"To see the ball, to run after it, makes me the happiest man in the world"
About this Quote
The subtext hums with escape. Maradona’s life was famously overdetermined: adored, scrutinized, punished, defended, narrativized to death. “To see the ball” reads like a narrowing of the world to something honest and controllable. The ball doesn’t moralize. It doesn’t ask for a press conference. It doesn’t care if you’re saint or scandal. It asks you to touch it better than the next person. In that sense, the quote is less sentimental than tactical: happiness is a state of total attention, a sanctuary built out of repetition and instinct.
Contextually, it lands like a corrective to the Maradona story we’re usually sold - operatic highs, spectacular self-destruction, Argentina’s messianic expectations. He’s telling you the origin of the magic wasn’t transcendence; it was play. The “happiest man in the world” isn’t the conquering hero. It’s the kid still sprinting after the ball.
Quote Details
| Topic | Sports |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Maradona, Diego. (2026, January 17). To see the ball, to run after it, makes me the happiest man in the world. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/to-see-the-ball-to-run-after-it-makes-me-the-47058/
Chicago Style
Maradona, Diego. "To see the ball, to run after it, makes me the happiest man in the world." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/to-see-the-ball-to-run-after-it-makes-me-the-47058/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"To see the ball, to run after it, makes me the happiest man in the world." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/to-see-the-ball-to-run-after-it-makes-me-the-47058/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.








