Champions are not born, champions are made. They are forged by the fires of trial and error. They’re slowly molded by intentional effort, by focus, by many early mornings and many late nights. Becoming a champion is ultimately a matter of will. It has to be desired, dreamed of, and pursued. The great news, everyone has the potential to become a champion. Which is why we’ve pulled together this collection of highly motivational champion quotes.
“Inches Make Champions.”
Our hope is that these quotes will provide insight on what it means to be a true champion. But more importantly, we hope these powerful words encourage you to unleash your inner champion. So, if you’re ready to fill your mind with powerful quotes that can help you tease out your champion mindset, then let’s jump right in:
INSPIRATIONAL CHAMPION QUOTES FOR SUCCESS
1. “No matter how far you get ahead of me, I’m gonna catch you. That’s my mentality.” – Usain Bolt
2. “A champion isn’t made of muscle; a champion is made of heart.” – Liang Chow
3. “Every champion was once a contender who refused to give up.” – Rocky Balboa
4. “Champions never complain. They are too busy getting better.” – John Wooden
5. “A champion is someone who gets up even when he can’t.” – Jack Dempsey
6. “You were not born a winner. You were not born a loser. You are what you make yourself be.” – Lou Holtz
7. “A true champion can adapt to anything.” – Floyd Mayweather Jr.
8. “Glory gives herself only to those who’ve always dreamed of her.” – Charles De Gaul
9. “There is an old saying: a champion is someone who is willing to be uncomfortable.” – Pat Summit
10. “Once a champion, always a champion.” – Ferdinand Marcos
11. “You were born to win.” – Zig Ziglar
12. “A true champion wasn’t born, but trained.” – Annakit
13. “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
14. “Champions are made by their passion and persistence.” – Agunloye Oyerinde
15. “True champions aren’t always those who win, but those with the most guts.” – Mia Hamm
16. “True heroes are made of hard work and integrity.” – Hope Solo
17. “Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.” – Lance Armstrong
18. “Champions train, losers complain.” – Anonymous
19. “I always believe that I can beat the best, achieve the best. I always see myself in the top position.” – Serena Williams
20. “If you don’t play to win, don’t play at all.” – Tom Brady
21. “Champions rarely talk. They just perform and the world around them talks.” – Champion Quote
22. “A champion is simply someone who did not give up when they wanted to.” – Tom Landry
23. “Victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan.” – John F. Kennedy
24. “A true champion is afraid of losing.” – Anonymous
25. “To be a champion you have to believe in yourself when no one else will.” – Sugar Ray Robinson
26. “A champion is someone who has faith and dedication and doesn’t let obstacles stand in their way.” – Nicole Wilkinson
27. “I don’t count my sit-ups. I only start counting when it starts hurting.” – Muhammad Ali
28. “You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get.” – Michael Phelps
29. “If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride — and never quit — you’ll be a winner. The price of victory is high but so are the rewards.” – Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant
30. “Champions make their own luck.” – Vince Lombardi
31. “Champions are not generated from the championship. Champion is generated from something that have in side of them, desires, dreams, and visions.” – Muhammad Ali
32. “I wasn’t born to be a champion — I fought to be a champion.” – Becky Lynch
33. “I am a champion standing over the shadow of my former self.” – Adam Johnson
34. “In the world there are believers and then there are non-believers. For all of you non believers out there, I have something to say to you…never underestimate the heart of a champion.” – Rudy Tom Johnavich
35. “To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you’re not, pretend to be.” – Muhammad Ali
36. “The heart of a champion is not a light switch that goes on and off when someone’s watching. It’s like a sun that always burns.” – Said Manoj
37. “Dreams are free. Goals have a cost. While you can daydream for free, goals don’t come without a price. Time, effort, sacrifice, and sweat. How will you pay for your goals?” – Usain Bolt
38. “Virtually nothing is impossible in this world if you just put your mind to it and maintain a positive attitude.” – Lou Holtz
39. “The vision of a champion is someone who is bent over, drenched in sweat, at the point of exhaustion when no one is watching.” – Anson Dorrance
40. “Champions don’t quit.” – Mike Tyson
41. “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi
42. “Winners, I am convinced, imagine their dreams first. They want it with all their hearts and expect it to come true. There is, I believe, no other way to live.” – Joe Montana
43. “The real champions in life are so humble and gracious. They just continue doing what they do without all the posturing.” – Denis Waitley
44. “They say that when you’re the champs, everybody will try to beat you. Well, I’m glad we’re the champs, so bring’em on, bring’em all on. If we die, we ain’t gonna die running. It’s gonna be a fight.” – Joe Greene
45. “Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months, and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character.” – T. Alan Armstrong
46. “No one has ever become a champion without effort, nor by accident.” – Atlas Rowe
47. “Yesterday’s home runs don’t win today’s games.” – Babe Ruth
48. “Inches make champions.” – Vince Lombardi
49. “A champion is someone who knows the price of success and willingly pays that price until they come out on top.” – Nathan Lee Morales
50. “You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.” – Babe Ruth
Halfway There
Great job for making this far. You’re just about halfway through our champion quotes, and hopefully you’re feeling inspired and ready to tap into your inner champion.
If you haven’t noticed already, there a handful of qualities that champions typically exemplify, and seem to show up every other quote about champions. Qualities like courage, persistence, self-belief, work-ethic, willpower, and integrity.
That said, hopefully you’ll feel a stronger affinity towards each quality by the end of this page, and as a result, have a mindset that is more primed for winning. Keep to it!
Related: Mental Toughness Quotes
51. “There may be people who have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do – and I believe that.” – Derek Jeter
52. “Whoever said, ‘It’s not whether you win or lose that counts’, probably lost.” – Martina Navratilova
53. “Winning and losing is a part of life, but to champions, a loss is only a temporary setback.” – The STRIVE
54. “Two things scare me. The first is getting hurt. But that’s not nearly as scary as the second, which is losing.” – Lance Armstrong
55. “A great champion deals with setback with a comeback.” – Donna de Varona
56. “Talent is never enough. With few exceptions the best players are the hardest workers.” – Magic Johnson
57. “If you don’t want to be the best, then there’s no reason going out and trying to accomplish anything.” – Joe Montana
58. “There’s no way around hard work. Embrace it.” – Roger Federer
59. “Here’s how I’m going to beat you. I’m going to outwork you. That’s it. That’s all there is to it.” – Pat Summit
60. “Concentration and mental toughness are the margins of victory.” – Bill Russell
61. “Achievement is largely the product of steadily raising one’s level of aspiration and expectation.” – Jack Nicklaus
62. “Love yourself and realize that whatever you attempt to achieve in life is a direct reflection of you.” – Joe Greene
63. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky
64. “Winning isn’t everything, but it beats anything that comes in second.” – Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant
65. “What does it take to be a champion? Desire, dedication, determination, concentration, and the will to win.” – Patty Berg
65. “You can’t win unless you learn how to lose.” – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
67. “Champions don’t become champions when they win an event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years they spend preparing for it.” – Michael Jordan
68. “Champions have to have the skill and the will, and the will must be stronger than the skill.” – Muhammad Ali
69. “Champions are brilliant at the basics.” – John Wooden
70. “A man who wins is a man who thinks he can.” – Roger Federer
71. “Talent wins games, but teamwork wins championships.” – Michael Jordan
72. “The moment you feel like quitting is the time you need to keep on going. Persistence fuels genius. And grit creates champions.” – Robin Sharma
73. “When you see a successful individual, a champion, you can be very sure that you are looking at an individual who pays great attention to the perfection of minor details.” – John Wooden
74. “Not every legend is a myth, some are flesh and blood. Some legends walk among us, but they aren’t born, they’re built. Legends are made from iron & sweat, mind and muscle, blood and vision and victory. Legends are champions, they grow, they win, they conquer. There’s a legend behind every legacy, there’s a blueprint behind every legend.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
75. “I really think a champion is defined not by their wins, but by how they can recover when they fall.” – Serena Williams
76. “I would rather try a shot to win than play safe and finish second.” – Phil Mickelson
77. “To be a champion you must act like one, act like a champion.” – Lou Ferrigno
78. “Those who have a champion mindset are usually so focused on what they need to be doing that they seldom have time to engage with the things that don’t serve a purpose.” – Germany Kent
79. “If you are going to be a champion, you must be willing to pay a greater price.” – Bud Wilkinson
80. “Hard work creates champions.” – The STRIVE
81. “Winners focus on winning. Losers focus on winners.” – Tom Brady
82. “Motivation is something nobody else can give you. Others can help motivate you, but basically it must come from you and it must be a constant desire to do your very best at all times and under any circumstances.” – Joe Dimaggio
83. “As a champion, you will have the opportunity to see what God sees and your view of this race will become clearer to you.” – Dr. Beverly Crocket
84. “Mental strength is what separates champions from near champions.” – Rafael
85. “We like to think of our champions and idols as superheroes who were born different from us. We don’t like to think of them as relatively ordinary people who made themselves extraordinary.” – Carol Dweck
86. “Part of being a champ is acting like a champ. You have to learn how to win and not run away when you lose.” – Nancy Kerrigan
87. “Losing is losing, there aren’t different degrees of losing. You either win a championship or you’re sh**. It’s very black & white to me.” – Kobe Bryant
88. “Champions understand that finishing strong in practice, leads to finishing strong in application. You play the way you practice.” – Atlas Rowe
89. “You can’t look ahead at the finish line decide to slow down, and still expect the world to crown you a champion.” – Champion Mindset Quote
90. “Winning – that’s the most important to me. It’s as simple as that.” – Cristiano Ronaldo
91. “The greatest thing about tomorrow is I will be better than I am today.” – Tiger Woods
92. “Once you start believing in yourself, anything is possible.” – Martina Navratilova
93. “To be a champion, compete; to be a great champion, compete with the best; but to be the greatest champion, compete with yourself.” – Matshona Dhliwayo
94. “The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.” – Pele
95. “Champions are not the ones who always win races – champions are the ones who get out there and try. And try harder the next time. And even harder the next time. ‘Champion’ is a state of mind. They are devoted. They compete to best themselves as much if not more than they compete to best others. Champions are not just athletes.” – Simon Sinek
96. “Nothing is more inspiring than a person with seemingly mediocre talent rising against the odds to become a champion by way of hard work, effort, and perseverance toward their goals.” – Zig Ziglar
97. “Yeah, you could be the greatest, you can be the best. You can be the King Kong banging on your chest.” – The Script, Hall of Fame
98. “If you do the bare minimum, expect bare minimum results. You want to be great, work to be great. Nothing just happens.” – J.J. Watt
99. “Commitment separates those who live their dreams from those who live their lives regretting the opportunities they have squandered.” – Bill Russell
100. “Champions are not born. They work for it.” – Gene Simmons
101. “You’re never a loser until you quite trying.” – Mike Ditka
102. “To be a legend is easy, to become that legend takes hard work and dedication.” – Tyson Fury
103. “Show me a good and gracious loser, and I’ll show you a failure.” – Knute Rockne
104. “It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.” – Seneca
105. “Champions are propelled by desire, not compelled by fear.” – Denis Waitley
106. “It took me 17 years and 114 days to become an overnight success.” – Lionel Messi
107. “Champions are propelled by desire, not compelled by fear.” – Denis Waitley
108. “A true champion is a true champion. They go fight win or lose, give it their all.” – Glover Teixeira
109. “The true test of a champion is not whether he can triumph, but whether he can overcome obstacles.” – Garth Stein
110. “A champion is defined by the adversity he overcomes.” – Anderson Silva
Bonus Champion Quote
Bonus: Alright, here’s our final champion quotes. We believe this quote to be the most accurate quote when it comes to what creates champions. We hope it’s the one that inspires you to fully and forever embrace the mindset of a champion. Enjoy!
“Champions Keep Playing Until They Get It Right.”
– Billie Jean King –
Final Thoughts
There you have it, the best of the best when it comes to champion quotes. We hope these collection of quotes provided you with insights into the mindset of champions. We also hope they inspired you to want to be one.
That said, if you enjoyed these champion quotes, then you’ll certainly like these related quotes:
Certainly, becoming a champion requires some effort, dedication, and some serious commitment to becoming one, but we know you can do it. So, let’s get after it champ!
Till you reach your aims,
STRIVE