Popular quotes about Athletes! Wisdom and inspiration are here! | page 11
Good athletes do not know what tiredness is. They do not know what discouragement is. Good athletes only know what victory is.
Fidel CastroAthletes know kids look up to them, and it's important for athletes to be responsible.
Deion SandersSomeone who doesn't make the (Olympic) team might weep and collapse. In my day no one fell on the track and cried like a baby. We lost gracefully. And when someone won, he didn't act like he'd just become king of the world, either. Athletes in my day were simply humble in our victory. I believe we were more mature then...Maybe it's because the media puts so much pressure on athletes; maybe it's also the money. In my day we competed for the love of the sport...In my day we patted the guy who beat us on the back, wished him well, and that was it.
Louis ZamperiniThere are a lot of young great athletes out there; they're much better athletes than what we were. They're bigger, faster, stronger, unfortunately, there're fewer places to go.
George SteeleI try to help my athletes visualize their full potential, and then get out of the way as they achieve it.
Pat RobertsIn general, I enjoy athletes who have a strong character who let their abilities speak for themselves.
Eric HeidenOlympics are probably the most important thing for Russians than any other athletes in the whole world. Since I was a little kid and since everybody was a little kid, their dream was playing in Olympic Games, especially if we have a chance to represent our country in Sochi, it's unbelievable and it's going to be a great thing.
Alexander OvechkinI read somewhere that drummers are practically Olympic athletes. I feel pretty good, most of the time. After 38 years, I can't expect much better than that!
Michael BlandAthletes who are able to stay completely focused in pursuit of their dreams are the ones that are most likely to become champions.
Steve BackleyThe lifespan of most professional athletes is relatively short, and most have no preparation for doing anything after their career ends, which it could in an instant.
Kareem Abdul-JabbarRussia always has been, and I hope always will be, one of the leading international sports countries. Our athletes still produce great results in international competition, set new records and win gold medals. Yes, like any country, we might have experienced certain ups and downs with regard to results, but in no way does this cast any doubt on Russia's status as one of the leading countries in sport.
Vladimir PutinI'm just kind of really interested in athletes as artists of a pretty serious variety and people who devote themselves to what they do in a really incredible way.
Chad HarbachTrack is full of the absolute nicest and most polite athletes in all of sports, and where does it get us?
Malcolm GladwellAbout strip clubs and athletes. The best way I can explain why a lot of players end up there is because it's one of the safest places a high-profile person can spend time in a boring city.
Shaquille O'NealAthletes don't have much use for poking around in their childhoods, because, introspection doesn't get you anywhere in a race.
Lance ArmstrongNo athletes talk to themselves like tennis players. Pitchers, golfers, goalkeepers, they mutter to themselves, but tennis players talk to themselves-and answer. Tennis players look like lunatics in a public square.
Andre Agassi"I've always been a proponent of "if you're going to do something, do it right." I applied that across all aspects of my shooting - planning, setting up shoots, getting up early, working with athletes and models, working with clients etc. Just being a pro about it.
Jimmy ChinI've witnessed thousands of superior athletes try to becomes hitters and fail at it.
Willie StargellExperiencing this pain in my muscles and aching and going on and on is my challenge. The last three or four reps is what makes the muscles grow. This area of pain divides a champion from someone who is not a champion. That's what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they'll go through the pain no matter what happens. I have no fear of fainting. I do squats until I fall over and pass out. So what? It's not going to kill me. I wake up five minutes later and I'm OK. A lot of other athletes are afraid of this. So they don't pass out. They don't go on.
Arnold SchwarzeneggerYou will be competing against athletes from many nations. But, most important, you are competing against yourself. All we expect is for you to do your very best, to push yourself just one second faster, one notch higher, one inch further.
Ronald ReaganThe biggest concern with female athletes is they don't naturally compete. And so I think a part of what we do here exceptionally well that separates us from other programs is we train them to compete. So a huge challenge in women's athletics is to get them to compete against their teammates and friends in practice with the same intensity they compete with their bitter rivals. So that's a huge challenge for me, to get the women in practice to go after each other the way you would a rival
Anson DorranceThe best way to show respect to your fellow athletes is to give the best performance you can.
Cheng FeiAthletes who take to the classroom naturally or are encouraged to focus on grades should be able to do well in the classroom. I believe the reason you go to college is to get your degree. It's not a minor league or an audition for the pros
Rebecca LoboI'm a huge wrestling fan. Wrestlers have so many great qualities that athletes need to have.
Bob StoopsMany of the greatest black athletes of all time played baseball for no money and no recognition. I'm just sorry many major league fans never got to see them play, because many of them were awesome.
Monte IrvinI've probably given myself enough time to prepare for this meet and we're all different athletes so I can't take their results as what's going to be inevitable for me.
Libby TrickettNotice how many of the Olympic athletes effusively thanked their mothers for their success? โShe drove me to my practice at four in the morning,โ etc. Writing is not figure skating or skiing. Your mother will not make you a writer. My advice to any young person who wants to write is: leave home.
Paul TherouxDespite my inability to qualify to qualify in South Africa, I did really appreciate the support I got from the IOC particularly the Olympic Solidarity, members of the ICF, my own National Olympic Committee, friends and athletes from the Slalom Community. When I got the wild card, it was the cherry on the cake that I could not have imagined. It was much more than I expected for myself.
Benjamin BoukpetiPersonally, I think SmackDown! has to be a little spicier than it is, a little more electrifying than it is. It's got great athletes and they've got great action, they've done some tremendous stuff, but I want it to knock you off the couch when it opens up. And I think we as a group have the ability to do that.
Dusty RhodesStop saying athletes do it for the love of the game. They do it for the love of their 32-room mansion with the live shark tank in the living room. If pro sports paid minimum wage, Shaquille O'Neal would be a bouncer at Scores, and Anna Kournikova would be a mail-order bride from Minsk.
Bill MaherCommon decency demands that [NCAA athletes] should be paid, but the only way it will happen is the same way workers got paid throughout American history, through a strong union.
Kareem Abdul-JabbarOne of the common traits of outstanding performers-coaches, athletes, managers, sales representatives, executives, and others who face a daily up/down, win/lose accounting system-is that a rejection, that is, defeat, is quickly forgotten, replaced eagerly by pursuit of a new order, client, or opponent.
Bill WalshWe tend to look at successful athletes and make them almost bigger than life. I have seen many young men who have achieved greatness. I have also seen those who have come up a little short of their potential. I do know that those who succeed have been able to recognize within themselves the potential to do something well and then work hard to prepare themselves for that eventual opportunity. Others wait for the opportunity to come and then start to work, thus coming up a little short.
LaVell EdwardsYou're always struggling because you're not playing on a 53-and-a-third by a 120-yard field. You're not playing on a baseball diamond. With golf, every field is different and every atmosphere is different. The grass is different. The weather is different. You're outside. You're not in a stadium. There are so many different variables, so you never master golf. So, I think good athletes like a challenge.
Jack NicklausI firmly believe that all human beings have access to extraordinary energies and powers. Judging from accounts of mystical experience, heightened creativity, or exceptional performance by athletes and artists, we harbor a greater life than we know.
Jean HoustonRight before they named the (2014) team, I stepped back and I allowed myself to realize what I had accomplished. I got overwhelmed and the tears came pretty quickly. It's an honor to represent my country again and to represent my sport to the world and to hold it down for all those 30-year old athletes out there.
Kelly ClarkI'm able to give a voice to the athletes around the world - use my degree for something other than the power play.
Angela RuggieroMost of the time, I'm fighting guys who are 22 years old, former college wrestlers, athletes, kids who are in much better shape than me. Often people who are much bigger and wider than me. It can be dispiriting at first.
Anthony BourdainBy taking a business-like approach, the student-athletes and their parents will be in control of the outcome and that's how it should be.
Billy KennedyWhenever women have made any social gains, whether it's being accepted as athletes or moving into the professions, it's going to be contradicted with an image of woman as small, diminished, reduced, brought back to a childish body. The result is that a lot of extraordinary power is going to be diverted into making oneself smaller than one is meant to be.
Kim CherninSuccess isn't winning every time. A lot of different factors go into every race, and you can't control all of them. Success means doing as excellent a job as you can on that particular day. The people I admire most aren't necessarily the most wonderful athletes. I admire the ones who keep coming back and doing it, time after time.
Aimee Mullins