Sportsmanship Sayings and Quotes

Sports bring out our competitive nature, but winning isn’t everything. Win or lose, having good sportsmanship can go a long way. No one wants to engage with a sore loser or someone who gloats. Play at your best with the collection of wise and insightful good sportsmanship quotes below.

Winning is about heart, not just legs. It's got to be in the right place. Lance Armstrong
The determination to win is the better part of winning. Daisaku Ikeda
It's not so important who starts the game but who finishes it. John Wooden
Win or lose, do it fairly. Knute Rockne
A winner never whines. Paul Brown
It is your response to winning and losing that makes you a winner or a loser. Harry Sheehy
A lion never roars after a kill. Dean Smith
For when the One Great Scorer comes To mark against your name, He writes - not that you won or lost - But HOW you played the Game. Grantland Rice
What you are as a person is far more important than what you are as a basketball player. John Wooden
The only way to prove that you're a good sport is to lose. Ernie Banks
If you win through bad sportsmanship that's no real victory. Babe Didrikson Zaharias
There is no such thing as sportsmanship. Terrell Davis
It is better to know defeat than to know nothing at all. Liam D'Souza
Thats the beauty of sport. Sometimes you laugh, sometimes you cry Pep Guardiola
Win or lose, I'll feel good about myself. That's what is important. Mary Docter
Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose. Lyndon B. Johnson
Sometimes you lose. Nothing you can do but admit it. Sarah Dessen
Always imitate the behavior of the winners when you lose. George Meredith
Winning is only half of it. Having fun is the other half. Bum Phillips
For me, being memorable is more important than winning. Ricki Lake
Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships. Michael Jordan
Games give you a chance to excel, and if you're playing in good company you don't even mind if you lose because you had the enjoyment of the company during the course of the game. Gary Gygax
After I hit a home run I had a habit of running the bases with my head down. I figured the pitcher already felt bad enough without me showing him up rounding the bases. Mickey Mantle
On athleticism, God knows no favor. It seems rather he is in the business of teaching winners how to lose and losers how to win. Criss Jami
We old athletes carry the disfigurements and markings of contests remembered only by us and no one else. Nothing is more lost than a forgotten game. Pat Conroy
Tennis taught me to take chances, to take life as it comes. To hit every ball that comes to me no matter how hard it looks, to give it my best shot. Thisuri Wanniarachchi
Sportsmanship isn't about criticizing the 'one' who didn't win on 'That one' day... it's about appreciating and supporting their hard work amidst failures! Akansh Malik
Be fair. Play hard. Dan Venezia
If it's not whether you win or lose but how you play the game, why keep score? Ron Brackin
In sports, I win because your better. You win because your better. That's it I don't accept excuses. Kenneth de Guzman