The Player Quotes & Sayings

In fact, I heard Bird first, and had got well into listening to him. You know, it's the kind of accidental thing that awareness of a player is: what's available, what somebody happens to play for you. — Gerry Mulligan

It's cool. One of the dudes who I made my album with who I'm a very good friend of for quite a while, I lived on his sofa for a while. And he's a professional guitar player, and he played for One Direction. And so I'd wake up on a sofa sometimes with Harry from One Direction on the other sofa, and I'd kind of be like 'you alright?' — Ed Sheeran

One helpful way of identifying these kingdom features is to examine closely the "preview" passages in the Bible. Pop a movie into your DVD player, and you'll first see previews of coming attractions. Similarly, throughout the Bible are previews of the "feature film": the kingdom of God in all its consummated fullnness. These texts offer us glimpses into what live will be like in the new heavens and new earth. — Amy L. Sherman

I'd also made the first tennis team. I was number two player in the school at 11 years of age and that didn't sit very well with people. — John Newcombe

Black is a color of power and strength, and to see all those players, with the captains linking their arms in front - it's a powerful picture. — Hayden Fry

If Real Madrid land on Manchester airport, then the airport will be surely flooded just to see one player whom fans want most. Everyone knows the name, I don't need to tell it. He is the Prince and legend of Manchester,The King and legend of Real(Madrid). 'CRISTIANO RONALDO' — Gary Neville

Substitution is a true test of strength. The real performance of a player is seen not only during playing time but also and more especially when the player is substituted. — Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

Life is like a game of bridge ... we did not invent the game or design the cards;
we did not frame the rules and we cannot control the dealing. The cards are dealt out to us whether they be good or bad... But we can play the game well or play it badly. A skillful player may have poor hand and win the game. A bad player may have a good hand and yet make a mess of it. Our life is a mixture of necessity and freedom, chance and choice... we may not change events but we can change our approach to events. — Dr. S Radhakrishnan

Behind every footballing tough guy there lurks a mincing aesthete with a love of art for art's sake, football for football's sake. A win without art is somehow less than a victory; less, almost, than a beautiful defeat. In football, the romantic and the pragmatist are ever at war in the same breast. Beauty, it must be understood here, is not Barcelona's aim but their method. And last night they were ready to use this method at every opportunity - quick-fire passing of wit and purpose in the danger areas, seeking always to produce an unlooked-for player in a position of threat. — Simon Barnes

But the problem with coaching is that it is a full-time job. By that I mean for at least 40 weeks in a year you have to be with the player, either travelling or training. Right now I don't want to do that. — Richard Krajicek

When one player is better than you, at this moment, the only thing you can do is work, try to find solutions and try to wait a little bit for your time. I'm going to wait and I'm going to try a sixth time. And if the sixth doesn't happen, a seventh. It's going to be like this. That's the spirit of sport. — Rafael Nadal

John McEnroe ... was arguably the best serve-and-volley man of all time, but then McEnroe was an exception to pretty much every predictive norm there was. At his peak (say 1980 to 1984), he was the greatest tennis player who ever lived-the most talented, the most beautiful, the most tormented: a genius. For me, watching McEnroe don a blue polyester blazer and do stiff lame truistic color commentary for TV is like watching Faulkner do a Gap ad. — David Foster Wallace

What do I lose when I have a praying life? Control. Independence. What do I gain? Friendship with God. A quiet heart. The living work of God in the hearts of those I love. The ability to roll back the tide of evil. Essentially, I lose my kingdom and get his. I move from being an independent player to a dependent lover. I move from being an orphan to a child of God. — Paul E. Miller

If I can be half the hockey player that Bobby Orr was, I'll be happy. — Ray Bourque

I just take what comes to me. If the drive is there, Im going to take it. If its not there, Ill take a pull-up shot. Im a confident player down the stretch and I feel like I can make the play when I have to. — Paul Pierce

I know what I need to work on; I know my weaknesses, but I have that work ethic to improve every day. I have that want to be the best player at my position, and I have the belief in myself that one day that will come true. — Justin Tuck

It is an interesting balance in trying to find players to make your team really good and at the same time running a financially sound operation. That is the challenge for every team. — Steve Kerr

In a Game Community, the rules and officials decide if the players are good enough to play. If not, they change players. In a Play Community, the players decide if the game is fun enough to play. If not, they change rules. — Bernie De Koven

I wanted to the best player in the state - [the best] the area has ever seen. That's always been my goal. Guys like Elgin Baylor, Adrian Dantley and Dave Bing, it's tough to pass those guys. So I'm studying, working. My project's not over yet. Hopefully, I get there. — Kevin Durant

The best players in the world are playing to make history. There are only four tournaments you can win to make history, and TPC (The Players Championship) is not one of them. And neither are those world events. And you're not going to make history winning some kind of FedEx Cup. — Paul Azinger

Best player? For me, it's Paul Scholes. He'll do ridiculous things in training like say, "You see that tree over there?" - it'll be 40 yards away - "I'm going to hit it". And he'll do it. Everyone at the club considers him the best. — Rio Ferdinand

There's no leader of this band, and there never will be. That's the key. You can't control how the public perceives you-people see rock'n'roll bands as the guitar player and the singer. — Shannon Hoon

The reason I became a better player was because I came to Philly. — Michael Vick

The players are looking forward to it because they'd like revenge — Graham Arnold

You cannot control the market, you cannot control the players, you cannot control the clubs. You can try - but we have done our best. — Rafael Benitez

I am the sort of player that likes to create goals. I think a lot of my team-mates know me as a player who is not selfish. — Mesut Ozil

Jazz is very important. It's not something I can put my finger on. When I'm writing at my favorite time, I like to have the gentle side of Coltrane or Brubeck on the CD player. It creates sort of a spiritual space in which I write best. — Miller Williams

She felt like a chess player who, by the clever handling of his pieces, sees the game taking the course intended. Her eyes were bright and tender with a smile as they glanced up into his; and her lips looked hungry for the kiss which they invited. — Kate Chopin

Well my dad was a pretty good player at one stage and my two older brothers played golf as well. So there were always golf clubs flying around the house. — Retief Goosen

What makes the strength of the soldier isn't the energy he uses trying to intimidate the other guy by sending him a whole lot of signals, it's the strength he's able to concentrate within himself, by staying centered. That Maori player was like a tree, a great indestructible oak with deep roots and a powerful radiance- everyone could feel it. And yet you also got the impression that the great oak could fly, that it would be as quick as the wind, despite, or perhaps because of, its deep roots. — Muriel Barbery

Mark my words, Michael Van Gerwen will knock Phil Taylor off his perch one day and be the best darts player on the planet. — Eric Bristow

I put my hand on the altar rail. 'What if ... what if Heaven is real, but only in moments? Like a glass of water on a hot day when you're dying of thirst, or when someone's nice to you for no reason, or ... ' Mam's pancakes with Toblerone sauce; Dad dashing up from the bar just to tell me, 'Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite'; or Jacko and Sharon singing 'For She's A Squishy Marshmallow' instead of 'For She's A Jolly Good Fellow' every single birthday and wetting themselves even though it's not at all funny; and Brendan giving his old record player to me instead of one of his mates. 'S'pose Heaven's not like a painting that's just hanging there for ever, but more like ... Like the best song anyone ever wrote, but a song you only catch in snatches, while you're alive, from passing cars, or ... upstairs windows when you're lost ... — David Mitchell

Playing Super Mario Bros. 2 again, in the two-bedroom apartment I share with my wife, is to re-learn the productivity of cussing. Playing any game, for that matter, bends my larynx into the saltiest shapes imaginable. With time comes an understanding that the game on your screen is nothing compared to life's true challenges. Still, with each fall down a pit or graze of a fireball-spitting plant, my mild-mannered speech pattern gives way to filth. Super Mario Bros. 2 is not even known as a difficult game. But to a player of limited and rusty skills, i.e., your author, it pushes back. — Jon Irwin

In England, it's a rare thing to see a player smoking but, all in all, I prefer that to an alcoholic. The relationship with alcohol is a real problem in English football and, in the short term, it's much more harmful to a sportsman. It weakens the body, which becomes more susceptible to injury. — Alex Ferguson

The way to be successful is through preparation. It doesn't just happen. You don't wake up one day and discover you're a lawyer any more than you wake up as a pro football player. It takes time. — Alan Page

It's not like being a professional basketball player where you're in a big house. Maybe three, four or five guys make a couple million bucks a year, but that's it. The rest of them have second jobs. — Frank Grillo

If you have the sense of participation in sports or athletics, of being a player, then you are not really into the Zen mind. In Zen mind there is no sense of self in the play. — Frederick Lenz

I don't know that there's any particular scientific evidence that you could say, more guys get hurt in this offense versus that one, or hurry-up, or whatever, but everything that we've ever done in the NCAA is about exposure. How many exposures does a player get? — Nick Saban

One of the things I keep reminding players is that when you're lost in a fog, you must stick together. Then you don't get lost. If there's a secret about Liverpool, that's it. — Bob Paisley

I heard that in the United States the level of baseball was the highest in the world. So it was only natural that I would want to go there, as a baseball player. — Ichiro Suzuki

There was a time when only specialized Christian missionaries needed to be able to defend the gospel of Jesus Christ against the attacks of Islam. Today every Christian has an opportunity and obligation to present the gospel effectively and in Christian love to the Muslims who have permeated our Western society. When your neighbor, your mechanic, your favorite basketball player, your employer or employee, or even your children's friends could very well be Muslims, the need for proper understanding and an effective Christian witness is abundantly clear. — Josh McDowell

Not many players get three cracks of the cherry. — Adrian Chiles

I forget what the official name of it was, but they did an all-day of roots music - every kind of music you can imagine from around the country - New Orleans Jazz to Indian flute players, R&B, you name it. I met and became good friends with (blues guitar player) Joe Louis Walker. He was on the show. — Scotty Moore

I think there's a real hunger for people speaking truth to power. Like, there's a little minority now that's saying you sounded like an asshole and a whiner. But that's just the player-hating fringe. I wouldn't worry about it. — Jonathan Franzen

I think the age of 27 to 28 is ideal for the Salvadoran player to play qualifiers. That's why we've brought players who are between 23 and 24. I think in three years, they'll be well-armed to play qualifiers. — Agustin Castillo

Mostly this problem is contained in the fact that the US makes it so difficult for Canadians to get green cards (you heard it here), but if an American orchestra really wants a player, they have their ways. — Lara St. John

At the end of the playback of the take of "Like A Rolling Stone", or actually during the thing, Bob Dylan said to the producer, turn up the organ. And Tom Wilson said, oh man, that guy's not an organ player. And Dylan said, I don't care, turn the organ up, and that's really how I became an organ player. — Al Kooper

I love 'The X-Men;' that was the first comic series that I was dedicated to, because I feel like you can pick your player. 'I'm the most like Gambit ... or I'm totally a Storm.' — Taran Killam

If a player demonstrated that he is the best, and a team decides, even so, we don't want to pay him, as in any other business, he should be able to play elsewhere. — Lynn Swann

I think he [Raul] is the greatest player to have ever played the game. He walks on the turf and astounds. It is utterly amazing. — Luis Figo

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 was not able to understand how it could be right to pay an actor, or a singer, or an instrumentalist for entertaining the public and wrong to pay a ball player for doing exactly the same thing. — Al Spalding

If you can defend, counter-attack and take the initiative then you become a more dangerous player. — Jo Durie

We wanted to create an environment where if a game player enjoyed the 'writing style' of a particular game designer, he or she could look for the next game by that same author and not be disappointed. — David Crane

It is really amazing to be able to do cinematic, big feature style film music on a weekly basis and do it in LA, on a big scoring stage, on a studio lot, and do it with the right players and make it sound great. — Christopher Lennertz

Sachin Tendulkar is, in my time, the best player without doubt - daylight second, Brian Lara third. — Shane Warne

When you think of me as a football player, I would like for people to think that I put it on the line every time. Good or bad, win or lose, I put it on the line. — Joe Greene

Rahul is always been in the shadow of Sachin. If you take his record it's as good as Sachin's but you cannot compare both as they are different kind of players. Rahul is a complete cricketer. — Muttiah Muralitharan

As you keep shooting the ball, you become a better basketball player. — Raekwon

A player can sometimes afford the luxury of an inaccurate move, or even a definite error, in the opening or middlegame without necessarily obtaining a lost position. In the endgame ... an error can be decisive, and we are rarely presented with a second chance. — Paul Keres

Hockey and cooking are similar in so many ways, especially if you are a player-coach, the guy in charge on the ice, a role I would closely relate to that of a chef in the kitchen - they are both contact sports.

You've gotta keep your head up, keep moving and communicate well. Even though you might be the leader in the kitchen or on the ice, you need to understand that that you're part of a working machine and that machine stops working if one of the pieces isn't working in unison with the others. I learned from a very young age the importance of being part of this team dynamic and how hard work can take you to so many different places.

(Chef Duane Keller) — Chris Hill

The situation was, the team I was on when I got injured went down to the lower leagues. In America, they don't have that relegation, so when the team went down to the lower region, every player has his value, and they went off and sold any player who had value. — Claudio Reyna

In the early years of the Roaring Twenties, American women not only won the right to vote but they also earned headlines along side their male counterparts during the Golden Age of American sports. Michael Bohn shares an engaging story of how two sports heroines, tennis player Helen Wills and swimmer Gertrude Ederle, helped embolden women to seek self-fulfillment by challenging the status quo. — Donna De Varona

Whatever we learn to do, we learn by actually doing it; men come to be builders, for instance, by building, and harp players by playing the harp. In the same way, by doing just acts we come to be just; by doing self-controlled acts, we come to be self-controlled ; and by doing brave acts, we become brave. — Aristotle.

Gold Gloves are nice to have people mention. They're basically saying you're a pretty good defensive player along with everything else. But I was about the offensive side. — Mike Schmidt

I learned to never say never and never say no, so I decided to go pro. I knew I'd have an opportunity to be a defensive player in the NFL. — Darius Philon

I want the players to play that way, so I'd better manage that way. The philosophy has been thrown out there. We've been talking about it. We've been working on it, so let's see how it works. Let's see if theory and reality can come together. — Joe Maddon

Theres something incredible about putting a helmet on just before a game; its a feeling only a football player knows. Your vision narrows, and the whole world shrinks. You cant hear much of what goes on outside you, but you can hear yourself breathe and you can feel yourself sweat. — Carl Deuker

The machine does not teach playing flexibility, does not help in taking account of human facxtors in the battle, and on whole, strictly speaking, it restricts the possibilities for young players. — Sergei Shipov

So you attempt what De Bruik attempted, in her Free Radical Binds to Macromolecule." "We all attempt what De Bruik attempted, in one way or another." In Free Radical De Bruik had represented the macromolecule, an RNA strand, as a passacaglia, a ground base repeated again and again, in patterns of four that alternated regularly. This was a simple icon, a metaphor in which the repeated ground base stood for the repeated proteins in the RNA; fine. And the free radical's part was a test for any trumpet player. — Kim Stanley Robinson

Coaches who have been players in the league, they get so attuned to playing how they were successful, and who their coaches were. — Jerry West

I was a professional athlete, the best baseball player in the world at one point. — Jose Canseco

If I take a lick from so and so, I'm not going to get that many variations from it, because their phrases are just based on a scale. That's why I say Wes Montgomery has more substance than others. I find myself listening to the older players. You see one bar of theirs and you can get one hundred more licks out of it. — Emily Remler

As a player, to me the Dodgers were the Yankees of the National League because ... you either loved them or you hated them. — Joe Torre

We are long-term players in the industry. We're not just crazy and emotional. We try to be logical business managers. — Frank Lorenzo

The quality of players - the likes of Sam Tomkins, Rangi Chase and Lee Briers - bring an X-factor to the game. It's highly entertaining and it's something probably that the Australian game lacks a bit. — Brett Finch

The crowd paid little or no respect to every player out there tonight. — Bob Anderson

I hate the natural sound of the trumpet, but I think I'm naturally set up to be a trumpet player. I know that sounds weird. But pretty much anytime I play a note, I'm uncomfortable in a general sense. — Christian Scott

Luc Robitaille is a great kid and good player, but ask anybody on the street and they'd probably think Luc Robitaille is a type of salad dressing. — Bruce McNall

Those organisations, al-Qaeda being the first one, have all settled in areas full of mining and oil resources or in geostrategic zones. They settled in Afghanistan which underground is filled with oil and lithium. North Mali is filled with mining resources (uranium). It is essential to question the impact and role of some international players that create or let those organisations settle there. — Tariq Ramadan

I want to see if the player communicates with his teammates and how he responds to coaching. Another thing to remember is players' bodies can develop better than their skills. — Isaiah Thomas

Nelson's first thought is that Father Hennessey looks as bad as he does. The priest is still an intimidating presence, with his rugby player's shoulders and boxer's nose, but his eyes are shadowed and he looks as if he hasn't slept. He puts his hat on the floor and accepts a cup of coffee. 'I'm giving up coffee for Lent,' he says. 'Better make the most of it.'

'This stuff's enough to make you give up coffee for life,' says Nelson. 'I should know. I've drunk about a gallon of it.'

Father Hennessey smiles and drinks his coffee in silence for a few minutes. — Elly Griffiths

It was the most emphatic display of selflessness I have seen on a football field. Pounding over every blade of grass, competing if he would rather die of exhaustion than lose, he inspired all around him. I felt such an honor to be associated with such a player. — Alex Ferguson

There is always the risk of being over-confident when you are preparing to face a weaker player. — Viswanathan Anand

Golf is the only game where the worst player gets the best of it. He obtains more out of it as regards both exercise and enjoyment, for the good player gets worried over the slightest mistake, whereas the poor player makes too many mistakes to worry about them. — David Lloyd George

I am very happy to be signing for the best team in the world and especially proud to be the first Portuguese player to join United. — Cristiano Ronaldo

The last player to score a hatrick in a cup final was Stan Mortenson. He even had a final named after him, the Matthews final — Lawrie McMenemy

If I had to pick the greatest team player in baseball today-and I have some of the greats on my own club-I would have to pick Pie Traynor. — John McGraw

A coach's main job is to reawaken a spirit in which the players can blend together effortlessly. — Phil Jackson

He's helped me do so much in my career, helped me be the player that I am. If there's no Larry Brown, then there's no MVP, Allen Iverson. — Allen Iverson

There's a tacit understanding among clubs that a good player shouldn't miss out on the big break of his career or a chance at exponentially improved earnings. — Tim Howard

I had role models in my community, guys that were older than me and played at university or on the national team. Eli Pasquale was always around UVic when I was a young player, and the national team was around Victoria a little bit, so I got to watch those guys and learn from them. — Steve Nash

The way I look at it within myself, why not? Why can't I be the MVP of the League? Why can't I be the best player in the League? I don't see why-why-why can't I do that? I think I work hard, I think I dedicate myself to the game and sacrifice a lot of things at a young age and I know if I continue to do good, what I can get out of it and if that's me going out or doing whatever, I'm willing to do it because I know in the long run, it's going to help me. — Derrick Rose

I'm a big proponent of Hawk-Eye. I think it's a wonderful addition, not only for the players, but more importantly for the fans. — Jim Courier

I am the best tennis player who cannot play tennis. — Ion Tiriac

My favorite sports novel is End Zone by Delillo. It's such a great looking book too, the black cover with the football player on it. It's just a fantastic little book. — Chad Harbach

1. In the end, as much as the responsibility seems to lie with Beijing, it also lies with the global consumer. Our appetite for the $30 DVD player and the $3 T-shirt helps keep jewelry factories filled with dust, illegal mines open and 16-year-olds working past midnight. We all pay the China price. — Alexandra Harney

I've become better at the net. I've got a 135 mph serve so I'd be stupid not to follow that in. Overall I'm a better player than I was last year. — Andy Roddick

Steve Van Zandt, the poor guy, doesn't get to play enough as it is with me hogging a lot of the solos. Steve has always been a fabulous guitarist. Back from the day when we were both teenagers together, he led his band and played lead and was always a hot guitar player. — Bruce Springsteen

I became more confident within myself and matured as a person and become a little bit more opinionated - maybe the lads might say a little bit too opinionated for their liking but that is just a natural progression for a player. — Kenny Cunningham