Famous quotes by Athletes

"If you aren't going all the way, why go at all?"

"It isn't hard to be good from time to time in sports. What's tough is being good every day"

"Most ball games are lost, not won"

"If you want to be a successful runner, you have to consider everything. It's no good just thinking about endurance and not to develop fine speed"

"You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them"

"I've never had a teammate competing with me my whole life"

"I used to tell Jackie (Robinson) sometimes when they were throwing at him, 'Jackie, they aren't throwing at you because you are black. They are throwing at you because they don't like you"

"No one will burn out doing aerobic running. It is too much anaerobic running, which the American scholastic athletic system tends to put young athletes through, that burns them out"

"As a teenager I had no idea that I had the potential to win an Olympic gold medal and my athletic career developed only by lucky circumstances"

"Running became boring because it's so predictable. I got to a point where I knew what my competition could do"

"It's been really good to have a goal and go after it. That feels good"

"If you want to achieve a high goal, you're going to have to take some chances"

"Inflation is when you pay fifteen dollars for the ten-dollar haircut you used to get for five dollars when you had hair"

"To be a champ you have to believe in yourself when no one else will"

"To be successful you have to be selfish, or else you never achieve. And once you get to your highest level, then you have to be unselfish. Stay reachable. Stay in touch. Don't isolate"

"There is no "i" in team but there is in win"

"The game is my wife. It demands loyalty and responsibility, and it gives me back fulfillment and peace"

"Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships"

"Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen"

"Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it"

"My heroes are and were my parents. I can't see having anyone else as my heroes"

"My body could stand the crutches but my mind couldn't stand the sideline"

"My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength"

"If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it"

"If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome"

"I've never been afraid to fail"

"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed"

"I've always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come"

"I'm not out there sweating for three hours every day just to find out what it feels like to sweat"

"I realize that I'm black, but I like to be viewed as a person, and this is everybody's wish"