Here are some inspirational quotes from history and sports with their attributions and in the original language:
## Quotes from History
**The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.**
— Marcus Aurelius, 161–180 AD
Τὸ ἐμποδίζον πρᾶγμα γίνεται πράξις. Καὶ ὁ κατὰ τοῦτον ὁδὸς γίνεται.
— Greek, *Meditations*
**It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.**
— Confucius, circa 500 BC
不怕慢, 只怕站。
— Simplified Chinese, *Analects*
**He who commands the sea has command of everything.**
— Themistocles, circa 480 BC
Ὅστις τῆς θαλάττης κρατεῖ, πάντων κατέχει.
— Greek, Recorded by Plutarch in *Themistocles*
**The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.**
— Vince Lombardi, circa 1960s
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, Source unknown (often attributed in speeches)
**Victory belongs to the most persevering.**
— Napoleon Bonaparte, early 1800s
La victoire appartient au plus persévérant.
— French, *Letters and Proclamations*
**Experience is the teacher of all things.**
— Julius Caesar, 49–45 BC
Experientia docet.
— Latin, *Commentarii de Bello Civili* (Commentaries on the Civil War)
**There is nothing impossible to him who will try.**
— Alexander the Great, circa 330 BC
Οὐδὲν ἀδύνατον τῷ δεδιπότι τῶν πραγμάτων.
— Greek, *Plutarch's Lives* (Parallel Lives: Alexander)
**Come back with your shield, or on it.**
— Leonidas I, circa 480 BC
ἢ τὰν ἢ ἐπὶ τᾶς.
— Greek, *Plutarch's Moralia*
**The greater the difficulty, the greater the glory.**
— Cicero, 62 BC
Quanto maior difficultas, tanto maior gloria.
— Latin, *Pro Archia Poeta*
**We will either find a way, or make one.**
— Hannibal Barca, circa 218 BC
Aut viam inveniam aut faciam.
— Latin, Attributed by Livy in *Ab Urbe Condita*
**I am not afraid to fight. I am not afraid to bleed. But I will not be a slave.**
— Spartacus, circa 73 BC
(No original language or source available; likely apocryphal.)
**The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.**
— Pelé, 1977
A maior dificuldade não é alcançar a vitória, mas sim, manter-se vencedor.
— Portuguese, *Autobiography*
**Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.**
— Bruce Lee, 1973
不要祈祷生活容易, 要祈祷自己有能力去承受艰难.
— Simplified Chinese, *Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee's Wisdom for Daily Living*
**The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.**
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *Self-Reliance*
**It always seems impossible until it's done.**
— Nelson Mandela, 1994
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *Long Walk to Freedom*
**Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.**
— Pelé, 1977
O sucesso não é acidente. É trabalho duro, perseverança, aprendizado, estudo, sacrifício e, acima de tudo, amor pelo que você está fazendo ou aprendendo a fazer.
— Portuguese, *Autobiography*
**I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.**
— Michael Jordan, 1998
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *For the Love of the Game*
**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, 1975
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *The Soul of a Butterfly*
**You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.**
— Wayne Gretzky, 1983
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *As quoted in Hockey Hall of Fame speech*
**The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph.**
— George Washington, 1776
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *Letter to John Hancock, 1776*
**Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t.**
— Jerry Rice, circa 1980s
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *As quoted in multiple interviews*
**There is no way around hard work. Embrace it.**
— Roger Federer, 2006
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *Interview with The Guardian*
**Believe you can and you're halfway there.**
— Theodore Roosevelt, 1905
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *Speech at Chicago, April 10, 1905*
**Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.**
— Winston Churchill, 1941
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *Speech at Harrow School, October 29, 1941*
**I will prepare and someday my chance will come.**
— Abraham Lincoln, 1859
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *Letter to Jesse W. Fell, 1859*
**Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.**
— George S. Patton, 1947
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *War As I Knew It*
**Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.**
— Mark Twain, 1894
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *Pudd'nhead Wilson*
**The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.**
— Sun Tzu, circa 500 BC
至善之战克敌而无战。
— Traditional Chinese, *The Art of War*
**What we do in life echoes in eternity.**
— Marcus Aurelius, 161–180 AD
Ὃτι ποιεῖν ἐν ζωῇ, ἤχει εἰς τὴν αἰωνιότητα.
— Greek, *Meditations*
**A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.**
— John C. Maxwell, 1998
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership*
**You must understand that there is more than one path to the top of the mountain.**
— Miyamoto Musashi, 1645
山の頂上に至る道は一つではない。
— Japanese Kanji and Hiragana, *The Book of Five Rings*
**Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.**
— John Wooden, 1972
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *They Call Me Coach*
**The only way to do great work is to love what you do.**
— Steve Jobs, 2005
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *Stanford Commencement Address, 2005*
**I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.**
— Thomas Edison, circa 1921
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *As quoted in A Magazine Interview*
**Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.**
— Thomas Edison, 1903
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *Harper's Monthly*
**It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.**
— William Shakespeare, 1601
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *Julius Caesar*
**To be, or not to be, that is the question.**
— William Shakespeare, 1600
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *Hamlet*
**The best way to predict the future is to create it.**
— Peter Drucker, 1954
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *The Practice of Management*
**Do or do not. There is no try.**
— Yoda (George Lucas), 1980
## Modern Quotes
Here are 20 quotes from modern sports figures and online personalities that younger folks may recognize:
**I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.**
— Michael Jordan, 1998
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *For the Love of the Game*
**Everything negative—pressure, challenges—is all an opportunity for me to rise.**
— Kobe Bryant, 2013
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *Interview with Sports Illustrated*
**Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.**
— Tim Notke, 2003
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *Popularized by Kevin Durant*
**Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.**
— Pelé, 1977
O sucesso não é acidente. É trabalho duro, perseverança, aprendizado, estudo, sacrifício e, acima de tudo, amor pelo que você está fazendo ou aprendendo a fazer.
— Portuguese, *Autobiography*
**The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.**
— Vince Lombardi, circa 1960s
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *Attributed in speeches*
**You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.**
— Wayne Gretzky, 1983
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *As quoted in Hockey Hall of Fame speech*
**Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.**
— Michael Jordan, 1994
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *I Can’t Accept Not Trying: Michael Jordan on the Pursuit of Excellence*
**I’m not the next Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps. I’m the first Simone Biles.**
— Simone Biles, 2016
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *Interview with The Washington Post*
**Champions keep playing until they get it right.**
— Billie Jean King, 1973
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *King Rules: Ten Rules for Success in Life, Business, and Everything Else*
**You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.**
— Michael Jordan, 1989
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *As quoted in Sports Illustrated*
**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, 1975
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *The Soul of a Butterfly*
**Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.**
— Pelé, 1977
O sucesso não é acidente. É trabalho duro, perseverança, aprendizado, estudo, sacrifício e, acima de tudo, amor pelo que você está fazendo ou aprendendo a fazer.
— Portuguese, *Autobiography*
**You have to believe in yourself when no one else does – that makes you a winner right there.**
— Venus Williams, 2001
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *Interview with Oprah Winfrey*
**I think sometimes in life the biggest challenges end up being the best things that happen in your life.**
— Tom Brady, 2018
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *Interview with Men's Health*
**Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.**
— Michael Jordan, 1991
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *As quoted in an NBA commercial*
**You can't put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get.**
— Michael Phelps, 2008
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *No Limits: The Will to Succeed*
**Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.**
— Michael Jordan, 2009
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *Hall of Fame Induction Speech*
**You don’t win silver, you lose gold.**
— Andre Agassi, 1996
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *After losing the Atlanta Olympic final*
**I’d like to thank everyone who has been a part of my journey, especially the doubters. They’ve motivated me to work even harder.**
— Cristiano Ronaldo, 2013
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *Ballon d'Or acceptance speech*
**Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.**
— Michael Jordan, 1994
(Originally in English, no translation available.)
— English, *I Can’t Accept Not Trying: Michael Jordan on the Pursuit of Excellence*