One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, basketball

Your mind is what makes everything else work.
-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, basketball

Nothing can substitute for just plain hard work. I had to put in the time to get back. And it was a grind. It meant training and sweating everyday. But I was completely committed to working out to prove to myself that I could still do it.
-Andre Agassi, tennis

Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them – a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.

-Muhammad Ali, boxing

Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even.
-Muhammad Ali, boxing

It’s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challlenges, and I believe in myself.
-Muhammad Ali, boxing

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

To be a great champion you must first believe you are the best. If you’re not, pretend you are.
-Muhammad Ali, boxing

If everything’s under control, you’re going too slow.
-Mario Andretti, motor racing

One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.
-Arthur Ashe, tennis

You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself, your own highest standards, and when you reach your limits, that is real joy.
-Arthur Ashe, tennis

The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.
-Roger Bannister, track

Baseball is 90% physical – the other half is mental.
-Yogi Berra, baseball

Little things make the difference. Everyone is well prepared in the big things, but only the winners perfect the little things.
-Paul “Bear” Bryant, football

It’s not the will to win that matters – everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.
-Paul “Bear” Bryant, football

Fight one more round. When your arms are so tired that you can hardly lift your hands to come on guard, fight one more round. When your nose is bleeding and your eyes are black and you are so tired that you wish your opponent would crack you one on the jaw and put you to sleep, fight one more round remembering that the man who always fights one more round is never whipped.
-James J. Corbett, boxing

You are never a loser until you quit trying.
-Mike Ditka, football

You may get skinned knees and elbows, but it’s worth it if you score a spectacular goal.
-Mia Hamm, soccer

Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.
-Lou Holtz, football

The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.
-Bruce Lee, martial arts

I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted, but victorious, on the field of battle.
-Vince Lombardi, football

Once you agree upon the price you and your family must pay for success it enables you to ignore the minor hurts, the opponent’s pressure, the temporary failures.
-Vince Lombardi, football

A champion needs a motivation above and beyond winning.
-Pat Riley, basketball

It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.
-Babe Ruth, baseball

Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.
-Arnold Schwarzenegger, body building