Sports Motivation Quotes

Most of us start out playing a sport as a means of fun and recreation. But somewhere along the way, in the midst of all the fun, we realize that sports can often be a metaphor for achieving success in life, because of the lessons it teaches us about life.

It teaches us about being a part of a team, the importance of working together to accomplish a common goal. We learn to shoulder personal responsibility, and how to cope with defeat and failure. It teaches how to remain focused on a task for the period of time required to achieve it. We learn about consistency and concentration, how to overcome weaknesses, and go beyond our limits.

Today, the sports industry is worth multi million dollars. Sports men and women have to perform under tremendous pressure, sacrifice the other important areas of their lives, and even play with injuries. In such circumstances, it can be very comforting to read the sports motivational quotes from some of the greatest sportspeople, who have experienced it all – the sweat, the toil, the despair, the triumph, the joy!

So, here are some of the best sports motivational quotes for you to read and take inspiration from, not only in sports but also in life itself:

"Just go out there and do what you've got to do." - Martina Navratilova

"The pain of discipline is far less than the pain of regret" - Sarah Bombell

"In order to excel, you must be completely dedicated to your chosen sport. You must also be prepared to work hard and be willing to accept constructive criticism. Without a total 100 percent dedication, you won't be able to do this." - Willie Mays

"The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That's real glory." - Vince Lombardi

"Luck? Sure. But only after long practice and only with the ability to think under pressure." - Babe Didrikson Zaharias

"The most important key to achieving great success is to decide upon your goal and launch, get started, take action, move." - John Wooden

"Don't give up at half-time. Concentrate on winning the second half." - Paul Bryant

"The Truth is that Running Hurts. No one gets faster without meeting their personal pain barrier straight on. No amount of junk miles, fun runs or affirmations are going to get you over the hill at the five mile mark in a 10k. However, what will pull you through is solid prep with hard hill runs and interval work." - Manciata

"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

"Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." - John Wooden

"My mother taught me very early to believe I could achieve any accomplishment I wanted to. The first was to walk without braces." - Wilma Rudolph

"The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man's determination." - Tommy Lasorda

"If you believe in yourself, have dedication and pride and never quit, you'll be a winner. The price of victory is high, but so are the rewards." - Paul Bryant

"The ideal attitude is to be physically loose and mentally tight." - Arthur Ashe

"You can't get much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good." - Jerry West

"The answer to three questions will determine your success or failure.
1 - Can people trust me to do my best?
2 - Am I committed to the task in hand?
3 - Do I care about other people and show it?
If the answers to all three questions are yes, there is no way you can fail." - Lou Holtz

"Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. And don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines." - Leroy Paige

"Being a winner is more than getting a first place trophy, it is acting like the effort was an honour and the trophy is just a decoration." - Bryan Moseley

"I learned that the only way you are going to get anywhere in life is to work hard at it. Whether you're a musician, a writer, an athlete or a businessman, there is no getting around it. If you do, you'll win--if you don't, you won't." - Bruce Jenner, Olympic Gold Medalist, Decathlon

"You find that you have peace of mind and can enjoy yourself, get more sleep, rest when you know that it was a one hundred percent effort that you gave - win or lose." - Gordie Howe

"I learned that if you want to make it bad enough, no matter how bad it is, you can make it." - Gale Sawers

"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will." - Vincent T. Lombardi

"Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play." - Mike Singletary

"It's great to win, but it's also great fun just to be in the thick of any truly well and hard fought contest against opponents you respect, whatever the outcome." - Jack Nicklaus

"The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur." - Vince Lombardi

"It's not whether you get knocked down; it's whether you get back up." - Vince Lombardi

"Never let the fear of striking out get in your way." - George Herman "Babe" Ruth

"The principle is competing against yourself. It's about self improvement, about being better than you were the day before." - Steve Young

"If you don't invest very much, then defeat doesn't hurt very much and winning is not very exciting." - Dick Vermeil

"The man who has no imagination has no wings." - Muhammad Ali

"I've never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn't appreciate the grind, the discipline... I firmly believe that any man's finest hour - this greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle, victorious." - Vince Lombardi

"When I go our on the ice, I just think about my skating. I forget it is a competition." - Katarina Witt

"Positive thinking is the key to success in business, education, pro football, anything that you can mention. I go out there thinking that I'm going to complete every pass." - Ron Jaworski

"Just do what you do best." - Red Auerbach

"I didn't just jump back on the bike and win. There were a lot of ups and downs, good results and bad results, but this time I didn't let the lows get to me." - Lance Armstrong

"Golf is a game whose aim is to hit a very small ball into an even smaller hole, with weapons singularly ill-designed for the purpose." - Winston Churchill

"Experience tells you what to do; confidence allows you to do it." - Stan Smith

"The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man's determination." - Tommy Lasorda