Vince Lombardi

“The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.”

“No leader, however great, can long continue unless he wins battles. The battle decides all.”

“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.”

“Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.”

“I think you've got to pay the price for anything that's worthwhile, and success is paying the price. You've got to pay the price to win, you've got to pay the price to stay on top, and you 've got to pay the price to get there.”

“While statistics are interesting, they're all in the past.”

“Unless a man believes in himself and makes a total commitment to his career and puts everything he has into it - his mind, his body, his heart - what's life worth to him?”

“Every time a player goes out to ply his trade he's got to play from the ground up - from the soles of his feet right up to his head. Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That's O.K. You've got to be smart to be Number One in any business. But more important, you've got to play with you heart - with every fiber of your body. If you're lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he's never going to come off the field second.”

“Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellences and endowments of the human mind.”

“Regardless of what you do put in, every game boils down to doing the things you do best and doing them over and over again.”

“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.”

“Hard work is the price we must pay for success”

“I've never been with a losing team in my life, and I don't think I'll start now.”

“We shall play every game to the hilt with every ounce of fiber we have in our bodies.”

“The Green Bay Packers never lost a football game. They just ran out of time.”

“The man on top of the mountain didn't fall there.”

“If you get into the endzone, act as if you've been there before.”

“Leadership is not just one quality, but rather a blend of many qualities; and while no one individual possesses all of the needed talents that go into leadership, each man can develop a combination to make him a leader.”

“Gentlemen, this is the football.”

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

“Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.”

“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.”

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

“Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all 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. Unfortunately, so is losing.”

“After the cheers have died down and the stadium is empty, after the headlines have been written and after you are back in the quiet of your room and the championship ring has been placed on the dresser and all the pomp and fanfare has faded, the enduring things that are left are: the dedication to excellence, the dedication to victory, and the dedication to doing with our lives the very best we can to make the world a better place in which to live.”

“Mistakes are the necessary steps in the learning process; once they have served their purpose, they should be forgotten and not repeated.”

“If you can shrug off a loss, you can't be a winner.”

“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.”

“Teams do not go physically flat, they go mentally stale.”

“Beat your opponent where he is strongest, and you demoralize him.”

“All right mister, let me tell you that winning means you're willing to go longer, work harder, give more than anyone else.”

“Choose to achieve perfection. We won't achieve it because perfection is impossible. But by pursuing perfection, we will achieve excellence.”

“Nobody wants to give up good players.”

“It is essential to understand that battles are primarily won in the hearts of men.”

“Watch your actions, they become your habits. Watch your habits, they become your character.”

“Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.”

“Character is the direct result of mental attitude. I believe that character is higher than the intellect. I believe that leadership is in sacrifice, in self-denial, in humility and in the perfectly disciplined will. This is the distinction between great and little men.”

“If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score?”

“I'm not afraid to die - it's just that I had so much left to do in this world.”

“You defeat defeatism with confidence.”

“If you really want something , you can have it if you're willing to pay the price. And the price means you have to work better and harder than the next guy.”

“Leaders are made, they are not born”

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

“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.”

“Football is and always will be a game of blocking and hitting”

“If you cheat yourself in practice, you'll cheat yourself in a game; and if you cheat in a game, you'll cheat yourself for the rest of your life.”

“There's no such thing as Perfection. But, in striving for perfection, we can achieve excellence.”

“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.”

“Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.”

“Before I can embrace freedom, I should be aware of what duties I have.”