There’s no such thing as coulda, shoulda, or woulda. If you shoulda and coulda, you woulda done it.
—Pat Riley (b.1945) American Basketball Player, Coach
There is nothing in all the world so satisfying as a task well done. There is no reward so pleasing as that which comes with the mastery of a difficult problem.
—Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) American Mormon Religious Leader
A total commitment is paramount to reaching the ultimate in performance.
—Tom Flores (b.1937) American Football Coach, Player
Wise to resolve, patient to perform.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging.
—Hank Aaron (1934–2021) American Baseball Player
The few who do are the envy of the many who only watch.
—Jim Rohn (1930–2009) American Entrepreneur, Author, Motivational Speaker
If a man or woman is born ten years sooner or later, their whole aspect and performance shall be different.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
You don’t concentrate on risks. You concentrate on results. No risk is too great to prevent the necessary job from getting done.
—Chuck Yeager (1923–2020) American Test Pilot, Air Force Officer
Performance, and performance alone, dictates the predator in any food chain.
—Unknown
The negative is comparable to the composer’s score and the print to its performance. Each performance differs in subtle ways.
—Ansel Adams (1902–84) American Photographer
Great works are done when one is not calculating and thinking.
—D. T. Suzuki (1870–1966) Japanese Buddhist Philosopher
I don’t feel right unless I have a sport to play or at least a way to work up a sweat.
—Hank Aaron (1934–2021) American Baseball Player
The man who does not take pride in his own performance performs nothing in which to take pride.
—Thomas J. Watson, Sr. (1874–1956) American Business Executive
I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
Too aim is not enough, you must hit!
—German Proverb
Never step over one duty to perform another.
—English Proverb
Concentration, Confidence, Competitive urge, Capacity for enjoyment.
—Arnold Palmer (1929–2016) American Professional Golfer
You have to perform at a consistently higher level than others. That’s the mark of a true professional.
—Joe Paterno (1926–2012) American College Football Coach
Is it not strange that desire should so many years outlive performance?
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
I know the price of success: dedication, hard work and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.
—Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) American Architect
One body cannot perform two services.
—Chinese Proverb
It is hard to go beyond your public. If they are satisfied with cheap performance, you will not easily arrive at better. If they know what is good, and require it. you will aspire and burn until you achieve it. But from time to time, in history, men are born a whole age too soon.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
It is much more difficult to measure non-performance than performance. Performance stands out like a ton of diamonds. Non-performance can almost always be explained away.
—Harold S. Geneen (1910–1997) British-American Businessman
If you don’t see yourself as a winner, then you cannot perform as a winner.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
Many things difficult in design prove easy in performance.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
—John Wooden (1910–2010) American Basketball Coach, Educator
Virtue is more clearly shown in the performance of fine actions than in the non-performance of base ones.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
People say to me, “You were a roaring success. How did you do it?” I go back to what my parents taught me. Apply yourself. Get all the education you can, but then, by God, do something. Don’t just stand there, make something happen.
—Lee Iacocca (1924–2019) American Businessperson
The medals don’t mean anything and the glory doesn’t last. It’s all about your happiness. The rewards are going to come, but my happiness is just loving the sport and having fun performing.
—Jackie Joyner-Kersee (b.1962) American Athlete
Make no small plans for they have no power to stir the soul.
—Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527) Florentine Political Philosopher
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