Motivational Sayings

Topics

Attitude

• Winning is a habit, but unfortunately so is losing. - Vince Lombardi
• A great many people seem to end up over the hill without ever having actually climbed it! - Unknown
• Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. - Ralph W. Emerson
• Our attitude is the primary force that will determine whether we succeed or fail. - John C. Maxwell
• When we trust God, He can make the ordinary extraordinary! - John C. Maxwell
• If you plan to go the distance, YOU have to do the roadwork. - Chuck Parker
• You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do. - Henry Ford
• Ability is important, dependability is critical! - Alexander Lockheart
• The wise does at once what the fool does at last. - Gracian Baltasar
• Some people who yearn for endless life don't even know what to do with a rainy afternoon. - Harvey H. Potthoff
• To avoid criticism......do nothing...say nothing...be nothing! - Elbert Hubbard
• What lies behind us and lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Life is 10 percent what you make it and 90 percent how you take it. - Irving Berlin
• The roads we take are more important than the goals we announce. Decisions determine destiny. - Frederick Speakman
• Yes, it's true: We can't control the wind or the rain or the other vagaries of weather. But we can tack our sails such that we can steer the course we desire. - Unknown
• Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance. - Brian Tracy
• He is rich or poor according to what he is, not according to what he has. - Henry Ward Beecher
• Life's blows cannot break a person whose spirit is warmed at the fire of enthusiasm. - Norman Vincent Peale
• It's the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen. - Claude M. Bristol
• Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done. - Josh Billings
• Four things come not back: the spoken word, the spent arrow, the past, the neglected opportunity. - Omar Idn Al-Halif
• Habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time. - Mark Twain
• The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. - Albert Einstein
• Maturity is the capacity to endure uncertainty. - John Huston Finley
• I've always felt it was not up to anyone else to make me give my best. - Akeem Olajuwon
• Destiny is no matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved. - William Jennings Bryan
• She didn't know it couldn't be done, so she went ahead and did it. - Mary's Almanac
• The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible. - Arthur C. Clarke
• You've got to think about big things while you're doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction. - Alvin Toffler
• Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that. - Norman Vincent Peale
• A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent in doing nothing. - George Bernard Shaw
• Whenever you're in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damaging your relationship and deepening it. That factor is attitude. - Timothy Bentley
• It's not your blue blood, your pedigree or your college degree. It's what you do with your life that counts. - Millard Fuller
• No one knows what he can do until he tries. - Unknown
• Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are. - Marianne Williamson
• To help me stay positively charged I will practice maintaining a positive attitude each day. - Unknown
• There are two ways of spreading light - to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. - Edith Wharton
• When you do not know what you are doing and what you are doing is the best - that is inspiration. - Robert Bresson
• Thoughts, positive or negative, grow stronger when fertilized with constant repetition. - Unknown
• He that will not sail till all dangers are over must never put to sea. - Thomas Fuller
• Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man; but sooner or later the man who wins is the man who thinks he can. - Vince Lombardi

Adversity

• That which does not kill us, makes us stronger. - Unknown
• Tough times don't last, but tough people do. - Unknown
• It is a rough road that leads to heights of greatness. - Senaca
• We all face a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations. - Unknown
• Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom. - General George Patton
• Close scrutiny will show that most crisis situations are opportunities to either advance, or stay where you are. - Maxwell Maltz
• Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley. - James Rogers
• Much of the best work of the world has been done against seeming impossibilities. - Dale Carnegie
• The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain. - Unknown
• 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. - Michael Jordan
• If I'd known how many problems I was going to run into before I finished, I can't remember a single project I would have started. - Andy Rooney
• Every adversity carries with it the seeds of a greater benefit! - Napoleon Hill

Character

• Sports do not build character; they reveal it. - Unknown
• A man of character does not expect to be liked by everyone, nor does he worry about being liked by anyone. - William A. Welker

Coaching

• The happiest people are those who have harvested their time in others. The unhappiest people are those who wonder how the world is going to make them happy. - John C. Maxwell
• Winning is the science of being totally prepared.- George Allen
• Find your own picture, your own self in anything that goes bad. It's awfully easy to mouth off at your staff or chew out players, but if it's bad, and your the head coach, you're responsible. If we have an intercepted pass, I threw it. I'm the head coach. If we get a punt blocked, I caused it. A bad practice, a bad game, it's up to the head coach to assume his responsibility. - Paul "Bear" Bryant
• The old lessons (work, self-discipline, sacrifice, teamwork, fighting to achieve) aren't being taught by many people other than football coaches these days. The football coach has a captive audience and can teach these lessons because the communication lines between himself and his players are more wide open than between kids and parents. We better teach these lessons or else the country's future population will be made up of a majority of crooks, drug addicts, or people on relief. - Paul "Bear" Bryant
• If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, we did it. If anything goes really good, then you did it. That's all it takes to get people to win football games for you. - Paul "Bear" Bryan
• You have to learn what makes this or that Sammy run. For one it's a pat on the back, for another it's eating him out, for still another it's a fatherly talk, or something else. You're a fool if you think as I did as a young coach, that you can treat them all alike. - Paul "Bear" Bryant
• I'm no innovator. If anything I'm a stealer, or borrower. I've stolen or borrowed from more people than you can shake a stick at. - Paul "Bear" Bryant
• If you whoop and holler all the time, the players just get used to it. - Paul "Bear" Bryant
• Praise in public, critize in private. - Unknown
• After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him... The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut. - Will Rogers

Discipline

• When I'd get tired and want to stop, I'd wonder what my next opponent was doing.  I'd wonder if he was still working out.  I tried to visualize him.  When I could see him still working, I'd start pushing myself.  When I could see him in the shower, I'd push myself harder. - Dan Gable
• Bad habits are like a good bed; easy to get into but difficult to get out of. - Unknown
• Without self-discipline, success is impossible, period. - Lou Holtz

Drill

• If you don't have the time to do it right the first time, when will you have the time to do it over? - Unknown
• You can drill and waste your time or you can drill and get better. Either way we will drill! - Unknown
• The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over and over again, but expecting a different result. - Albert Einstein

Education

• Even in the dictionary, academics comes before athletics. - William A. Welker
• I will study and prepare myself . . . and someday my chance will come. - Abraham Lincoln
• Apply yourself. Get all the education you can, but then, by God, do something. Don't just stand there, make something happen. - Lee Iacocca

Goals

• Set goals - high goals for you and your organization. When your organization has a goal to shoot for, you create teamwork, people working for a common good. - Paul "Bear" Bryant
• The poorest man is not without a cent, but without a dream. - unknown
• Remember a goal isn't a goal until it is in writing, until then........it's a dream and everyone has dreams. - Unknown
• Setting goals for your game is an art. The trick is in setting them at the right level neither too low nor too high. - Greg Norman
• The achievement of your goal is assured the moment you commit yourself to it. - Mack R. Douglas
• You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the other shore. - Unknown
• The secret of unleashing your true power is setting goals that are exciting enough to inspire your creativity and ignite your passion. - Anthony Robbins
• An obstacle is what you see when you take your eyes off the goal. - Unknown

Hard Work

• Hard work is the best remedy for all of life's trials. - Unknown
• The harder you work, the harder it is to lose. - Unknown
• The time will come when winter will ask what you were doing all summer. - Henry Clay, American Statesman
• Before I'd get in the ring, I'd have already won or lost it on the road. The real part is won or lost somewhere far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights. - Muhammad Ali
• 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
• I am a great believer in luck, The harder I work, the more of it I seem to have. - Coleman Cox
• Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus. - Alexander Graham Bell
• Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do. - Goethe
• Spectacular achievement is always preceded by spectacular preparation. - Robert Schuller

Leadership

• A big man is one who makes us feel bigger when we are with him. - John C. Maxwell
• The higher you want to climb, the more you need leadership. The greater the impact you want to make, the greater your influence needs to be. Whatever you will accomplish is restricted by your ability to lead others. - John C. Maxwell
• Personnel determines the potential of the team. Vision determines the direction of the team. Work ethic determines the preparation of the team. Leadership determines the success of the team. - John C. Maxwell
• A man who wants to lead an orchestra must turn his back to the crowd. - Max Lucado
• There are no office hours for leaders. - Cardinal J. Gibbons
• It is truly said: It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires great strength to decide what to do. - Chow Ching
• It is the men behind who make the man ahead. - Merle Crowell

Losing

• If you blame others for your failures, do you also credit them for your successes. - Unknown
• In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail. - Cassius
• Failure isn't fatal, and success isn't final. - Don Shula
• There are some defeats more triumphant than victories. - Montaigne
• The man who never makes mistakes loses a great many chances to learn something. - Unknown
• It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. - Unknown
• Defeat isn't bitter if you don't swallow it. - Unknown
• Nobody is a failure until he stops trying. - Unknown
• Failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently. - Henry Ford
• The things which hurt, instruct. - Ben Franklin
• Success requires no explanations. Failure permits no alibis. - Napoleon Hill
• A failure is like fertilizer; it stinks to be sure, but it makes things grow faster in the future. - Dennis Waitley
• Luck sometimes visits a fool, but it never sits down with him. - German Proverb
• The successful man will profit from his mistakes and try again in a different way. - Dale Carnegie
• You have within you right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you. - Brian Tracy
• The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one. - Elbert Hubbard
• You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try. - Beverly Sills
• I have always grown from my problems and challenges, from the things that don't work out, that's when I've really learned. - Carol Burnett
• Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment. - Will Rogers

Opportunity

• Opportunity may knock, but you must open the door. - Unknown
• Desire is the key that opens the door when opportunity knocks. - Unknown
• Great opportunities come to those who make the most of small ones. - Unknown
• Challenges should not be seen as obstacles but rather as opportunities for acquiring new experiences in life. - Unknown
  

Persistence

• The secret of our success is found in our daily agenda. - John C. Maxwell
• I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion. - Muhammad Ali
• He who endures conquers. - Italian Proverb
• Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. - James Baldwin
• Progress is a tide. If we stand still we will surely be drowned. To stay on the crest, we have to keep moving. - Harold Mayfield

Positive Thinking

• It isn't the load that breaks us down; it's the way we carry it." - Unknown
• Your mind can hold only one thought at a time. Make it a positive one. - Unknown
• A cloudy day is no match for a sunny disposition. - William A. Ward
• Never think of the consequences of failing, you will always think of a negative result. Think only positive thoughts and your mind will gravitate towards those thoughts! - Michael Jordan
• Although elementary, turning negatives into positives is the best foundation to having a happy life. - Unknown
• If you think you can, or you think you can't, your right! -  Henry Ford
• A positive mind has extra solving power. - Alexander Lockhart
• When fate hands you a lemon, make lemonade. - Dale Carnegie
• A positive attitude is like a fire - Unless you continue to add fuel, it goes out. - Alexander Lockhart

Practice

• It takes less time to do something right the first time, than it does to explain why you did it wrong. - Unknown
• It isn't the hours you put in, but what you put IN the hours. - Unknown

Preparation

• If you fail to plan, plan to fail. - Unknown
• Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. - Unknown
• Change favors those who are prepared. - Louis Pasteur

Success

• There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure. - Gen. Colin L. Powell
• To demand more of yourself than you do of others is the first step on any ladder of success. - Unknown

Team Work

• Coming together is the beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success. - Henry Ford
• Great teamwork is the only way to reach our ultimate moments, and create breakthroughs that define our careers and fulfill our lives. - Pat Riley
• Commitment to the team - there is no such thing as in-between, you are either in or out. - Pat Riley
• We must all hang together, else we shall all hang separately. - Ben Franklin

Winners

• Men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed. - L. Jones
• Victory comes to those who make the least mistakes. - Unknown
• Winners in life don't always win; they just don't give up. - Unknown
• The true champion loses many battles before winning the war. - Unknown
• The greatest match a man can win is won within. - Unknown
• A quitter never wins and a winner never quits. - Napoleon Hill
• The most distinguishing feature of winners is their intensity of purpose. - Alymer Letterman
• The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential - these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence. - Eddie Robinson
• There is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it. - Napoleon Hill
• I've got a theory that if you give 100 percent all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end. - Larry Bird
• If you want a place in the sun, you have to expect some blisters. - Unknown

Worry

• Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God - (Philippians 4:6)