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I don’t count my sit-ups. I only start counting once it starts hurting.
—Muhammad Ali
American boxer
You can achieve anything in life. It just depends on how desperate you are to achieve it.
—Milkha Singh
Sprinter
Champions keep playing until they get it right.
—Billie Jean King
American tennis player
The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.
—Pele
Brazilian footballer
If you have everything under control, you’re not moving fast enough.
—Mario Andretti
Italian-born American racing driver
You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get.
—Michael Phelps
American swimmer
Happiness is nothing but satisfaction—satisfaction through work, thoughts and accomplishing our mission.
—PT Usha
Track and field athlete
Practice is a talent. Perseverance is a talent.
Hard work is a talent.
—Abhinav Bindra
Sharp shooter
If you want to achieve something in life, you have to take risks.
—Dipa Karmakar
Gymnast
Some people say I have attitude—maybe I do…but I think you have to. You have to believe
in yourself when no one else does—that makes you a winner right there.
—Venus Williams
American tennis player
Whoever said, ‘It’s not whether you win or lose that counts’, probably lost.
—Martina Navratilova
Czech-American tennis player
At the end of the day, if I can say I had fun, it was a good day.
—Simone Biles
American gymnast
People praise you only till the time you are performing on the field; the day you stop, they won’t even look back at your career. You have to be practical as a player and keep performing.
—Jhulan Goswami
Cricketer
(This story appears in the 30 November, -0001 issue
of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)
