I love sport as a metaphor for life. So many life skills are learned in sports, and most competition tips can be applied to any part of life.

Here are my favorite competition quotes. Most are from athletes, but all can be applied to life in general.

“When the game is over I just want to look at myself in the mirror, win or lose, and know I gave it everything I had.” Joe Montana

“You find that you have peace of mind and can enjoy yourself, get more sleep, and rest when you know that it was a one hundred percent effort that you gave — win or lose.” Gordie Howe

“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

“Show class, have pride, and display character. If you do, winning takes care of itself.” Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant

“Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” John Wooden

“When I go out on the ice, I just think about my skating. I forget it is a competition.” Katarina Witt

“Winning is important to me, but what brings me real joy is the experience of being fully engaged in whatever I’m doing.” Phil Jackson

“When I’m in my groove there is no thinking. Everything just happens.” Ozzie Smith, baseball

“You must do everything possible to put yourself in a position to win. But if you consider second or third a failure, I feel sorry for you.” Joe Falcon, distance runner

“I may win and I may lose, but I will never be defeated.” Emmitt Smith

“There are victories of the soul and spirit. Sometimes, even if you lose, you win.” Elie Wiesel

“You are never a loser until you quit trying.” Mike Ditka

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Wayne Gretzky

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Winston Churchill

“Winners compare their achievements with their goals, while losers compare their achievements with those of other people.” Nido Qubein

“The strongest people aren’t always the people who win, but the people who don’t give up when they lose.” Ashley Hodgeson

“Winning and losing are both very temporary things. Having done one or the other, you move ahead. Gloating over a victory or sulking over a loss is a good way to stand still.” Chuck Knox

“For me, losing a tennis match isn’t failure, it’s research.” Billie Jean King

“If you win through bad sportsmanship, that’s no real victory.” Babe Zaharias

“For when the One Great Scorer comes

To mark against your name,

He writes – not that you won or lost -

But how you played the Game.”

Grantland Rice

“Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers, but to be fearless in facing them.” Rabindranath Tagore

“Be thankful for quality competitors who push you to your limit.” Michael Josephson

“When you compete with someone as good or better than you, you may not always win, but you never lose.” Michael Josephson

“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.” Confucius

“Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another steppingstone to greatness.” Oprah Winfrey

“Winning isn’t always finishing first. Sometimes winning is just finishing.” Manuel Diotte

“Doing what is right, fair and honorable is more important than winning or losing.” Chick Moorman

“Life’s up and downs provide windows of opportunity to determine your values and goals.” Marsha Sinetar

“In life, we choose whether or not we want to be a winner or a loser.” Patrick Boles

“Competitive toughness is an acquired skill and not an inherited gift.” Chris Evert

“You have to believe in yourself when no one else does – that makes you a winner right there.” Venus Williams

“You’ve got to win in your mind before you win in your life.” John Addison

“Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can.” Richard Bach

“The most important attribute a player must have is mental toughness.” Mia Hamm

“With confidence, you have won even before you have started.” Marcus Garvey

“I think it’s the mark of a great player to be confident in tough situations.” John McEnroe

“Sometimes the biggest problem is in your head. You’ve got to believe.” Jack Nicklaus

“Concentration is the ability to think about absolutely nothing when it is absolutely necessary.” Ray Knight

“Mastery of thought and emotion is the key to all winning!” George Zalucki

“I look at sport and competition as something that has been personally enormously beneficial to me. It’s helped me create life skills. And if we carry ourselves with grace and dignity and try our best — even when we fall on our faces, as will happen sometimes — then I think people will see that. And that will be the message of sport and the Olympics.” Joey Cheek

“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph, but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered, but to have fought well.” The Olympic Creed

“Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt. ” Special Olympics athlete oath

“Don’t ever forget that you play with your soul as well as your body.” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

“When you have fun, it changes all the pressure into pleasure.” Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr.

“The moment of victory is much too short to live for that and nothing else.” Martina Navratilova

“Winning isn’t getting ahead of others, it is getting ahead of yourself.” – Roger Staubach

“I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself.” Mikhail Baryshnikov

“You, and you alone, are the person who should take the measure of your own success. . . . I do not try to be better than anyone else. I only try to be better than myself.” Dan Jansen

“It’s all about the journey, not the outcome.” Carl Lewis

“Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game.” Michael Jordan

What is your favorite competition quote?

[By the way, if you would like skating competition tips, check out the articles in Top Tips for Skating Competitions at Christina Chitwood Performance.]

Photo Credit: Photo by Lina Hayes at Flickr Creative Commons.