"We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible"
About this Quote
Lombardi’s line isn’t motivational wallpaper; it’s a coach’s scalpel aimed at the soft tissue of self-excuse. He doesn’t argue that everything is possible. He argues that “impossible” is often a thought-pattern we adopt early, then defend like a tradition. The phrasing is telling: “many more things” is modest on purpose, a practical promise instead of a miracle. It’s the language of a locker room, not a sermon.
The intent is behavioral. Lombardi is trying to move people from appraisal to action, from imagination to repetition. “If we did not think of them as impossible” frames failure as cognitive before it’s physical: the mind files the task under “not for us,” and the body follows. Subtext: the real opponent isn’t the other team, it’s the internal bureaucracy that vetoes ambition in advance. Declaring something impossible can sound like realism, but Lombardi treats it as a kind of laziness with good manners.
Context matters. Mid-century American football was a factory of discipline, where preparation and structure could turn ordinary talent into extraordinary outcomes. Lombardi’s Packers were famous for doing “simple” things with ruthless precision. That’s why the quote lands: it’s not airy optimism, it’s a doctrine of incremental conquest. If “impossible” is downgraded to “untrained,” the path forward becomes brutally clear: practice, standards, accountability. The line flatters no one, but it offers agency, which is the one pep talk that still cashes out in results.
The intent is behavioral. Lombardi is trying to move people from appraisal to action, from imagination to repetition. “If we did not think of them as impossible” frames failure as cognitive before it’s physical: the mind files the task under “not for us,” and the body follows. Subtext: the real opponent isn’t the other team, it’s the internal bureaucracy that vetoes ambition in advance. Declaring something impossible can sound like realism, but Lombardi treats it as a kind of laziness with good manners.
Context matters. Mid-century American football was a factory of discipline, where preparation and structure could turn ordinary talent into extraordinary outcomes. Lombardi’s Packers were famous for doing “simple” things with ruthless precision. That’s why the quote lands: it’s not airy optimism, it’s a doctrine of incremental conquest. If “impossible” is downgraded to “untrained,” the path forward becomes brutally clear: practice, standards, accountability. The line flatters no one, but it offers agency, which is the one pep talk that still cashes out in results.
Quote Details
| Topic | Motivational |
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