Vince Lombardi Quotes

If you are not making mistakes, you are not trying hard enough. ~ Vince Lombardi

No leader, however great, can long continue unless he wins battles. The battle decides all. ~ Vince Lombardi

At many a moment on many a day, I am convinced that pro football must be a game for madmen, and I must be one of them. ~ Vince Lombardi

When you think about it, what's the difference between Bobby Knight and Vince Lombardi? Why is one guy a god, and the other guy is regarded as a crazy man? ~ Brian Dennehy

Some of us will do our jobs well and some will not, but we will be judged by only one thing-the result. ~ Vince Lombardi

Perfect Practice Makes Perfect. ~ Vince Lombardi Jr.

We know how rough the road will be, how heavy here the load will be, we know about the barricades that wait along the track, but we have set our soul ahead upon a certain goal ahead and nothing left from hell to sky shall ever turn us back. ~ Vince Lombardi

The strength of the group is the strength of the leaders. ~ Vince Lombardi

Leadership is based on a spiritual quality; the power to inspire, the power to inspire others to follow ~ Vince Lombardi

A school without football is in danger of deteriorating into a medieval study hall. ~ Vince Lombardi

Leaders aren't born, they are made. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal which is worthwhile. ~ Vince Lombardi Jr.

Character is just another word for having a perfectly disciplined and educated will. A person can make his own character by blending these elements with an intense desire to achieve excellence. Everyone is different in what I will call magnitude, but the capacity to achieve character is still the same. ~ Vince Lombardi

[Football is] a game that requires the constant conjuring of animosity. ~ Vince Lombardi

If you get into the endzone, act as if you've been there before. ~ Vince Lombardi

You've got to keep yourself in prime physical condition, because fatigue makes cowards of us all. ~ Vince Lombardi

Everyone Has A Will To Win But Very Few Have The Will To Prepare To Win ~ Vince Lombardi

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

I don't necessarily have to like my players and associates but as their leader I must love them. Love is loyalty, love is teamwork, love respects the dignity of the individual. This is the strength of any organization. ~ Vince Lombardi

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

Leadership rests not only on outstanding ability. It also rests on commitment, loyalty and pride. It rests on followers who are ready to accept guidance. Leadership is the ability to direct people and - more important - to have those people accept that direction. ~ Vince Lombardi

The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual. ~ Vince Lombardi

The dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. work is the key to success, and hard work can help you accomplish anything. ~ Vince Lombardi Jr.

Mental toughness is many things and rather difficult to explain. Its qualities are sacrifice and self-denial. Also, most importantly, it is combined with a perfectly disciplined will that refuses to give in. It's a state of mind-you could call it character in action. ~ Vince Lombardi

There is no substitute for victory" Oscar Wilde
"I didn't say that--wouldn't have. Maybe it was Vince Lombardi" O.W.

"Not I, either. Try Count von Schlieffen" Vince Lombardi

"What's the big deal. I said it---I think. Doh!" Homer Simpson

"Imposter. 'Twas I." Homer the original (Greek guy) ~ James J. Bloom

A good executive goes around with a worried look on his assistants. ~ Vince Lombardi

Perfection is not attainable," he used to say, quoting Vince Lombardi. "But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence. ~ Kathryn Perez

Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while ... you don't do things right once in a while ... you do them right all the time. Winning is habit. ~ Vince Lombardi

The only true satisfaction a player receives is the satisfaction that comes from being part of a successful team, regardless of his personal accomplishments. ~ Vince Lombardi

The best game plan in the world never blocked or tackled anybody. ~ Vince Lombardi

I will demand a commitment to excellence and to victory, and that is what life is all about. ~ Vince Lombardi

Teams do not go physically flat, they go mentally stale. ~ Vince Lombardi

One's desire, not ability, determines success. ~ Vince Lombardi

To be successful, a man must exert an effective influence upon his brothers and upon his associates, and the degree in which he accomplishes this depends on the personality of the man. The incandescence of which he is capable. The flame of fire that burns inside of him. The magnetism which draws the heart of other men to him. ~ Vince Lombardi

Coaches who can outline plays on a black board are a dime a dozen. The ones who win get inside their player and motivate. ~ Vince Lombardi

Success is like anything worthwhile. It has a price. You have to pay the price to get to the point where success is possible. ~ Vince Lombardi

The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall. ~ Vince Lombardi

People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problems of modern society. ~ Vince Lombardi

Gentleman, this is a football. ~ Vince Lombardi

It does not matter how many times you get knocked down, but how many times you get up. ~ Vince Lombardi

Those who have invested the most are the last to surrender. ~ Vince Lombardi

To me, a leader is a visionary that energizes others. This definition of leadership has two key dimensions: a) creating the vision of the future, and b) inspiring others to make the vision a reality. ~ Vince Lombardi

I think you can accomplish anything if you're willing to pay the price. ~ Vince Lombardi

They do not truly love who do not show their love. ~ Vince Lombardi

Beat your opponent where he is strongest, and you demoralize him. ~ Vince Lombardi

Running a football team is no different than running any other kind of organization ... ~ Vince Lombardi

You never win a game unless you beat the guy in front of you. The score on the board doesn't mean a thing. That's for the fans. You've got to win the war with the man in front of you. You've got to get your man. ~ Vince Lombardi

Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence. ~ Vince Lombardi

If you can accept losing, you can't win. ~ Vince Lombardi Jr.

Don't succumb to excuses. Go back to the job of making the corrections and forming the habits that will make your goal possible. ~ Vince Lombardi

In a game like football, where you have very little time to decide what you are going to do, you have to react almost instinctively, naturally. ~ Vince Lombardi

When you're tired, you rationalize. You make excuses in your mind. You say, "I'm too tired; I'm bushed; I can't do this; I'll loaf." Then you're a coward. ~ Vince Lombardi

This is a game, first and foremost. There was only one Vince Lombardi, and he died. ~ Joe Theismann

Most people fail, not because of lack of desire, but, because of lack of commitment. ~ Vince Lombardi

Some need a whip and others a pat on the back and others are better off when they are ignored. ~ Vince Lombardi

Gentlemen, we will chase perfection, and we will chase it relentlessly, knowing all the while we can never attain it. But along the way, we shall catch excellence. ~ Vince Lombardi

Football is like life - it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority. ~ Vince Lombardi

To achieve success, whatever the job we have, we must pay a price ~ Vince Lombardi

And the trouble with me is that my ego just can't accept a loss. I suppose that if I were more perfectly adjusted, I would toss off defeat, but my name is on this ball club. Thirty-six men publicly reflect me and reflect on me, and it's a matter of my pride. ~ Vince Lombardi

Winning is not the most important thing; it's everything. ~ Vince Lombardi

We didn't lose the game; we just ran out of time. ~ Vince Lombardi Jr.

Hard work is the price we must pay for success ~ Vince Lombardi

No one is ever hurt. Hurt is in the mind. ~ Vince Lombardi

Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. ~ Vince Lombardi

They call it coaching but it is teaching. You do not just tell them ... you show them the reasons. ~ Vince Lombardi

I tried teeling myself that feeling guilty was just a sickness of some sort. That it was men without guilt who made progress in life. Men who were able to lie, to cheat, men who knew all the shortcuts. Cortez. He didn't fuck around. Neither did Vince Lombardi. But no matter how much I thought about it, I still felt bad. ~ Charles Bukowski

The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That's real glory. That's the essence of it. ~ Vince Lombardi

Gentlemen, this is the football. ~ Vince Lombardi Jr.

There is only one kind of discipline, and that is the perfect discipline. As a leader, you must enforce and maintain that discipline; otherwise, you will fail at your job. ~ Vince Lombardi

While statistics are interesting, they're all in the past. ~ Vince Lombardi

Many more things would be accomplished if we didn't consider them impossible. ~ Vince Lombardi

It's not whether you got knocked down; it's whether you get back up. ~ Vince Lombardi Jr.

The coaches who win are the ones who can motivate their players. Winning isn't everything, but the will to win is everything. ~ Vince Lombardi

Winning is not everything - but making the effort to win was ... If you can't accept losing, you can't win. ~ Vince Lombardi

Sometimes we get discouraged and turn to inspirational writing, like stuff from Vince Lombardi: "Quitters never win and winners never quit." Bad advice. Winners quit all the time. They just quit the right stuff at the right time. Most people quit. They just don't quit successfully. ~ Anonymous

The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand. ~ Vince Lombardi

If you don't think you're a winner, you don't belong here. ~ Vince Lombardi

I don't build character. I eliminate the people who don't have it. ~ Vince Lombardi

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

A disciplined person is one who follows the will of the one who gives the orders. ~ Vince Lombardi

The good Lord gave you a body that can stand most anything. It's your mind you have to convince. ~ Vince Lombardi

I derived my strength from daily mass and communion. ~ Vince Lombardi

I would say that the quality of each man's life is the full measure of that man's commitment of excellence and victory - whether it be football, whether it be business, whether it be politics or government or what have you. ~ Vince Lombardi

Before I can embrace freedom, I should be aware of what duties I have. ~ Vince Lombardi

A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done. ~ Vince Lombardi

Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing. ~ Vince Lombardi

Success rests not only on ability, but upon commitment, loyalty, and pride. ~ Vince Lombardi

Most important of all, to be successful in life demands that a man make a personal commitment to excellence and to victory, even though the ultimate victory can never be completely won. Yet that victory might be pursued and wooed with every fiber of our body, with every bit of our might and all our effort. And each week, there is a new encounter; each day, there is a new challenge. ~ Vince Lombardi

Once you agree upon the price you and your family must pay for success, it enables you to ignore the minor hurts, the opponent's pressure, and the temporary failures. ~ Vince Lombardi

Leaders aren't born they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that's the price we'll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal. ~ Vince Lombardi

Greatness is not attainable, but in the pursuit of it, you can achieve excellence. ~ Vince Lombardi

Football is a game of cliches, and I believe in every one of them. ~ Vince Lombardi

The successful man is himself. To be successful, you've got to be honest with yourself. ~ Vince Lombardi

The joy is in creating, not maintaining. ~ Vince Lombardi

The pursuit of perfection may be impossible, but if we chase perfection, we just might catch excellence. ~ Vince Lombardi

You carry on no matter what are the obstacles. You simply refuse to give up - and, when the going gets tough, you get tougher. And, you win. ~ Vince Lombardi

The strength of the group is in the will of the leader, and the will is character in action. ~ Vince Lombardi

We don't pray to win. We pray to play the best we can, and to keep us free from injury. And the prayer we say after the game is one of thanksgiving. ~ Vince Lombardi

A team that thinks it's going to lose is going to lose. ~ Vince Lombardi

I have discovered in my life that it is more challenging to build than to maintain. ~ Vince Lombardi Jr.

Winning isn't a sometime thing; it's an all-the-time thing. ~ Vince Lombardi