Sports Quotes - Page 254

I believe it is right when not only me, but also my colleagues - the prime minister, ministers, deputies of the State Duma - when they, like today, for example, participate in two marathons, when they visit football matches, when they themselves take part in sport competitions. That is how, inter alia, millions of people start feeling interest in and love for fitness and sports. I believe it is extremely important.

Even if states sometimes have problems with each other, arts and sports should not suffer from that. Arts and sports are there to bring the people together - and not to divide them.

I want everyone to know that Russia in general and the Russian leadership, it is something effective and properly functioning. That the country itself, its institutions, leaders are represented by healthy, capable people who are ready for cooperation with our partners in every single area: sports, politics, fight against modern threats. I have nothing but a positive feeling about it.

I believe it is no secret that I like Japan very much - Japanese culture, sport, including judo, but it will not offend anyone if I say that I like Russia even more.

We seem to be riding on the top of the highest mast of the tallest ship; and yet at the same time we know that nothing of this sort matters; love is not proved thus, nor great achievements completed thus; so that we sport with the moment and preen our feathers in it lightly.

My dad raced motocross back in the day, and I've always enjoyed watching it. That sport intrigues me.

People who don't know me, when they see me they kind of step back and just stare at me and say, "Dang, he's a big dude." True fans and guys who follow the sport, they know who I am. But sometimes I do get those people that look at me and kind of stop and just stare at me, which I hate.

I don't think there's a punch-line scheduled, is there?

When you travel with the team and you eat with the team - you eat what the team eats.

I said, 'You missed practice yesterday didn't you?' The player replied, 'No coach, not a bit.'

Sports allow men to build up situations of emergency. What he then demands of himself is unnecessary achievement - and unnecessary sacrifice. He artificially creates the tension that he has been spared by affluent society.

I think God has it written down for me, that without training and working hard you will never achieve desired results. All three times I have had to toil my way into the Olympics. Talking about pressure, well that is something you have to learn to deal with in sports.

Jagdish Singh was my basic coach and he trained me from my very early days in boxing, teaching me the fundamentals of the sport. He was the one who shaped me into a boxer, disciplined me when I required disciplining.

If wanted to play a sport, I played a sport. If I wanted to do things that many girls born in 1950 didn't do, I did it

I don't think I really knew how fit I was when I was a kid. I rode with my dad quite long distances and I've been racing since the age of nine, so we did a lot of sport growing up. My earliest memories of my dad are watching him race, so it was inevitable when we were old enough that my brother and I would get on bikes.

As a man and as a sports figure, you have to set limits and set boundaries on what can and cannot happen. Once you do that, your family will start to respect you. 'OK, I get it, he's all about football and handling his business,' and that's what I've done. In the past, when I was a young man - a younger man - it was hard for me to say no. Since I'm older, wiser, I know how to handle people, know how to say no, know when something is right and something wrong. I use proper judgment.

I most certainly believe that when you're an athlete, that really translates to all sports. You just understand it, your body understands it, and your mind understands it. And you just - it just clicks. I've found that happening when I play other sports. I've seen it, like when I've hit the ball with other professional athletes, and you can see they're just learning so quickly. It's just something that's in their blood. So I think it was in my parents' blood and they understood.

Sport teaches you so much, and you can translate that to other parts of life. But it's definitely a lot of dedication, not just for, you know, myself or the children, but the parents, the family finances, the money that you could be putting toward retirement you're using to buy tennis shoes and restring rackets and tennis lessons. So if you don't make it, then you may never retire. It's definitely a lot of risk.

Definitely sport matures you, if you let it. It definitely makes you grow up because you have to work so hard that if you can't, then you probably aren't going to have the mental capacity to handle it all. That probably played a role in growing up a little faster than maybe other people.

It's a nice bonus but, you know, I have to pay taxes too. (after winning the Grand Slam Cup.

I don't want to give anyone an edge in my mind. Every time I walk out on the court, I have to feel I'm the best so I can compete well. A lot of times, my chief rival is just me.

If Id lived prior to the 1980s, it would have been different, because I would have been playing to prove African Americans are equal. Now, I dont necessarily feel I have to play for black people, because obviously theyre doing everything in all sports. If I can go out there and play for myself and not feel I have to stand for something other than what I want to do, thats good.

To be a well-rounded person and know what's going on in the world around you, to have a perspective outside of your sport, is important for every athlete. I'm blessed that our parents gave us that.

I contribute my best in my sport and I also have a ton of respect for myself and my family.

Serena and I have done some great career planning, and we're playing really at the peak of our tennis right now. I think tennis has been a sport where people play this insane schedule from 14 years old, so of course at 26, it's over. We've really paced ourselves.