Winning begins long before the finish line. Long before the applause, the trophy, or the celebration. Winning grows through quiet mornings, faithful practice, courageous choices, and the willingness to keep going when no one is watching.

As football great Emmitt Smith reminds us, “For me, winning isn't something that happens suddenly on the field when the whistle blows and the crowds roar. Winning is something that builds physically and mentally every day that you train and every night that you dream.”

Men are made strong not by winning easy battles, but by losing hard-fought ones. ~ Dick Bass

I've made so many mistakes that if I don't make the same mistakes over, we're going to come pretty close to winning. ~ Paul "Bear" Bryant

Most people give up just when they're about to achieve success. They quit on the one-yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game, one foot from a winning touchdown. ~ H. Ross Perot

The thrill isn't in the winning, it's in the doing. ~ Chuck Noll

The important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part. The essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well. ~ Baron de Coubertin

Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strength. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength. ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger

Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all-the-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 a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. ~ Vince Lombardi

There is no downside to winning. It feels forever fabulous. ~ Pat Conroy, My Losing Season

Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

You must be present to win. ~ Lama Surya Das, Awakening the Buddha Within

My dad taught us that there's no greater distance than that between first and second place. ~ Janet Jackson

In order to win, you must be prepared to lose sometimes... and leave one or two cards showing. ~ Van Morrison

You don't have to win every time. ~ David Niven