Quotes and Sayings
Quotes and Sayings
Sports teaches you a great deal about life and about yourself. It puts you in difficult and challenging situations and you must know how to properly react in order to succeed. Those that have experienced these situations and learned how to react are considered veterans. Those waiting to experience and learn are considered rookies. Wise persons wish to learn from others so that failure need not accompany every first time situation. Many coaches, players, trainers, philosophers and others have gone before us and penned phrases that allow us to gain valuable insight into the world of sports and life in general.
A quick reading of these short sayings can often times evoke a thousand thoughts to right us when we are straying, to teach us before we experience it, to help us say how we feel, to assure us that we are normal or to make us laugh or cry. The athlete who strives to perfect his skill will live through all of this. His quest for perfection is a constant progression with pitfalls along the way. He continues only because the spirit is willing.
In this book we have trained the body and the mind. Without proper spiritual training you can not reach total command of your skill. The spirit is the lifeline of the person. It allows you to endure and do things you never thought you could. It gives you strength when you seem to have none. Quotes and sayings feed the spirit and challenge the man. They are part of others spirit that has been put into words. Their universalness to those in sports bonds all athletes into one fraternity. A feeling of pride and respect which cannot be bought.
The following list of quotes and sayings are some that have spurned me to be the best athlete and person possible. I hope they will seriously challenge, teach, motivate and prepare you for your athletic and lifes' challenges.
The very best kind of pride is that which compels a man to do his very best even when no one is watching. Every obstacle introduces a person to himself. "One man with courage is a majority." Andrew Jackson "The nose of the bull dog is slanted backwards so that he can continue to breath without letting go." Winston Churchill A winner makes commitments, a loser makes promises. Impossible is a word found only in the dictionary of fools. Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice. Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal.
Quotes to Live by from John Wooden Learn as if you were to live forever; live as if you were to die tomorrow. The true athlete should have character, not be a character. Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you. Be more concerned with your character than your reputation. Because your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
Things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out. Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming. It is amazing how much can be accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit. Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It is courage that counts. It is what you learn after you know it all that counts. A man may make mistakes but he isn't a failure until he starts blaming someone else. Ability may get you to the top but it takes character to keep you there. I will get ready and then, perhaps, my chance will come. Talent is God-given, be humble. Fame is man-given, be thankful. Conceit is self-given, be careful. Be a gentleman at all times. Never criticize, nag, or razz a teammate. Be a team player always. Never be selfish, jealous, envious, or egotistical. Earn the right to be proud and confident. Never expect favors, alibi or make excuses. Never lose faith or patience. Courtesy and politeness are a small price to pay for the good will and affection of others. Acquire peace of mind by becoming the best that you are capable of becoming. The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team. Everyone is important, but no one is necessary. When God measures a man, he puts the tape around the heart instead of the head. Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get. It is better to sleep on what you plan to do than to be kept awake by what you have done.
".... average ordinary people do extraordinary things."
Jim Valvano
".... the quality of any man's life has got to be a full measure of that man's personal commitment to excellence and to victory, regardless of what field he may be in." Vince Lombardi Those who complain about the way the ball bounces are usually the ones who dropped it. "You'll find those who achieve the most are those who put their talent to better use, and there's no way to escape the necessity of hard work, long hours and personal dedication." Colonel Earl "Red" Blaik, West Point Football Coach "The secret of success is constancy to purpose." British Statesman "Their is no education like adversity." Benjamin Disraeli,
Benjamin Disraeli
If what you did yesterday looks big, you didn't do much today. "Some of us will do our jobs well and some will not. But we will all be judged by only one thing the RESULT." Vince Lombardi "Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. PERSISTENCE AND DETERMINATION alone are omnipotent." Calvin Coolidge "Well done is better than well said." Ben Franklin
No one is beaten till he quits, No one is through till he stops. No matter how often failure hits, No matter how often he drops, A fellow's not down till he lies in the dust and refuses to rise. "The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is amore important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a
church...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. and so it is with you...we are in charge of our Attitudes." Charles Swindoll "Accept the challenges so that you may feel the exhilaration of Victory." General George Patton "Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." Emerson Ralph Waldo
"Ability is what you are capable of. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it." Lou Holtz Today is the beginning of a new day, God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it or use it for good. What I am doing today is important because I am exchanging a day out of my life for it. I want it to be gain, not loss, success, not failure, good, not evil. And I should not regret the price I paid for it for the future is a whole string of nows. Notre Dame Team Prayer