Competition has long been a driving force in human achievement, pushing individuals and teams to reach new heights and surpass their own limitations. Throughout history, great minds and athletes have shared their thoughts on the nature of competition, inspiring and motivating others to strive for greatness.
Today, we’ll explore 81 popular competition quotes encapsulating the spirit of rivalry, determination, and the pursuit of excellence. Whether you’re an athlete, an entrepreneur, or simply someone looking for a dose of inspiration, these quotes are sure to ignite your competitive fire and remind you of the power of pushing yourself to be the best.
I hope you enjoy these competition quotes…
1) “Competition is not about tearing others down, but about building yourself up.” – Jennifer Lynn Barnes, The Long Game
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Barnes, Jennifer Lynn (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 370 Pages – 06/07/2016 (Publication Date) – Bloomsbury USA Childrens (Publisher)
2) “Life is a competition not with others, but with ourselves. We should seek each day to live stronger, better, truer lives; each day to master some weakness of yesterday; each day to repair a mistake; each day to surpass ourselves.” – David B. Haight
Competition Quotes by Simon Sinek
3) “We achieve more when we chase the dream instead of the competition.” – Simon Sinek
4) “When you compete against everyone else, no one wants to help you. But when you compete against yourself, everyone wants to help you.” – Simon Sinek
5) “Competition is always a good thing. It forces us to do our best. A monopoly renders people complacent and satisfied with mediocrity.” – Nancy Pearcy
6) “You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself, your own highest standards, and when you reach your limits, that is real joy.” – Arthur Ashe
7) “As humans, we have evolved to compete; it is in our genes, and we love to watch a competition.” – Peter Diamandis
8) “Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best; it removes all that is base.” – George Patton
9) “Becoming number one is easier than remaining number one.” – Bill Bradley
The best form of motivation…
10) “Competition is the best form of motivation.” – Cordae
11) “Competition breeds excellence.” – Gordon Tredgold, Leadership: It’s a Marathon Not a Sprint
- Tredgold, Gordon (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 224 Pages – 11/28/2013 (Publication Date) – Panoma Press (Publisher)
12) “Competition brings out the best version of oneself.” – Sheryl Sandberg, Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy
- Audible Audiobook
- Sheryl Sandberg (Author) – Elisa Donovan (Narrator)
- English (Publication Language)
- 04/24/2017 (Publication Date) – Random House Audio (Publisher)
13) “Competition can try to steal my plans and copy my style. But they can’t read my mind; so I’ll leave them a mile and a half behind.” – Ray Kroc
14) “Competition is the catalyst for growth and progress.” – David Sarnoff, Forbes quote
15) “Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character.” – Alan Armstrong
16) “Companies that solely focus on competition will die. Those that focus on value creation will thrive.” – Edward de Bono
17) “Competition is a sin.” – John D. Rockefeller
18) “Control your expenses better than your competition. This is where you can always find the competitive advantage.” – Sam Walton
19) “If you could get all the people in the organization rowing in the same direction, you could dominate any industry, in any market, against any competition, at any time.” – Patrick Lencioni
The desire to achieve…
20) “A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.” – Ayn Rand
21) “Creativity may well be the last legal unfair competitive advantage we can take to run over the competition.” – Dave Trott
22) “Do your work with your whole heart, and you will succeed – there’s so little competition.” – Elbert Hubbard
23) “It’s early in the morning and your competition is still sleeping.” – Greg Plitt
24) “In every competition, there are no winners or losers, only learners.” – Brian Herbert, Dune: House Atreides
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Herbert, Brian (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 681 Pages – 03/18/2003 (Publication Date) – Spectra (Publisher)
25) “Competition is the fuel that ignites innovation.” – Simon Sinek, Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
- we like to ship out right away
- Sinek, Simon (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 256 Pages – 12/27/2011 (Publication Date) – Portfolio (Publisher)
26) “Get big quietly, so you don’t tip off potential competitors.” – Chris Dixon
Competition Quotes by Conor McGregor
27) “Competition gives me energy. It keeps me focused.” – Conor McGregor
28) “I enjoy competition. I enjoy challenges. If a challenge is in front of me and it appeals to me, I will go ahead and conquer it.” – Conor McGregor
29) “If you’re not gonna go all the way, why go at all?” – Joe Namath
Competition Quotes
30) “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” – Babe Ruth
31) “Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but cooperation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
32) “The healthiest competition occurs when average people win by putting above average effort.” – Colin Powell
33) “Healthy competition fuels innovation, drives progress, and leads to breakthroughs.” – Sundar Pichai, WIRED Interview
34) “You have competition every day because you set such high standards for yourself that you have to go out every day and live up to that.” – Michael Jordan
35) “A horse never runs so fast as when he has other horses to catch up and outpace.” – Ovid
36) “If you’re a true warrior, competition doesn’t scare you. It makes you better.” – Andrew Whitworth
37) “In training, you listen to your body. In competition, you tell your body to shut up.” – Rich Froning Jr.
38) “If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.” – T. Harv Eker
39) “Competition is always a good thing. It forces us to do our best. A monopoly renders people complacent and satisfied with mediocrity.” – Nancy Pearcey
40) “Don’t knock your competitors. By boosting others you will boost yourself. A little competition is a good thing and severe competition is a blessing. Thank God for competition.” – Jacob Kindleberger
41) “Life is nothing but a competition to be the criminal rather than the victim.” – Bertrand Russell
Competition Quotes by Harvey Mackay
42) “Like it or not, life is a series of competitions.” – Harvey Mackay
43) “You’ll never learn a thing from a competitor weaker than you.” – Harvey Mackay
44) “Make your product easier to buy than your competition, or you will find your customers buying from them, not you.” – Mark Cuban
45) “If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not taking risks, and that means you’re not going anywhere. The key is to make mistakes faster than the competition, so you have more changes to learn and win.” – John W. Holt, Jr.
46) “A merchant who approaches business with the idea of serving the public well has nothing to fear from the competition.” – James Cash Penney
Competition Quotes by Peter Lynch
47) “My idea of a great business is one that has a shortage of competitors.” – Peter Lynch
48) “In business, competition is never as healthy as total domination.” – Peter Lynch
49) “Never compete, create.” – Earl Nightingale
50) “No matter what the competition is, I try to find a goal that day and better that goal.” – Bonnie Blair
51) “I’m not in competition with anybody but myself. My goal is to beat my last performance.” – Celine Dion
Competition Quotes by Jack Welch
52) “Number one, cash is king; number two, communicate; number three, buy or bury the competition.” – Jack Welch
53) If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete. – Jack Welch
54) “The only competition worthy of a wise man is with himself.” – Washington Alston
55) “Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.” – Tim Ferriss
56) “The principle is competing against yourself. It’s about self-improvement, about being better than you were the day before.” – Steve Young
57) “No competition, no progress.” – Bela Karolyi
58) “So many times people are afraid of competition, when it should bring out the best in us. We all have talents and abilities, so why be intimidated by other people’s skills?” – Lou Holtz
59) “Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can.” – Paul Tournier
Reveal your true potential…
60) “Competition strengthens character and reveals true potential.” – Patti Smith, M Train
- Smith, Patti (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 288 Pages – 08/23/2016 (Publication Date) – Vintage (Publisher)
61) “Taste the relish to be found in competition – in having put forth the best within you.” – Henry Kaiser
62) “Competition teaches you the value of hard work and dedication.” – Kobe Bryant, Dear Basketball
63) “The only person I’m in competition with is myself. That’s to be a better, and bigger me every single day.” – Trina
64) “There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there.” – Indira Gandhi
65) “The time your game is most vulnerable is when you’re ahead. Never let up.” – Rod Laver
66) “There are only two ways to establish competitive advantage: do things better than others or do them differently.” – Karl Albrecht
67) “The ultimate victory in competition is derived from the inner satisfaction of knowing that you have done your best and that you have gotten the most out of what you had to give.” – Howard Cosell
68) “Never underestimate the power of competition to drive success.” – Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Kassem, Suzy (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 267 Pages – 07/13/2011 (Publication Date) – Awakened Press (Publisher)
69) “We want to be first; not first if, not first but; but first!” – John F. Kennedy
70) “The weak compete. The strong dominate.” – Grant Cardone
71) “The weakness of an enemy forms part of your own strength.” – Unknown
72) “When you brand yourself properly, the competition becomes irrelevant.” – Dan Schawbel
Competition Quotes by Bill Gates
73) “Whether it’s Google or Apple or free software, we’ve got some fantastic competitors and it keeps us on our toes.” – Bill Gates
74) “I am not in competition with anyone but myself. My goal is to improve myself continuously.” – Bill Gates
75) “The most meaningful way to differentiate your company from your competition is to do an outstanding job with information.” – Bill Gates
76) “The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.” – Confucius
77) “Without the spur of competition we’d loaf out our life.” – Arnold Glasow
78) “Competition whose motive is merely to compete, to drive some other fellow out, never carries very far. The competitor to be feared is one who never bothers about you at all, but goes on making his own business better all the time.” – Henry Ford
79) “Winning isn’t getting ahead of others, it is getting ahead of yourself.” – Roger Staubach
80) “World trade means competition from anywhere; advancing technology encourages cross-industry competition. Consequently, strategic planning must consider who our future competitors will be, not only who is here today.” – Eric Allison
81) “You wanna know what scares people? Success. When you don’t make moves and when you don’t climb up the ladder, everybody loves you because you’re not competition.” – Nicki Minaj
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Last update on 2024-06-25 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API