Popular quotes about Athlete! Wisdom and inspiration are here! | page 14
I think that we ill-prepare athletes from the very beginning. From the moment they pick up a ball or kick or whatever it is they're doing. We ill-prepare them. Especially with the major sports. What you see is this cycle of entitlement that gets thrown their way, so the kid who is in junior high and hasn't finished his test, but still gets to play because he is an athlete, fails the test and still gets to play because they're an athlete, gets to get away with not doing chores at home because they've got practice.
John AmaechiYou're not going to tell me that you're going to find a person who's not a very good athlete and he or she is going to be a great player. But anyone can play the game. That's the nice thing about the game. You don't really have to be a world-class athlete to play the sport [golf] and have fun because of handicap systems.
Jack NicklausI 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.
Billie Jean KingI think it's ironic that I fell in love with a man I thought I would never be interested in because he's an athlete. I was always, 'An athlete? Heck no.'
Jessica SimpsonAs a little kid, not only is my dad Jo-Jo White, but M. L. Carr is involved in the family, Red Auerbach is my godfather, and my stepmother was an Olympic-caliber sprinter. Athletes were all around. I happened to be a natural athlete. If I wasn't, it might have been hell. But I never got any pressure from my mom and dad to be an athlete.
Brian J. WhiteI tell you, it was kind of two-fold. I fortunately had a lot of support. My coach was amazing - he told me to focus on being prepared and that is what I did. Every athlete is nervous - any athlete who tells you they're not nervous isn't telling you the truth. I was as prepared as I could be.
Carl LewisI think once an athlete always an athlete and once you have a competitive nature about you, in general, it's hard to let go. Whether you're going to take it into medicine or take it into sport, the competitive drive never really leaves.
Kristin ArmstrongThe Alexander Technique will benefit anyone whether they are an elite athlete or whether they just wish to live life without the aches and pains that many people suffer and accept as part of life. It is a pity that these techniques are not shown to us all at an early age for I have no doubt that this would alleviate many of the causes of ill health in our communities.
Greg ChappellEveryone is going to be afraid sometimes. Then you ask yourself, "What am I really afraid of?" Then you can address it, because there's nothing to be afraid of. It helps a lot when you just face it and put it in perspective. It gives you that courage to fight through it. As an athlete, you can't be afraid to make a mistake.
Matt CullenIf you want to be a top athlete you have to be a little bit wild, not be an accountant.
Renato Canova...for our wisdom is better than the strength of men or of horses. ... nor is it right to prefer strength to excellent wisdom. For if there should be in the city [any athlete whose skill] is honoured more than strength ... the city would not on that account be any better governed.
XenophanesIt is not the time spent with the child at their activity that is going to produce the highest level athlete. It is in supporting the child in an organized activity so the child can find what they truly like to do and let them go.
Frank ShorterI was always known as that stocky, muscular, powerful, short, athlete. People always wondered if I was on steroids, and it was because I wasn't that long and lean, flexible, artistic gymnast. It didn't affect me too much but it got to the point where I tried to be that long and lean gymnast, and it just wasn't possible.
Shawn JohnsonI think it's interesting that a lot of times people want celebrities to give back in the way that they want them to give back. They want them to give money to the cause they think is important and when that doesn't happen they say, "Oh, they're not doing anything." People think celebrities are going to solve their problems. People think because someone is famous or an athlete or a politician that the solution begins with them. All they're there to do is sell you a product.
RhymefestAn athlete must have ability to reach the top, but many who have ability and who do not live clean lives never have and never will be champions for obvious reasons.
Major TaylorI think imperfection is beauty. Instead of being insecure about my muscles, I've learned to love them. I don't even think of it as a flaw anymore because it's made me into the athlete that I am.
Aly RaismanI would say facing the obstacles surrounding the day-to-day pressures of an elite athlete at a very young age was not the easiest task. Learning to deal with the nerves and feeling the pressure of representing my country, all while wanting to achieve my own dreams, was a big obstacle to plow through.
Tara LipinskiPeople were actually approaching me on the street and thinking that I was an athlete. They couldn't quite place it, but a runner, or swimmer or something.
Kristanna LokenI'm an athlete. I'm strong. I'm tough. And that's how women should be. That's how they should be built.
Bristol PalinAs a professional athlete, there aren't too many things as gratifying as being on the front of a box. Whether it be a cereal box or a game box. It's very gratifying.
Jeremy RoenickYou already have everything you need to be a long-distance athlete. It's mindset, not miles, that separates those who do from those who dream.
John BinghamI'm an athlete and I'm black, and a lot of black athletes go broke. I do not want to become a statistic, so maybe I overcompensate. But I'm paranoid. Oprah told me a long time ago, 'You sign every check. Never let anyone sign any checks.'
Serena WilliamsI have never doped โฆ I have competed as an endurance athlete for 25 years with no spike in performance, passed more than 500 drug tests and never failed one.
Lance ArmstrongI later discovered that in order to be a good athlete one must care intensely what is happening with a ball, even if one doesn't have possession of it. This was ultimately my failure: my inability to work up a passion for the location of balls.
Haven KimmelI had female role models to look up to starting in middle school, athletes like Julie Foudy and Mia Hamm who made me realize that there was room in the world of sports for women. They ignited my dream of becoming an Olympic athlete.
Jennie FinchA lot of people probably think I'm not athletic or don't even try to work out or whatever, but I do. Just because you're big doesn't mean you can't be an athlete. And just because you work out doesn't mean you're going to have a 12-pack. I work out to make sure I can do my job to the best of my ability. Other than that, I'm not going up there trying to be a fitness model.
Prince FielderIt was good to see an athlete that emotional in the aftermath of defeat, to show that losing isn't good enough. Fighting hard and trying your best isn't good enough. It showed that the only thing good enough in his eyes was winning. It caused a tremendous amount of emotion from him when he didn't achieve that.
Dan GoossenRuth was probably the greatest athlete to perform in any sport. Never has there been anybody like him.
George SteinbrennerPeople assuming that because I'm a great athlete, I can dance. But no. My rhythm is off a little bit.
Jackie Joyner-KerseeI was especially impressed with Pauley Pavilion [at UCLA campus ]. The floors hadn't been laid down yet, when they gave me the tour, each new room got my heart thumping. They even had a surgical operating room in case an athlete was severely injured.
Kareem Abdul-JabbarWhen I was a kid, I was always an athlete. I played a lot of sports. I played football, basketball, baseball and soccer.
Scott CaanAs an athlete, I'd average four 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 breaks. My four hours was packed with work.
Michael JohnsonQuality training is what I do now; before it was a combination of both quality and quantity. Now I'm not trying to be a world-class athlete, I don't need to train at that level. It's about being fit, fit for life.
Jackie Joyner-KerseeAnd she [Eleanor Roosevelt]loves being a star. And she loves being a teacher and a leader and a mentor and a big friend. Also, she's tall. She's one of the tallest girls in the school. And she's an athlete. And she writes many years later, at the end of her life, she writes that the happiest day, the happiest single day of her life was the day that she made the first team at field hockey. And I have to say, as a biographer, that's the most important fact. I
Blanche Wiesen CookCompetitiveness drives my blood. I'm an athlete at heart and I just love the competition. I can't live without it. It's just a rush.
Sean GarrettThe whole idea of image is so confused. On the one hand, Madison Avenue is worried about the image of the players in a tennis tour. On the other hand, sports events are often sponsored by the makers of junk food, beer, and cigarettes. What's the message when an athlete who works at keeping her body fit is sponsored by a sugar-filled snack that does more harm than good?
Martina NavratilovaI don't want to just be an athlete. I kind of obsess on that sometimes. I don't want my son to be reading, oh, 'disappointment, just a scorer, selfish, didn't win enough, never quite the best' -- whatever. I want to be bigger than that. I want to shape my own destiny instead of just having him read about whatever on the back page.
Carmelo AnthonyWhen Babe Didrickson Zaharias, often called the 'athletic phenomenon of all time,' won the British woman's gold tournament, people said of her what they had said many times before: "Oh, she's an automatic champion, a natural athlete." When Babe started golfing in earnest thirteen years ago she hit as many as 1,000 balls in one afternoon, playing until her hands were so sore they had to be taped.
James KellerI grew up very much an athlete and very much a swimmer and a dancer and a horse rider and surf lifesaving club, you name it I've probably done it. I just find so much gratification in being physical.
Sharni VinsonI find it is a challenge being a student athlete, but I am the kind of individual that loves challenges. I see this as my job rather than a chore so it makes it easier to get through the day. Regular students donยt spend 4 hours at the track, 2 in the training room and they especially don't have to watch everything they eat. I enjoy what I do immensely and take the good with the bad.
Perdita Felicien