Top Athlete Quotes & Sayings

The power of fear of failure, with will to win, is an incredible force. I don't think we should be worried about having a fear of failure; I think it's quite natural. If you surveyed any top businessman or any top athlete, I bet if they were truthful, they would all say they've got a fear of losing and a fear of failure. — John Caudwell

Jim Thorpe is someone I've always loved. He was an Olympic athlete, you know, and a football player from back in the day. I'd love to play him. And then there's a guy called Iceman who was a top hit man for the mob. I would love to play him. Actually, it's sort of in the works, so I hope it goes through. — Channing Tatum

An athlete must have ability to reach the top, but many who have ability and who do not live clean lives never have and never will be champions for obvious reasons. — Major Taylor

There was no way we were going to let this band hobble around on three legs. We chose the route that every professional actor, athlete and musician should do - leave the legend intact and bow out at the top. — Tommy Lee

I've seen myself do stuff on stage that was pretty amazing. I think that would be true for any athlete. Any top athlete will see something that they are very proud of. All my injuries will attest to the fact that besides being a musician, it comes down to being an athlete. — Paul Stanley

All top international athletes wake up in the morning feeling tired and go to bed feeling very tired. — Brendan Foster

There's things Calvin Johnson does that nobody else can do. He's obviously huge, his physical attributes outweigh just about everyone in the league. But on top of that, he still has the ability to learn. He's like a sponge and soaks up anything that can help him as an athlete, as a person. On top of that, he's not soft. He catches the ball and tries to get upfield to score. He doesn't slide or go out of bounds. That's a rare find in the NFL. — Nate Burleson

One minute you're a developing athlete trying to get to the top, then the next minute you do well and win a medal somewhere, and then it's all foisted on you. You never know when it's going to happen. You don't think about the media side of things when you're a young athlete trying to do well. — Jessica Ennis

In the last year I have gained a lot of experience because I have been playing against top players and realized what things to work on to get better. Top players basically tell you what your weaknesses are on the court. — Maria Sharapova

Zone, focusing on your movements without having any unnecessary thoughts, an extremely focused state that goes beyond a normal concentration. Although it can bring out everything that the player possess, it's a phenomenon that eve an top athlete can only come across accidentally. Only ones that have accumulated practice after practice is allowed to stand in front of that door. But even still, it will only open on a whim. It's the ultimate territory where only the chosen may enter. However, Aomine's natural talent laughs at such thing and forces the door open. — Tadatoshi Fujimaki

People think you must be crackers if you've got a psychologist but psychology is part of the building bricks to make a top athlete. — David James

The important thing is the attitude of the athlete, the desire to get to the top. — Herb Elliott

It takes patience to become the best runner you can be. Top athletes realize that running is a long-term sport. It is set up for people who value delayed gratification and who like hard-earned success. — Anthony Famiglietti

If you're looking to be a professional athlete on the top tier of any sport, my best advice is to put everything you have into it. If you're not, somebody else is. It's got to be all or nothing. — Dominick Cruz

I think in my case winning fans came as a result of winning tournaments. Certainly, I didn't have too many supporters when I came on Tour. I didn't look like an athlete, I was overweight, had a crew cut, baggy clothes and on top of that I didn't smile much. I was very serious about my game, literally and figuratively the heavy. — Jack Nicklaus

We have seen some of the greatest athletes fall because they have tried to take shortcuts. I'm not going to call any names but we talk about guys that was like at the top of their game that people just idolized. They looked in awe and all of a sudden you see them just come tumbling down because they want to take shortcuts. I think it's more rewarding when you do it the old fashioned way. — Jerry Rice

One answer to why public interest in men's tennis has been on the wane in recent years is an essential and unpretty thugishness about the power-baseline style that's become dominant on the tour. Watch Agassi closely sometime ... he's amazingly absent of finesse, with movements that look more like a heavy-metal musician's than an athlete's ... what a top PBer really resembles is film of the old Soviet Union putting down a rebellion. It's awesome, but brutally so, with a grinding, faceless quality about its power that renders that power curiously dull and empty. — David Foster Wallace

Everybody used to say that baseball players can't dress and athletes can't dress. You know, a lot of athletes now are trying to prove everybody wrong, though there are some athletes that try too hard and try to do over-the-top things. But me, I try to be simple and just make whatever I'm wearing look good. — Matt Kemp

If you want to be a top athlete you have to be a little bit wild, not be an accountant. — Renato Canova

I would say that one of the really special gifts about playing an athlete is that it's the best motivation you'll ever have to get in top shape and stay in top shape because you know that you're going to be expected to deliver. — Holt McCallany

To be a top-class athlete, you have to train hard, you have to eat right, you have to get enough rest. I feel the way golf is going nowadays, you have to treat yourself as an athlete. — Rory McIlroy

The difference is almost all mental. The top players just hate to lose. I think that's the difference. A champion hates to lose even more than she loves to win. — Chris Evert

Willpower is that thing CEOs and professional athletes tell us they used to make it to the top. — Joyce Meyer