Top 101 Famous Sports Quotes

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Sometimes you need a little bit of inspiration. One of the best places to find that is in our sports heroes. With that in mind, check out the top 101 famous sports quotes.

#101 – 90. Famous Sports Quotes

101. “Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday.” – Wilma Rudolph

100. “A champion needs a motivation above and beyond winning.” – Pat Riley

99. “Just keep going. Everybody gets better if they keep at it.” – Ted Williams

98. “I don’t have to wait for nobody, I move when I wanna move.” – Floyd Mayweather

97. “Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.” – Babe Ruth

96. “Push yourself again and again. Don’t give an inch until the final buzzer sounds.” – Larry Bird

95. “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

94. “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi

93. “At a young age winning is not the most important thing… the important thing is to develop creative and skilled players with good confidence.” – Arsene Wenger

92. “Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up.” – Dean Karnazes

91. “Winning isn’t everything, but it beats anything that comes in second.” – Paul Bryant

90. “What do do with a mistake: recognize it, admit it, learn from it, forget it.” – Dean Smith

#89 – 80. Famous Sports Quotes

89. “When the mind is controlled and spirit aligned with purpose, the body is capable of so much more than we realize.” ― Rich Roll

88. “Do not let what you can not do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden

87. “The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital.” – Joe Paterno

86. “Moment of victory is much too short to live for that and nothing else.” ― Martina Navratilova

85. “If you can believe it, the mind can achieve it.” – Ronnie Lott

84. “It kills me to lose. If I’m a troublemaker, and I don’t think that my temper makes me one, then it’s because I can’t stand losing. That’s the way I am about winning, all I ever wanted to do was finish first.” – Jackie Robinson

83. “It is not the size of a man but the size of his heart that matters.” – Evander Holyfield

82. “Adversity cause some men to break; others to break records.” – William A. Ward

81. “Gold medals aren’t really made of gold. They’re made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts.” – Dan Gable

80. “Never give up! Failure and rejection are only the first step to succeeding.” – Jim Valvano

#79 – 70. Famous Sports Quotes

79. “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” – Tim Notke

78. “A champion is someone who gets up when he can’t.” – Jack Dempsey

77. “Champions keep playing until they get it right.” – Billie Jean King

76. “Irrespective of whether you have the talent or not, one has to work hard. Just being talented doesn’t mean anything; you can end up wasting it before you realize.” – Virat Kohli

75. “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all time thing. You don’t win once in a while, you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.” – Vince Lombardi

74. “Wisdom is always an overmatch for strength.” – Phil Jackson

73. “I’ve missed more than 9,000 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

72. “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

71. “You can’t always control circumstances. However, you can always control your attitude, approach, and response. Your options are to complain or to look ahead and figure out how to make the situation better.” ― Tony Dungy

70. “One of the greatest experiences in life is achieving personal goals that others said would be, ‘impossible to attain.’ Be proud of your success and share your story with others.” – Robert Cheeke

#69 – 60. Famous Sports Quotes

69. “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” – Muhammad Ali

68. “The more I practice, the luckier I get.” – Gary Player

67. “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky

66. “The highest compliment that you can pay me is to say that I work hard every day, that I never dog it.” – Wayne Gretzky

65. “A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning.” – Billie Jean King

64. “Passion first and everything will fall into place.” – Holly Holm

63. “It is more difficult to stay on top than to get there.” – Mia Hamm

62. “I just want people to see me as a hard-working footballer and someone who is passionate about the game.” – David Beckham

61. “A trophy carries dust. Memories last forever.” – Mary Lou Retton

60. “If you can’t outplay them, outwork them.” – Ben Hogan

#59 – 50. Famous Sports Quotes

59. “The time when there is no one there to feel sorry for you or to cheer for you is when a player is made.” – Tim Duncan

58. “I’ve learned that something constructive comes from every defeat.” – Tom Landry

57. “Without self-discipline, success is impossible, period.” – Lou Holtz

56. “Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they’ve got a second.” – William James

55. “When you’ve got something to prove, there’s nothing greater than a challenge.” – Terry Bradshaw

54. “When I first came on tour, I was playing for money. Now I’m playing to win golf tournaments and the money is more than I ever dreamed I could make.” – Annika Sorenstam

53. “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” – Babe Ruth

52. “Show me a gracious loser and I’ll show you a failure.” – Knute Rockne

51. “Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way.” – Satchel Paige

50. “I love the winning, I can take the losing, but most of all I Love to play.” – Boris Becker

#49 – 40. Famous Sports Quotes

49. “What makes something special is not just what you have to gain, but what you feel there is to lose.” – Andre Agassi

48. “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi

47. “You’re never a loser until you quit trying.” – Mike Ditka

46. “Excellence is not a singular act but a habit. You are what you do repeatedly.” – Shaquille O’Neal

45. “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

44. “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.” – Grantland Rice

43. “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

42. “The biggest thrill wasn’t in winning on Sunday but in meeting the payroll on Monday.” – Art Rooney

41. “One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than a hundred teaching it.” – Knute Rockne

40. “You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get.” – Michael Phelps

#39 – 30. Famous Sports Quotes

39. “Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it.” – George Halas

38. “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

37. “I train so hard to make sure failure doesn’t happen. If I do everything I can, and run as fast as I possibly can and someone still beats me, I don’t think of that as failure.” – Marion Jones

36. “I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a champion.” – Billie Jean King

35. “You learn more from losing than winning. You learn how to keep going.” – Morgan Wootten

34. “If you aren’t going all the way, why go at all?” – Joe Namath

33. “I want to be a dad, first and foremost. I want to be a good father. I’ve spent so much of my life on the move and travelling around the world that just to set up a home for my family and be a good dad is something that motivates me.” – Ricky Ponting

32. “The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.” – Pele

31. “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

30. “If you are afraid of failure you don’t deserve to be successful!” – Charles Barkley

#29 – 20. Famous Sports Quotes

29. “I figure practice puts your brains in your muscles.” – Sam Snead

28. “Do not let what you can not do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden

27. “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.” – Muhammad Ali

26. “If you aren’t going all the way, why go at all?” – Joe Namath

25. “Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you.” – Arnold Palmer

24. “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

23. “Worrying gets you nowhere. if you turn up worrying about how you’re going to perform, you’ve already lost. Train hard, turn up, run your best and the rest will take care of itself.” – Usain Bolt

22. “Never limit yourself, never be satisfied, and smile… It’s free!” – Jennie Finch

21. “To give any less than your best is to sacrifice a gift.” – Steve Prefontaine

20. “A champion is someone who gets up when he can’t.” – Jack Dempsey

#19 – 10. Famous Sports Quotes

19. “The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory.” – Les Brown

18. “When you win, say nothing. When you lose, say less.” – Paul Brown

17. “If a team wants to intimidate you physically and you let them, they’ve won.” – Mia Hamm

16. “I learned that if you want to make it bad enough, no matter how bad it is, you can make it.” – Gale Sayers

15. “It ain’t over till it’s over.” – Yogi Berra

14. “If you can believe it, the mind can achieve it.” – Ronnie Lott

13. “Nothing is black-and-white, except for winning and losing, and maybe that’s why people gravitate to that so much.” – Steve Nash

12. “Success is where preparation and opportunity meet.” – Bobby Unser

11. “Make each day your masterpiece.” – John Wooden

10. “Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement.” – Matt Biondi

#9 – 1. Famous Sports Quotes

9. “Losing feels worse than winning feels good.” – Vin Scully

8. “Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing. Breathing first, winning next.” – George Steinbrenner

7. “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

6. “Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play.” – Mike Singletary

5. “For me to get through the toughest periods in my life, I had to look within to find the energy to do it. I don’t give up. Never have. Never will.” – Jonah Lomu

4. “I’ve missed more than 9,000 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

3. “I never worry about the problem. I worry about the solution.” – Shaquille O’Neal

2. “Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is.” – Vince Lombardi

1.“Winners never quit and quitters never win.” – Vince Lombardi

Ideas for the top 101 famous sports quotes were taken from the following source. ^[1]Keep Inspiring.me – 100 Most Inspirational Sports Quotes Of All Time^[2]For the Win – The 48 greatest quotes about winning^[3]Tiki Touring Kiwi – 100 Best Sports Quotes Inspirational, Motivational, Awesome, and Funny^[4]Bright Drops – 55 Most Famous Inspirational Sports Quotes of All-Time