These sportsmanship quotes will inspire you. Sportsmanship is an aspiration or ethos that a sport, or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake or fair and generous behavior or treatment of others, especially in a sports contest.
Below you will find a collection of motivating, happy, and encouraging sportsmanship quotes, sportsmanship sayings, and sportsmanship proverbs.
Best Sportsmanship Quotes
- “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” ~ Michael Jordan
- “The most important lesson I’ve learned from sports is how to be not only a gracious winner, but a good loser as well. Not everyone wins all the time, as a matter of fact, no one wins all the time. Winning is the easy part, losing is really tough. But, you learn more from one loss than you do from a million wins. You learn a lot about sportsmanship.” ~ Amy Van Dyken
- “Good sportsmanship goes beyond the game; it starts with respect.” ~ Tommy Hilfiger
- “Sportsmanship is the ethical and moral dimension of sports. It is demonstrated by a number of attributes and attitudes such as fair play, respect for the rules and traditions of the sport and various traits of good character including integrity (abiding by the letter and spirit of the rules and concepts of honor); demonstrated respect for others including teammates, opponents, officials and spectators; accountability, self-control, and graciousness in victory and defeat.” ~ Michael Josephson , Sportsmanship quotes integrity
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“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” ~ Xunzi
- “If character is what you do when no one is watching, then sportsmanship is that conduct with everybody watching.” ~ Bob Ley
- “One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than a hundred teaching it.” ~ Knute Rockne
- “Struggle and survival, losing and winning, doesn’t matter. It’s entering the race that counts. You enter, you can win, you can lose …. but it’s all about entering the race.” ~ Pam Grier
- “Sportsmanship is that quality of honor that desires always to be courteous, fair, and respectful, and it is interpreted in the conduct of players, spectators, coaches, and school authorities.” ~ Fielding H. Yost
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“Win as if you were used to it, lose as if you enjoyed it for a change.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “If you win through bad sportsmanship that’s no real victory.” ~ Babe Didrikson Zaharias
- “The five S’s of sports training are: stamina, speed, strength, skill, and spirit; but the greatest of these is spirit.” ~ Ken Doherty
- “Sports is a moral undertaking because it requires of participants, and it schools spectators in the appreciation of, noble things – courage, grace under pressure, sportsmanship.” ~ George Will
- “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” ~ Michael Jordan
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“The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.” ~ Vince Lombardi
- “Remember that sports are meant to be fun. Don’t let someone make the sport unfun for you.” ~ A. J. Kitt
- “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” ~ John Wooden
- “Competition is great for everyone. Sports can teach you so much at an early age, including camaraderie and sportsmanship. Competition aspect is something I’ve always been big on – I always wanted to compete in something. It was swimming for many years, then I moved on to basketball. I had to find a way to channel my competitive energy, so I’m lucky that basketball worked out for me.” ~ Tim Duncan
- “Victories in life come through our ability to work around and over the obstacles that cross our path. We grow stronger as we climb our own mountains.” ~ Marvin J. Ashton , Sportsmanship quotes life
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“Sportsmanship is making sure you have respect for the guy you’re playing across from.” ~ Warren Moon
- “Follow your dreams as long as you live! Never be afraid to go out on the limb to live up to your expectations. Always do things your way and Have Fun!” ~ Picabo Street
- “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” ~ Seneca the Younger
- “Good sportsmanship means treating others with respect. I consider myself a pretty good sport.” ~ Tommy Hilfiger
- “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” ~ Michael Jordan
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“When champions fail, they get back up and try again. They don’t let failure discourage them.” ~ Mary Ellen Clark
- “Pride makes us do things well. But it is love that makes us do them to perfection.” ~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
- “I always tell kids, you have two eyes and one mouth. Keep two open and one closed. You never learn anything if you’re the one talking.” ~ Gordie Howe
- “Sweat plus sacrifice equals success.” ~ Charlie Finley
- “I’ve always made a total effort, even when the odds seemed entirely against me. I never quit trying; I never felt that I didn’t have a chance to win.” ~ Arnold Palmer
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“Sportsmanship, next to the Church, is the greatest teacher of morals.” ~ Herbert Hoover
- “I think sportsmanship is knowing that it is a game, that we are only as a good as our opponents, and whether you win or lose, to always give 100 percent.” ~ Sue Wicks
- “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” ~ John Wooden
- “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” ~ John Wooden
- “Class is striving hard to be the best at what you do while taking the needs of others into consideration” ~ Roger Staubach
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“Tactics, fitness, stroke ability, adaptability, experience, and sportsmanship are all necessary for winning.” ~ Fred Perry
- “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” ~ John Wooden
- “You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.” ~ Michael Jordan
- “For what I get paid to get into the ring, I owe it to my fans to uphold the institution of sportsmanship.” ~ Mike Tyson
- “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” ~ Will Rogers
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“Life is a game like any other; we just don’t take it as seriously.” ~ Babe Ruth
- “On Chris Evert: Before I even met her, she stood for everything I admired in this country: poise, ability, sportsmanship, money, style.” ~ Martina Navratilova
- “There is no such thing as sportsmanship.” ~ Terrell Davis
- “Professionalism is not sportsmanship. If you don’t succeed, you won’t be in your profession for long. In our society, it’s not about good or bad. It’s about who’s on top.” ~ Chili Davis
- “Cycling is so hard, the suffering is so intense, that it’s absolutely cleansing. The pain is so deep and strong that a curtain descends over your brain….Once; someone asked me what pleasure I took in riding for so long. ‘PLEASURE???? I said.’ ‘I don’t understand the question.’ I didn’t do it for the pleasure; I did it for the pain.” ~ Lance Armstrong
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“Never buy gold, simply earn it” ~ Mary Kom
- “If you can believe it, the mind can achieve it.” ~ Ronnie Lott
- “Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play.” ~ Mike Singletary
- “Sports for me is when a guy walks off the court, and you really can’t tell whether he won or lost when he carries himself with pride either way.” ~ Jim Courier
- “The more credit you give away, the more will come back to you. The more you help others, the more they will want to help you.” ~ Brian Tracy
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“It’s good sportsmanship to not pick up lost golf balls while they are still rolling.” ~ Mark Twain
- “It’s not so important who starts the game but who finishes it.” ~ John Wooden
- “I wanted to have a career in sports when I was young, but I had to give up the idea. I’m only six feet tall, so I couldn’t play basketball. I’m only 190 pounds, so I couldn’t play football, and I have 20/20 vision, so I couldn’t be a referee.” ~ Jay Leno
- “The only way to prove that you’re a good sport is to lose.” ~ Ernie Banks
- “Golf is a great way for someone to learn discipline, responsibility, and sportsmanship.?” ~ Tiger Woods
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“I do believe in praising that which deserves to be praised.” ~ Dean Smith
- “Good sportsmanship we hail, we sing, It’s always pleasant when you spot it. There’s only one unhappy thing: You have to lose to prove that you’ve got it.” ~ Richard Armour
- “If you don’t invest very much, then defeat doesn’t hurt very much, and winning is not very exciting.” ~ Dick Vermeil
- “I would advise all youths aspiring to athletic fame or a professional career to practice clean living, fair play, and good sportsmanship.” ~ Major Taylor
- “Sportsmanship and easygoing methods are all right, but it is the prospect of a hot fight that brings out the crowds.” ~ John McGraw
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“We want to put sportsmanship back in the equation.” ~ Eric Hyman
- “Dan really came into his own pitching last year (during Legion play). He received the sportsmanship award during the regional tournament.” ~ Wade Clark Mackey
- “She’s learned to listen more and improve different aspects of her game. I’m most proud that she’s improved her sportsmanship, her demeanor on the field. She’s still working on leadership and that’s improving.” ~ Elaine Jones
- “I was pleased with both games. Our sportsmanship was outstanding.” ~ Wade Clark Mackey
- “That wasn’t good, that wasn’t sportsmanship. I was amazed he took that shot.” ~ Tristan Blackwood
- “It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.” ~ Muhammad Ali
