“The hardest skill to acquire in this sport is the one where you compete all out, give it all you have, and you are still getting beat no matter what you do. When you have the killer instinct to fight through that, it is very special.” -Eddie Reese

“One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than 50 preaching it.” —Knute Rockne

“Overpower. Overtake. Overcome.” —Serena Williams

“I just knew if it could be done, it had to be done, and I did it.” —Gertrude Ederle 

“The five S’s of sports training are: stamina, speed, strength, skill, and spirit; but the greatest of these is spirit.” —Ken Doherty

“An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head.” —Emil Zatopek

“I’d rather regret the risks that didn’t work out than the chances I didn’t take at all.” —Simone Biles

“Somebody gives you an opportunity, say yes to it. So what if you fail? you won’t know if you fail or succeed unless you try.” —Ann Meyers

“The only one who can tell you ‘you can’t win’ is you and you don’t have to listen.”—Jessica Ennis-Hill 

“Make sure your worst enemy doesn’t live between your own two ears.” —Laird Hamilton

“You win some, you lose some, and some get rained out, but you gotta suit up for them all.” —J. Askenberg

“The only way to prove that you’re a good sport is to lose.” —Ernie Banks

“You’ve got to be confident when you’re competing. You’ve got to be a beast.” —Gabby Douglas

“Always work hard, never give up, and fight until the end because it’s never really over until the whistle blows.” —Alex Morgan

“I believe in the impossible because no one else does.” —Florence Griffith Joyner

“Many times, I had to dig deep and perform. All of that adversity helped me and drove me to want to be the best.” —Hayley Wickenheiser

“Sports serve society by providing vivid examples of excellence.” —George F. Will17. “Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness, heart, talent, guts. That’s what little girls are made of; the heck with sugar and spice.” —Bethany Hamilton

“Age is no barrier. It’s a limitation you put on your mind.” —Jackie Joyner-Kersee

“A trophy carries dust. Memories last forever.” —Mary Lou Retton

“No matter the circumstances that you may be going through, just push through it.” —Ray Lewis

“What makes something special is not just what you have to gain, but what you feel there is to lose.” —Andre Agassi

“It’s going to be a journey. It’s not a sprint to get in shape.” —Kerri Walsh Jennings

“Passion first and everything will fall into place.” —Holly Holm

“Somewhere behind the athlete you’ve become and the hours of practice and the coaches who have pushed you is a little girl who fell in love with the game and never looked back… play for her.” —Mia Hamm

“You were born to be a player. You were meant to be here. This moment is yours.” —Herb Brooks

“The past doesn’t matter. Take today.” —Becky Sauerbrunn

“You can motivate by fear, and you can motivate by reward. But both those methods are only temporary. The only lasting thing is self-motivation.” —Homer Rice

“Once you give them the power to tell you you’re great, you’ve also given them the power to tell you you’re unworthy. Once you start caring about people’s opinions of you, you give up control.” —Ronda Rousey

“The ability to conquer one’s self is no doubt the most precious of all things that sports bestows.” —Olga Korbut

“You control your own wins and losses.” —Maria Sharapova

“You can’t always be the best. You have to remember that everyone makes mistakes sometimes.” —Aly Raisman

“I don’t want to be the next Michael Jordan, I only want to be Kobe Bryant.” —Kobe Bryant

“You must not only have competitiveness but ability, regardless of the circumstance you face, to never quit.” —Abby Wambach

“There is always going to be a reason why you can’t do something; your job is to constantly look for the reasons why you can achieve your dreams.” —Shannon Miller

“Just believe in yourself. Even if you don’t pretend that you do and, and some point, you will.” —Venus Williams

“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

“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six 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.” —Michael Jordan

“Don’t be afraid of failure. This is the way to succeed.” —LeBron James

“You dream. You plan. You reach. There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, with belief, with confidence and trust in yourself and those around you, there are no limits.” —Michael Phelps

“If something stands between you and your success, move it. Never be denied.” —Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

“You’re playing a game, whether it’s Little League or Game 7 of the World Series. It’s impossible to do well unless you’re having a good time. People talk about pressure. Yeah, there’s pressure. But I just look at it as fun.” —Derek Jeter

“Winners never quit and quitters never win.” —Vince Lombardi

“Believe me, the reward is not so great without the struggle.” —Wilma Rudolph

“I always felt that my greatest asset was not my physical ability, it was my mental ability.” —Bruce Jenner

“My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging.” —Hank Aaron