Top 200 Sports Quotes (2025 Update)
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51. “Champions keep playing until they get it right.”

— Billie Jean King

52. “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.”

— Muhammad Ali

53. “It’s the lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believe in myself. He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life. I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest.”

— Muhammad Ali

54. “The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.”

— Pelé

55. “Listen to how everyone is talking about you. You have to use it as fuel for motivation.”

— Kobe Bryant

56. “I’ve always made a total effort, even when the odds seemed entirely against me. I never quit trying; I never felt that I didn’t have a chance to win.”

— Arnold Palmer

57. “I play to win, whether during practice or a real game. And I will not let anything get in the way of me and my competitive enthusiasm to win.”

— Michael Jordan

58. “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”

— Steve Prefontaine

59. “The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand.”

— Vince Lombardi

60. “It's not whether you got knocked down; it's whether you get back up.”

— Vince Lombardi

61. “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.”

— Michael Jordan

62. “Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.”

— Eddy Merckx

63. “The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That's real glory. Thats the essence of it.”

— Vince Lombardi

64. “Success demands singleness of purpose.”

— Vince Lombardi

65. “In life, winning and losing will both happen. What is never acceptable is quitting.”

— Magic Johnson

66. “Once a man has made a commitment to a way of life, he puts the greatest strength in the world behind him. It’s something we call heart power. Once a man has made this commitment, nothing will stop him short of success.”

— Vince Lombardi

67. “You carry on no matter what the obstacles are. You simply refuse to give up – and, when the going gets tough, you get tougher. And, you win.”

— Vince Lombardi

68. “Perform at your best when your best is required. Your best is required each day.”

— John Wooden

69. “If you want to be the best, you have to do things that other people aren’t willing to do.”

— Michael Phelps

70. “Don’t waste talent. No matter what you do, don’t waste talent.”

— Ray Lewis

71. “My ambition is always to get better and better.”

— Lionel Messi

72. “When One Great Scorer comes to write against your name, He marks, not that you won or lost, but how you played the game.”

— Grantland Rice

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

— Wayne Gretzky

74. “If you’ll not settle for anything less than your best, you will be amazed at what you can accomplish in your lives.”

— Vince Lombardi

75. “I think goals should never be easy, they should force you to work, even if they are uncomfortable at the time.”

— Michael Phelps

76. “Inches make champions.”

— Vince Lombardi

77. “I focus on one thing and one thing only – that’s trying to win as many championships as I can.”

— Kobe Bryant

78. “It hurts, but that’s all it does. The most difficult part of the training is training your mind. You build calluses on your feet to endure the road. You build calluses on your mind to endure the pain. There’s only one way to do that. You have to get out there and run.”

— David Goggins

79. “There may be people who have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do – and I believe that.”

— Derek Jeter

80. “There are two pains in life. There is the pain of discipline and the pain of disappointment. If you can handle the pain of discipline, then you’ll never have to deal with the pain of disappointment.”

— Nick Saban

81. “Any true champion can bounce back. That’s what being a champion is: being able to deal with adversity and being able to bounce back.”

— Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

82. “Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you.”

— Arnold Palmer

83. “Play hard, play smart, play together, have fun.”

— Morgan Wootten

84. “You have competition every day because you set such high standards for yourself that you have to go out every day and live up to that.”

— Michael Jordan

85. “It’s harder to stay on top than it is to make the climb. Continue to seek new goals.”

— Pat Summitt

86. “His hands can’t hit what his eyes can’t see.”

— Muhammad Ali

87. “People just don’t understand how obsessed I am with winning.”

— Kobe Bryant

88. “Failure gave me strength. Pain was my motivation.”

— Michael Jordan

89. “Hard work pays off – hard work beats talent any day, but if you’re talented and work hard, it’s hard to be beat.”

— Robert Griffin III

90. “Champions keep going when they don’t have anything left in their tank!”

— Eric Thomas

91. “I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion.”

— Mia Hamm

92. “The four Cs of making dreams come true: Curiosity, Courage, Consistency, Confidence.”

— Walt Disney

93. “This is your time! Now go out there and take it!”

— Herb Brooks

94. “Everything is hard before it is easy.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

95. “Losers quit when they’re tired. Winners quit when they’ve won.”

— Mike Ditka

96. “Never give up and always keep fighting, because though times may be tough, the sacrifices do pay off, so just keep pushing towards your dream and just love it at the same time and enjoy it.”

— Gabby Douglas

97. “I have failed many times, but I have never gone into a game expecting myself to fail.”

— Michael Jordan

98. “There’s nothing wrong with getting knocked down, as long as you get right back up.”

— Muhammad Ali

99. “You’re never a loser until you quit trying.”

— Mike Ditka

100. “I’ll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it’s sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot.”

— Kobe Bryant