crisis has changed the face of sports as we know it and it has brought to surface the incredible importance of our brain health. The time is now for us to make our brain the number one priority so that education and awareness can take effect, and begin to change the way we approach the health of our athletes from youth to professionals.

Everything is practice.

The athlete makes himself, the coach doesn't make the athlete.

I am no more proud of my career as an athlete than I am of the fact that I am a direct descendant of that noble warrior [Chief Black Hawk].

Enthusiasm is everything. It must be taut and vibrating like a guitar string.

If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score?

I became a good pitcher when I stopped trying to make them miss the ball and started trying to make them hit it.

True champions aren't always the ones that win, but those with the most guts.

To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world.

Talent is never enough. With few exceptions the best players are the hardest workers.

Ballet dancing is arduous, strenuous activity. Students are engaged in physical training that rivals the training Olympic athletes undergo. At the same time, they strive for physical perfection not for the prowess alone but as a way of achieving the means necessary to express the pure nature of their art.

I wanted no part of politics. And I wasn't in Berlin to compete against any one athlete. The purpose of the Olympics, anyway, was to do your best. As I'd learned long ago from Charles Riley, the only victory that counts is the one over yourself.

If you can't see anything beautiful about yourself, get a better mirror.

I want to be a positive role model, especially for kids and Aboriginal people... When people see me, often all they see is another Australian athlete having a go. It isn't until they see the full Cathy Freeman picture that they realise how proud I am of my ancestry and heritage. I'd like a little more tolerance and acceptance of my culture and all the differing cultures that make up Australia.

Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer.

The potential for greatness lives within us all.

The only athletic sport I ever mastered was backgammon.

Adopting a new healthier lifestyle can involve changing diet to include more fresh fruit and vegetables as well as increasing levels of exercise.

As athletes, we're used to reacting quickly. Here, it's 'come, stop, come, stop.' There's a lot of downtime. That's the toughest part of the day.

But I sometimes think we have too much of a fixation about 2012.

Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way.

The most important attribute a player must have is mental toughness.

I wanted to be a neurologist. That seemed to be the most difficult, most intriguing, and the most important aspect of medicine, which had links with psychology, aggression, behavior, and human affairs.

Durability is part of what makes a great athlete.

I am now a legend. I am also the greatest athlete to live.

This killing of Israel athletes is an act of war. And if there's one place that war doesn't belong, it's here. 1200 years. From 776 B.C. to 393 A.D., your fellow Olympians laid down their arms to take part in these games. They understood there was more honor in out running a man than in killing him. I hope the competition will resume, and if it does, you must not think that running or throwing or jumping is frivelous. The games were once your fellow Olympians answer to war – competition, not conquest. Now, they must be your answer.

The U.S. Olympic spirit award is an award that is given to an athlete who embodies the Olympic spirit in more ways than just on the playing field, in showing incredible perseverance, in overcoming obstacles, and what we wanted to do is have everybody can vote on-line.

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

The actor is an athlete of the heart.

The ones who want to achieve and win championships motivate themselves.

By a persistent effort of will it is possible to change the whole body. The athlete must always keep in mind this concept of change and progression. He must never accept his limitations as being permanent, because they are not.

I've been in motorsport my whole life since I was eight years of age.

I've tried everything other than jumping out of a plane, but nothing gives you an adrenaline rush like racing a car.

Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.

Theres that initial reticence for some athletes to take you seriously.