I Play To Win Quotes & Sayings

I view it as a real competition. We're in a business where, you know what, there's no babies here. You go out, win the job and take it. I've been told by management, for the most part, that we're going to play the best people. Obviously, you've got to consider stuff like contracts - that's a reality of the game. But still, when it gets down to it, we're going to try and pick the guy that deserves to win the job. — Willie Randolph

I think your goal is to win every single game you play ... I'm not a guy that just puts a number on it and says we're going to do this, or makes a bravado statement like, "We're going to the playoffs and I guarantee it." I'm not a guy that talks about what we're going to do. I'm just, "Let's do it." And what it is is, we need to work extremely hard. — Chip Kelly

I think as a Canadian hockey player, you go through it in your mind so many times, being able to stand on that blue line and hear your national anthem play and being a gold medal champion, you dream of that. And then to be able to accomplish that and actually win a gold medal and represent your country its an amazing feeling. — Sidney Crosby

I play for me and I play to win, but it gives me great pleasure to represent Mexico. — Lorena Ochoa

I don't so much mind looking back on having lost the election, or having been denied a role in the play, or having had my novel repeatedly rejected, or having been turned down for a date, or recalling laughter at my expense when I attempted some silly challenge. Those things simply prove that I lived life. What I do mind, however, is looking back on the lost opportunities where imagined concerns kept me from even trying - lose or win. I've learned that there is no regret in a brave attempt, only in cowering to fear. — Richelle E. Goodrich

I would love to do well one last time in Melbourne and my dream would be to win Wimbledon and play in the London Olympics. — Kim Clijsters

Oh, that's just Thud! That's easy!" yapped a voice.
Both men turned to look at Horsefry, who had been made perky by sheer relief.
"I used to play it when I was a kid," he burbled. It's boring. The dwarfs always win!"
Gilt and Vetinari shared a look. It said: While I loathe you and every aspect of your personal philosophy to a depth unplummable by any line, I'll credit you at least with not being Crispin Horsefry. — Terry Pratchett

I feel much more respected in Europe than I do in the States from the press and from the people. Americans expect me to win every match I play. — Pete Sampras

If I play badly I'll pick a fight in the third, just to get into a fight. I'll break a guy's leg to win, I don't care. Afterward I say, 'Yeah all right I played badly, but I won the fight so who gives a damn. — Derek Sanderson

I feel like I just returned a 100-yard kickoff in the last two minutes of the Super Bowl to win it all, only to have my run called back by a flag on the play. — Kobe Bryant

I do genuinely believe that young people who play sport at a competitive level, sensibly controlled, sensibly organised, that has to be a good thing. It will teach them to win, it will teach them to lose with dignity and magnanimity - all the things you want. It's a pretty good metaphor for life. — Sebastian Coe

I liked to win, but more than anything, I loved to play the way I wanted to play — Ben Hogan

When they killed him, Mother wouldn't hold her peace, so they slit her throat. I was stupid then, being only nine, and I fought to save them both. But the thorns held me tight. I've learned to appreciate thorns since. The thorns taught me the game. They let me understand what all those grim and serious men who've fought the Hundred War have yet to learn. You can only win the game when you understand that it IS a game. Let a man play chess, and tell him that every pawn is his friend. Let him think both bishops holy. Let him remember happy days in the shadows of his castles. Let him love his queen. Watch him loose them all. — Mark Lawrence

If you play to win as I do, the game never ends. — Stan Mikita

I'm going to go out and play really hard. If I have another win, it will be icing on the cake. But I don't take anything for granted. — Vijay Singh

I hate letting my teammates down. I know I'm not going to make every shot. Sometimes I try to make the right play, and if it results in a loss, I feel awful. I don't feel awful because I have to answer questions about it. I feel awful in that locker room because I could have done something more to help my teammates win. — LeBron James

The Spurs really are a family. They have a bunch of good guys that want to win, and the way they play is so unselfish. I'm looking forward to being involved in it. I feel that teams with players who are very close end up winning. — LaMarcus Aldridge

I'm definitely interested in taking on roles where I don't look like myself. But I'm not saying I'm going to go out of my way to play a disabled person in order to win an Oscar. — Douglas Booth

Some clubs want to win so much they'll do anything to get it. Our approach has been just the opposite. We've tried to do things the right way. And the right way is [abiding by] the rules and regulations ... I may not like all of them, but once they are [official], we play by them. — Don Shula

I was definitely out of control, but I loved the game of basketball and I played to win and I didn't understand anything less than that. That's why I have a hard time with the young men who can't play because they went to the dentist this afternoon. — Mel Daniels

I understand the NBA and the role I play on my team. I know that I have to play a leadership role and do whatever I have to do to win. — Carmelo Anthony

The Russians have held my title for ten years and they're going to be in for it when I win the Championship. They're going to have to wait and play under my conditions. — Bobby Fischer

People need to ask, "How do I play the hand that has been dealt me?" The world is not going to give you extra return just because you want it. You have to be very shrewd and hard working to get a little extra. It's so much easier to reduce your wants. There are a lot of smart people and a lot of them cheat, so it's not easy to win. — Charlie Munger

People always ask about young people like me being forced into things. I play tennis because I love it. I think Russians might be tougher than other people. When I arrived in America I was young, but I already knew what I wanted. I think that when you start from nothing, when you come from nothing, it makes you hungry. I am proud of where I came from and I know what I want. I want to win. — Maria Sharapova

I play honestly and I play to win. If I lose, I take my medicine. — Bobby Fischer

[Daemon] bent down and kissed her softly, persuasively. When he felt her yield, he murmured against her lips, "We'll have a quiet dinner. Then we'll play a couple of hands of 'cradle.' I'll even let you win." Her huff of laughter provoked another hunger. His kiss deepened as his hand caressed her breast. "I think I am hungry," Jaenelle said breathlessly when he finally gave her a chance to speak. After they had thoroughly satisfied one hunger, they finally sat down to dinner. — Anne Bishop

It annoys me a little when people try to be positive when I don't play my best. I play to win. I'm like that. I'm like any other player. I'm never happy. — Camilo Villegas

I love to play to win. — Tiger Woods

Everybody says that it takes a loss to lose and I think it did take a loss for us to lose in a sense. But overall, when we win games here at Duke, and we don't play well, we might as well have lost the game. — Jason Williams

I want to be an NBA all-star and help my team win. That's what it's all about, is winning. I'm a competitor ... People said a lot about me being selfish and stuff like that. Getting into the league, I can't wait to shut that down. I'm a guy who wants to play and to win and love my teammates. — Shabazz Muhammad

I expected to play well, I expected to lead my team, and I expected to win. — Kurt Warner

I don't just want to play in the playoffs. I want to win the World Series. — Robinson Cano

Now, when you play this game, even though you've never played it with me before, you're playing to get even - not with me but with what I represent to you, all those terrible people who cheated you out of your right to win. Then — Bernard De Koven

It's not enough, is it? Just to follow; just to have faith in someone bigger and smarter and better informed. That's how we're built, that's how every Partial is wired - to follow orders and trust in our leaders - but it's not enough. It never has been. We've followed our leaders, and sometimes they win and sometimes they lose; we do what they say and we play our part. But this is our decision. Our mission. And when we're done, it will be our victory, or our defeat. I don't want to fail, but if I do, I want to be able to look back and say, 'I did that. I failed. That was all me. — Dan Wells

Grantland Rice, the great sportswriter once said, 'It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game.' Well Grantland Rice can go to hell as far as I'm concerned. — Gene Autry

I want to know everything there is to know about Lewis and Clark. And I want to do the Sunday crossword in less than an hour. I want to be the best dad in the world. I want to play Richard II, and I want to win another Tony award. — Robert Sean Leonard

XXIX
You have set me among those who are defeated.
I know it is not for me to win, nor to leave the game.
I shall plunge into the pool although but to sink to the bottom.
I shall play the game of my undoing.
I shall stake all I have and when I lose my last penny I shall stake myself, and then I think I shall have won through my utter defeat. — Rabindranath Tagore

People play the lottery all the time unaware of how mind-bogglingly difficult it is to win. It seems like they take a different approach to probabilities. Their rationale must be, Well, I can either win it or not win it, so my odds of winning are 50/50. — Orlando Winters

You fight dirty," she murmured, taking the tin from him.
"I play to win. — Katie Reus

So let me help you out. My favorite color is-hell, I don't know. I've never cared enough to think about it. My favorite movie is-what else-ZOMBIELAND. But not because the good guys win in the end, though that's a plus, but because Emma Stone is hot."
I snorted. He was SUCH a guy.
"My favorite band is-"
"Let me guess," I interjected. "White Zombie? Slayer?"
"Red. And no, not just because I want zombies to bleed.What about you? Who do you like? Because honestly, I'm surprised you know White Z and Slayer."
"I like Red,too, but I'm partial to Skillet. Used to listen to them with my sister. But why wouldn't I know the other bands?"
"You look so angelic."
"And do you think angels are hot?" I asked primly, trying to play it cool so that I wouldn't reveal what a mess I was on the inside. All this time, he'd wanted to get to know me and date me. What craziness!
"The hottest. — Gena Showalter

By some special graciousness of fate I am deposited - as all good photographers like to be - in the right place at the right time. Go into it as young as possible. Bring all the asset you have and play to win. — Margaret Bourke-White

Under that light rain, beaming in the night game, can't stop now, keep moving, no brake pads. Came here to prove a point, live my life on the field, make history in between the base paths. And compete against the fear that is in me, that's my only barrier and I swear I'm going to break that. From the mud, the cleats that we dragged through the feet, this is that moment and you cannot take it back ... This is what you make of it, yeah we play to win, live it like we're under the lights of the stadium. Fight, until the day that God decides to wave us in, right, until he waves us in ... — Macklemore

Ive been taught very early on that if you want to win a tournament youve got to beat anybody, and hopefully I play well and enjoy it. — Steffi Graf

I think of life as very much like a game. The one who created it gave us the rules by which it is to be played, rules designed to help us win, rules to help us be happy. The problem is many times we choose to play by our own rules, and then we're at a loss to understand why we never win. — Julie Lessman

In game play it was always my philosophy that patience would win out. By that, I meant patience to follow our game plan. If we believed in it, we would wear the opposition down and would eventually get to them. If we broke away from our style, however, and played their style, we would be in trouble. And if we let our emotions, rather than our reason, command the game we would not function effectively. — John Wooden

I want to bring that childlike approach every night - just go out there and have fun. I want to play like a kid, for fun but with intensity. Play to win. — Chris Bosh

In my room as a kid ... I'd play a fighter and get knocked to the floor and come back to win. — Dustin Hoffman

I think polo players are at their best in their 30s. You've got the talent and the experience. You play with your head - you learn to lose and how to win. — Facundo Pieres

If you're going to play at all, you're out to win. Baseball, board games, playing Jeopardy, I hate to lose. — Derek Jeter

That's the one regret I have in all the years that I've played professional sports, that I didn't win a championship in the N.F.L. And that's why you play on any level of team sports: you want to win a championship as part of a team. — Warren Moon

I hoping to make it [decision] sometime next week. I love the academics at Tech. I can get a great degree there in engineering. Georgia has the ability to win it all next season. I think I can play early at both schools. It's going to be tough. — Calvin Johnson

I think that with piracy and tighter funds being around, people are realising that the game to play is to try and win people's respect with bold film making and then win a special place in people's collections, rather than just having the biggest opening weekends. — Riz Ahmed

I have read that the Builders made toys that could play chess. Toys, as small as the silver bishop in my hand, that could defeat any player, taking no time to select moves that undid even the best minds amongst their makers. The bishop made a satisfying click when tapped to the board. I beat out a little rhythm, wondering if any point remained in playing a game that toys could own. If we couldn't find a better game then perhaps the mechanical minds the Builders left behind would always win. — Mark Lawrence

We can't play God.
We can't do this to kids.
You're evil, I'm evil.
Everyone will die.
No matter what.
Let nature win. — James Dashner

To be honest, the play that was drawn up, I scratched it. I just told coach, 'Give me the ball.' We're either going to go to overtime or I'm going to win it for us. It was that simple. — LeBron James

I still think that I'm dreaming. It's a strange feeling. I always try to watch the final of Grand Slams because that's where the best players are playing ... I never expected to play a final. I never expected to win a Grand Slam. And right now I just did it. — Stan Wawrinka

I think it was good, we wanted to win no matter if it was 1-0 or 8-2, we got to win. The Russians are a great team, but so are we. So we've gotta prepare the way we can and play the way we can tomorrow. I think that every game, every practice together we've continue to get better. It's tough in these short tournaments you gotta bond quickly and you've gotta have good chemistry; so hopefully now we can build on that and keep going. — Shea Weber

I give so much of myself on Sunday. I drain all the life out of myself out there. I get paid to play, to win, to give the city pride, so maybe everybody can forget for a little while how hard life is. — Randall Cunningham

I don't play to prove people right or wrong. I just want to win. — Mark Teixeira

I never play, because I am not rich enough to afford to lose or poor enough to want to win.
Maximilien Morrel, The Count of Monte Cristo — Alexandre Dumas

It's always great to play at home. I won here last year and it's great to start with a win like this today. The first match was difficult and I thought it was step in the right direction. — Gustavo Kuerten

For years, I wanted to know if there was one person, one voice, one individual inside me. All my life people would call me a chink or a chigger. I couldn't listen to hip-hop and be myself without people questioning my authenticity. Chinese people questioned my yellowness because I was born in America. The white people questioned my identity as an American because I was yellow.
No black or Spanish person ever called me chigger, but hustling all of a sudden got white people off my back. I was the same dude with a different job, but now I was finally "authentic" to white people, and it made me realized it's all a trap. We can't fucking win. If I follow the rules and play the model minority, I'm a lapdog under a bamboo ceiling. If I like hip-hop because I see solidarity, I'm aping. But, if I throw it all away, shit on my parents, sell weed, pills, and strike fear into unsuspecting white boys with stunt Glocks, now I's authentic? Fuck you, America. (171) — Eddie Huang

Life is just like the game of poker, you never know what cards you will get. Sitting against the people, you can either win with the king or live on a joker. Many times in life you are forced to play the blind bet, and achieve overwhelming success, with loads of cash in your pocket or you may reach disastrous conclusions, losing everything you have got.
That's the reason I love playing poker. — Prerna Varma

I loved to play, I was competitive, I wanted to win, that was all I knew. In the first few years tennis is a game. Later, it becomes a job, — Gabriela Sabatini

If the opponent offers keen play I don't object; but in such cases I get less satisfaction, even if I win, than from a game conducted according to all the rules of strategy with its ruthless logic. — Anatoly Karpov

On the field I'm trying to play for the glory of God but then also I'm trying to give everything I have and win and compete. And so I think more than just winning or losing, I think He cares about where our hearts are when we're playing. — Tim Tebow

Our culture believes strong individuals can transcend their circumstances. I myself don't much enjoy books by Hardy or Dreiser or Wharton, where the outside world is so strong, so overwhelming, that the individual hasn't a chance. I get impatient, I keep feeling that somehow the deck is stacked unfairly. That is the point, of course, but my feeling is that if that's true, I don't want to play. I prefer to move to another table where I can retain my illusion, if illusion it be, that I'm working only against only probabilities, and have a chance to win. Then if you lose, you can blame it on your own poor playing. That is called a tragic flaw, and like guilt, it's very comforting. You can go on believing that there really is a right way, and you just didn't find it. — Marilyn French

I know I can go out there and play much better than I did yesterday. But to come out with a win is key. — Drew Brees

It is my goal to win every time I play. But on the other hand, I also seek a balance of compassion and respect for the other players. I understand that everyone goes through difficult times, either mentally or physically, to cope with their life, to live the sport. — Novak Djokovic

I'm a chemistry guy. I believe you've got to play together to have a chance to win. — Tony Gwynn

I don't play a lot of tournaments, but if I don't win a tournament in a year, people are like, 'What in the world is going on?' People don't realize how hard it is to win tournaments. You're not going to go out and play 10 tournaments and win one of them. Your odds aren't that good. — Chris Moneymaker

I just try to make sure that when I get there on the floor, I play as hard as I can and try to do everything I can to help the team win. — Jeremy Lin

I looked down at the board. "The point isn't to win?" I asked. "The point," Bredon said grandly, "is to play a beautiful game. — Patrick Rothfuss

You can play and try to get focused for that time, but still the reality of that whole situation is once that game is over you still have to be confronted with what's going on. I think that's where the senior leadership on your football team has to come. They have to understand that we have a responsibility to reach our goals and that's to win the championship. — Pete Richardson

Americans play to win at all times. I wouldn't give a hoot and hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost nor ever lose a war. — George S. Patton

So, I didn't say we are going to win a lot, but we are going to play like winners, and we've got a plan in place to teach our guys how to play like winners and play like a champion. — Steve Spurrier

I think at one time every drummer wanted to play like Krupa or wanted to win a Gene Krupa drum contest. This is the big inspiration for drummers and naturally it has to be the same way for me. — Buddy Rich

To play with ten players for over half of the match is never going to be easy against anybody, particularly on their home field. But I thought the team adjusted fairly well and at times we looked really good with only ten players. Still, it's a win, and it's a win for the Rivalry Series and I'm happy about that. — Jerry Smith

You're not going to win by automatically going out there. It's hard to know what people really expect of you, and I've never tried to live up to expectations anyway. That's no way to play baseball. — Greg Maddux

I play chess about four hours a day in training camp. You have to decide what move to use, or what combination of moves. I think less when I box because the reaction time is a lot quicker, but some people call me the chess boxer because they say I think too much in the ring. I take my time and they don't see the action they want. Some boxers just go in there and just throw punches and hope to win ... — Lennox Lewis

It doesn't matter if I ever win another award or get to play another major jazz festival in America. I would rather not garner any of those things and speak honestly about the things that I see my people endure in this country and all over the world. — Christian Scott

I was from North Carolina, so as a youngster all of my mind games about golf were always, 'If I make this I win The Masters, if I hole this par putt I win The Masters.' So it was a great thrill to play there. — Raymond Floyd

I'm not playing your games. You were wrong." I crossed my arms over my chest. "You want to know what I've learned? I don't win by playing your games. I win by making you play mine. — Penelope Douglas

1960, I was 20 years old, and I was leading the U.S. Open. Now, I wasn't leading by several strokes, but I was leading the U.S. Open and playing with Ben Hogan, had a very good chance to win, nine holes to go, I was leading. I was still leading with six holes to play. — Jack Nicklaus

Consider the problem, "How can I win the game of tick-tack-toe?" It is well known that I cannot, if I assume (in keeping with the conventions of game theory) that my opponent understands the game perfectly. Put another way, there is no "technical solution" to the problem. I can win only by giving a radical meaning to the word "win." I can hit my opponent over the head; or I can drug him; or I can falsify the records. Every way in which I "win" involves, in some sense, an abandonment of the game, as we intuitively understand it. (I can also, of course, openly abandon the game--refuse to play it. This is what most adults do.) — Garrett Hardin

We play in twelve rounds. The present against me. I lost the previous eleven. Defeat after defeat. And now I am waiting for the last round. The key round. The fact that I did not fall so far gives me more strength. It's only now that I hope to win, by knock-out, because the fate is too tired from punches that it will eventually fall by itself. And maybe it will fall on knees when it realizes that I am not going to fall. — Slavisa Pavlovic

I came back and in '63, I was at the British Open, trying to win my first British Open. And I had what I thought was a two-shot lead with two holes to play at Lytham. I remember it like it was yesterday. Anybody with a proper brain would have played the ball short of the hole. I didn't have a proper brain at the time. But you have to make that mistake to learn it. — Jack Nicklaus

I'm satisfied with the way I play, but I don't evaluate my performances. I worry about what I can contribute defensively. I don't need to score. As long as we win, I don't care how many points I score. — Patrick Ewing

All this stuff you heard about America not wanting to fight, wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung. Americans, traditionally, love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle ... Americans play to win all the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost - and will never lose - a war, because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans. — George C. Scott

I play to win, whether during practice or a real game. — Michael Jordan

I don't play to sweat, I play to win. — Kevin Garnett

We live in a reward-centered society. When I was a child, my father used to say, "It's not whether you win or lose but how well you play the game." I used to think that was about sports, but as an adult, I realize what I create, do, etc., is more important than winning a prize. — Renee Lawless

I didn't get into music to win awards. I love to play and the older I get the more I love it. And I love new things. — Sam Bush

In order to win, you must play your best golf when you need it most, and play your sloppy stuff when you can afford it. I shall not attempt to explain how you achieve this happy timing. — Bobby Jones

I'm with Houston now. I just have to come in here and play hard and win games. — James Harden

I think it's easy to enjoy anywhere that you play where you feel like you got a chance to win a lot. — Tom Lehman

People from other teams want to play in St. Louis and they're jealous that we're in St. Louis because the fans are unbelievable. So why would you want to leave a place like St. Louis to go somewhere else and make $3 or $4 more million a year? It's not about the money. I already got my money. It's about winning and that's it. It's about accomplishing my goal and my goal is to try to win. If this organization shifts the other way then I have to go the other way. — Albert Pujols

I would rather try a shot to win than play safe and finish second. — Phil Mickelson

And when attacked by a Capitol-aligned soldier in District 2, she tells him that fighting in the Capitol's wars makes them all slaves: "It just goes around and around and who wins? Not us. Not the districts. Always the Capitol. But I'm tired of being a piece in their Games." Game theory is not about games. It's about politics and psychology, war and strategy. For Katniss Everdeen, it is life and death, and in the end, everyone in Panem comes to learn that the only way to truly win the game is not to play at all. — Leah Wilson

I love the game - and I hate the Russians because they've almost ruined it. They only risk the title when they have to, every three years. They play for draws with each other but play to win against the Western masters. Draws make for dull chess, wins make for fighting chess. — Bobby Fischer