Quotes about the game

A collection of quotes on the topic of game, gaming, play, likeness.

Best quotes about the game

Babe Ruth photo

“Yesterday's home runs don't win today's games”

Babe Ruth (1895–1948) American baseball player

The earliest quotes similar to this are presented as unattributed folk wisdom, such as this example from 1959:
As Brother Allen of Newsweek indicated, it has been fun, but don't try to rest on your laurels. Always remember, “YESTERDAY’S HOME-RUN DOESN’T COUNT IN TODAY’S GAME,” and today’s game is well under way.
The quote does not begin to be attributed to Babe Ruth until the 1980s, nearly 30 years after its first appearance.
Disputed
Source: F. N. Abbott, "On Your Marks", in [The Palm, vol lxxix, no. 1 (February 1959), Harry L., Bird (ed.), 1959, Champaign, IL, Alpha Tau Omega, 17, http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiuc.1744313v0079?urlappend=%3Bseq=19]
Source: https://books.google.com/books?id=cQsKAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22Yesterday%27s+home+runs%22&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=Ruth

Karl Lagerfeld photo
Isaac Asimov photo

“In life, unlike chess, the game continues after checkmate.”

Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, known for his works of science fiction …
Suzanne Collins photo

“Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor.”

Variant: May the odds be ever in your favor!
Source: The Hunger Games

Josephs Quartzy photo

“we can't change the game but rules can be adjusted”

Josephs Quartzy (1999) Tanzanian actor

Source: Sweetest song I know

Rick Riordan photo

“Sometimes you have to lose a piece to win a game.”

Source: The Throne of Fire

Pelé photo

“No individual can win a game by himself.”

Pelé (1940–2022) Brazilian association football player
Yogi Berra photo

“Ninety percent of this game is half-mental.”

Yogi Berra (1925–2015) American baseball player, manager, coach

What Time Is It? You Mean Now?: Advice for Life from the Zennest Master of Them All, Simon and Schuster, 2003, ISBN 0743244532, p. 45. This line has been attributed to Berra and also to Philadelphia Philles manager Danny Ozark. However, it was actually first said by Major League reserve outfielder Jim Wohlford, to whom the line was attributed in April 1974. See Devin Rose, Words of Wisdom - Former Big Leaguer Jim Wohlford - Took the words right out of his mouth http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2003-09-21/features/0309210321_1_notable-quotables-words-contracts, Chicago Tribune (September 21, 2003) (Retrieved March 4, 2016.) and Website of etymologist Barry Popik, Entry dated September 23, 2015 http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/baseball_is_ninety_percent_mental_and_the_other_half_is_physical/. (Retrieved March 4, 2016.)
Disputed
Variant: Ninety percent of this game is mental, and the other half is physical.
Source: The Yogi Book : I Really Didn't Say Everything I Said

Eugene O'Neill photo

“It's a great game - the pursuit of happiness.”

Eugene O'Neill (1888–1953) American playwright, and Nobel laureate in Literature

Quotes about the game

Tupac Shakur photo
Yuzuru Hanyu photo

“I managed to win twice, but the Olympics are something special. The Olympic Games are what every athlete and figure skater wants to win. Winning them makes you a true champion.”

Yuzuru Hanyu (1994) Japanese figure skater (1994-)

Quote from an article on the Olympic Channel https://www.olympicchannel.com/en/stories/news/detail/yuzuru-hanyu-coy-cryptic-beijing-olympic-2022-chen-ankle/, published 3 April 2019. (Retrieved 11 September 2020)
Other quotes, 2019

Sathya Sai Baba photo
Michael Jordan photo

“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”

Michael Jordan (1963) American retired professional basketball player and businessman

Source: Jordan, Michael. I Can't Accept Not Trying : Michael Jordan on the Pursuit of Excellence. San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco, 1994. p. 129
Context: I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying [no hard work].
Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships. (p. 20, 24)

Ram Dass photo

“The game is not about becoming somebody, it's about becoming nobody.”

Ram Dass (1931–2019) American contemporary spiritual teacher and the author of the 1971 book Be Here Now
Shigeru Miyamoto photo
Ahmad Shah Massoud photo

“We will never be a pawn in someone else's game. We will always be Afghanistan.”

Ahmad Shah Massoud (1953–2001) Afghan military leader

Attributed in Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda (2005) by Gary Berntsen and Ralph Pezzullo.

Shigeru Miyamoto photo

“A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad.”

Shigeru Miyamoto (1952) Japanese video game designer and producer

Source: Shigeru Miyamoto: A rushed game is forever bad http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2012/apr/27/shigeru-miyamoto-rushed-game-forever-bad guardian.co.uk Games Blog, published April 27, 2012

Michael Jackson photo
John D. Carmack photo

“Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but it's not that important.”

John D. Carmack (1970) American computer programmer, engineer, and businessman

Quoted in David Kushner, Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture Chapter 8, p. 120.
Variant: Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but it's not that important.

Kobe Bryant photo
Jacque Fresco photo
Dr. Seuss photo

“I'm afraid that sometimes you'll play lonely games too. Games you can't win 'cause you'll play against you.”

Dr. Seuss (1904–1991) American children's writer and illustrator, co-founder of Beginner Books
Toni Morrison photo
Shigeru Miyamoto photo

“When we’re doing an action game, we make the second level first. We begin making level 1 once everything else is completed.”

Shigeru Miyamoto (1952) Japanese video game designer and producer

Source: http://gamasutra.com/view/news/175791/A_free_tip_from_Miyamoto_Make_your_first_level_last.php

Tupac Shakur photo
Kobe Bryant photo
Al Capone photo
Tupac Shakur photo

“It seems, my main thing was to be major paid
The game sharper than a motherfucking razor blade
Say money bring bitches, bitches bring lies.”

Tupac Shakur (1971–1996) rapper and actor

All Eyez On Me" (1996)
1990s, All Eyez on Me (1996)

Karen Blixen photo
Marilyn Manson photo
Michael Jordan photo

“I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career.
I've lost almost 300 games.
26 times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed.
I've failed over and over and over again in my life.
And that is why I succeed.”

Michael Jordan (1963) American retired professional basketball player and businessman

As quoted in Nike Culture : The Sign of the Swoosh (1998), by Robert Goldman and Stephen Papson, p. 49

Charles Manson photo
Marilyn Manson photo
Shigeru Miyamoto photo
Lionel Messi photo

“[Becoming a father] has changed everything. He [Thiago] comes first then everything else. It has also changed the way I see a match. Before if I lost or did something wrong I didn't talk to anyone for three or four days, until it passed. Now, I come home after a game, I see my son and everything is alright.”

Lionel Messi (1987) Argentine association football player

Interview with CONMEBOL, 2015 http://www.conmebol.com/en/04132015-2140/messi-being-father-has-helped-me-grow-and-think-life-there-are-other-things-besides

Witold Pilecki photo

“The game which I was now playing in Auschwitz was dangerous. This sentence does not really convey the reality; in fact, I had gone far beyond what people in the real world consider dangerous.”

Witold Pilecki (1901–1948) World War II concentration camp leader and resistor

Source: Lawrence W. Reed, Witold Pilecki: Bravery Beyond Measure, 23 October 2015 https://fee.org/articles/he-volunteered-to-go-to-auschwitz/

Joseph Goebbels photo

“In the newspapers there is insulting and stirring up hatred. Those irresponsible daubers!
The people are on the streets -- rampaging and protesting. The magnates are sitting at the green table and calmly finish their game.
Old Europe is dying.
Well, it's a crazy world! Thrift, Horatio!
As if by a mysterious power one feels compelled to go out onto the streets. The thoughts wander outside to the stage which is portraying a drama of world history -- not an edifying one, but still a drama. It gives the earnest observer a lot to think about.”

Joseph Goebbels (1897–1945) Nazi politician and Propaganda Minister

In den Zeitungen wird gehetzt und geschimpft. Diese verantwortungslosen Schmieranten!
Das Volk ist auf der Straße, randaliert und demonstriert. Die Herren sitzen am grünen Tisch und spielen seelenruhig ihre Partie zu Ende.
Die alte Europa geht in die Binsen.
Ja, es ist eine tolle Welt! Wirtschaft, Horatio!
Man wird wie von einer geheimnisvollen Macht auf die Straße gezogen. Die Gedanken sind draußen, wo sich ein Stück Weltgeschichte abspielt -- kein erhebendes zwar, aber ein Stück. Der ernsthafte Zuschauer hat viel dabei nachzudenken.
Michael: a German fate in diary notes (1926)

Muhammad Ali photo
Bobby Fischer photo
Shigeru Miyamoto photo
Shigeru Miyamoto photo
Lionel Messi photo
Alfred Freddy Krupa photo
George Soros photo
Terry Pratchett photo
Chris Rock photo

“If you can keep your son off the pipe and your daughter off the pole, you're ahead of the game.”

Chris Rock (1965) American comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer, and director
Florence Scovel Shinn photo

“Most people consider life a battle, but it is not a battle, it is a game.”

Florence Scovel Shinn (1871–1940) American writer

Source: The Game of Life and How to Play It

Michel Foucault photo
Hugh Laurie photo

“I would cling to unhappiness because it was a known, familiar state. When I was happier, it was because I knew I was on my way back to misery. I've never been convinced that happiness is the object of the game. I'm wary of happiness.”

Hugh Laurie (1959) British actor, comedian, writer, musician and director

Source: [2002-06-13, http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-920254-details/A+brighter+life+for+Hugh+Laurie/article.do;jsessionid=KnM3FNTSkpv0R3P22WrQBPZQ00jxPTkDtG2htfqq0LvwTtnLx4by!-81402767, A brighter life for Hugh Laurie, thisislondon.co.uk from the Evening Standard, 2006-08-21]

Leo Buscaglia photo
Robert Greene photo
Gordon Ramsay photo
Taylor Swift photo

“This is a state of grace
This is the worthwhile fight
Love is a ruthless game
Unless you play it good and right”

Taylor Swift (1989) American singer-songwriter

State of Grace, written by Taylor Swift
Song lyrics, Red (2012)

Benjamin W. Lee photo
Alex Jones photo
Seymour Papert photo
Douglas Adams photo

“Driving a Porsche in London is like bringing a Ming vase to a football game.”

Douglas Adams (1952–2001) English writer and humorist

As quoted in Don't Panic: The Official Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Companion (1988) by Neil Gaiman

George Orwell photo
Shigeru Miyamoto photo
Taylor Swift photo
Douglas Adams photo
George Orwell photo
Sitting Bull photo

“I will remain what I am until I die, a hunter, and when there are no buffalo or other game I will send my children to hunt and live on prairie, for where an Indian is shut up in one place his body becomes weak.”

Sitting Bull (1831–1890) Hunkpapa Lakota medicine man and holy man

Recorded by James M. Walsh, inspector in the Northwest Territory of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, at a conference with Sitting Bull on March 23, 1879. Published in Utley, Robert M. The Lance and the Shield. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1993. p. 206.

Chris Colfer photo
Jeff Buckley photo
Jean Paul Sartre photo
Francis Drake photo

“There is plenty of time to win this game, and to thrash the Spaniards too.”

Francis Drake (1540–1596) English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era

Reputedly while playing Bowls at Plymouth Hoe, upon being informed that the Spanish Armada had been sighted approaching England. ([29 July, 1588, 19 July]); This attribution is not known to have appeared in writing until 1736, so its authenticity remains uncertain.
Disputed
Variant: There's time to finish the game and beat the Spaniards too.

Marvin Minsky photo
LeBron James photo

“I'm only one guy. I took Hedo [Türkoğlu] in the first game and Rashard [Lewis] hit the winning shot. I took Rashard in the second game and Hedo hit the shot. If I could clone myself, we'd be all right. But I can't.”

LeBron James (1984) American basketball player

Brown looking for alternatives to slow down Magic offense, Jodie Valade, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 25, 2009 http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2009/05/cavaliers_insider_brown_lookin.html,
James before Game 3 of the 2009 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Orlando Magic.

John Lennon photo
Leo Buscaglia photo

“If anybody tries to play the game of "follow the guru" with me, they will be lost, for they will learn that I am just as confused as they are. The difference may be that I know it.”

Leo Buscaglia (1924–1998) Motivational speaker, writer

Living, Loving, and Learning (1982)
Context: About two years ago a young lady came into my office, and I knew immediately something was wrong. Her eyes were kind of glazed, and her head was nodding, and I asked, "What's the matter" She replied, "Oh, Dr. Buscaglia, in order to get enough courage to come to see you, I had to drink a whole bottle of Ripple! And I think I am going to be sick!" Imagining... having to drink a bottle of Ripple to summon up the courage to come to see me. All I do is put my hands out and say, "Hi." I cover their hands with mine and lead them into my office, and I can see a look of panic on their faces, "What's he going to do to me?" I am not going to do anything to you! I just want you to know that I cry, too, and I feel, too, and I care, too, and I don't know everything, too, and therefore, we can start with a common frame of reference — human being to human being. If anybody tries to play the game of "follow the guru" with me, they will be lost, for they will learn that I am just as confused as they are. The difference may be that I know it. A Buddhist teacher once said to me, "Why do you keep moving? You are already there." And all of a sudden it occurred to me — my goodness, I am!

Vangelis photo

“It's a game. What you read is not what's happening. The whole planet is in trouble for the same reason”

Vangelis (1943) Greek composer of electronic, progressive, ambient, jazz, pop rock, and orchestral music

2012
Context: On world economy: "I see the crisis like a theatrical play that concerns the world – not just Greece... But, I am afraid that it is not easy for any country today to decide their own future... Corruption is another way for just a few to benefit... It's a game. What you read is not what's happening. The whole planet is in trouble for the same reason... Generally speaking, yes, greed and capital. In other words, banking".

Pierre de Coubertin photo

“The important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win, but to take part; the important thing in Life is not triumph, but the struggle; the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.”

Pierre de Coubertin (1863–1937) Founder of modern Olympic Games, pedagogue and historian

As quoted in The Olympian (1984) by Peter L. Dixon, p. 210
Context: The important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win, but to take part; the important thing in Life is not triumph, but the struggle; the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well. To spread these principles is to build up a strong and more valiant and, above all, more scrupulous and more generous humanity.

Vince Lombardi photo
LeBron James photo
Ozzy Osbourne photo

“I tried out that Buckethead guy. I met with him and asked him to work with me but only if he got rid of the fucking bucket. So I came back a bit later and he's wearing this green fucking Martian's-hat thing. I said, 'Look, just be yourself!' He told me his name was Brian, so I said that's what I'd call him. He says, 'No one calls me Brian except my mother.' So I said, 'Pretend I'm your mum then!' I haven't even got out of the room and I'm already playing fucking mind games with the guy. What happens if one day he's gone and there's a note saying, 'I've been beamed up?”

Ozzy Osbourne (1948) English heavy metal vocalist and songwriter

[Laughs] Don't get me wrong, he's a great player. He plays like a motherfucker!
Revolver interview; as quoted in "Ozzy Osbourne "Says Ex-GUNS N' ROSES Guitarist Buckethead Auditioned For His Solo Band" http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/ozzy-osbourne-says-ex-guns-n-roses-guitarist-buckethead-auditioned-for-his-solo-band/, Blabbermouth.net, January 5, 2005

Robert A. Heinlein photo

“Let’s play a little game I like to call Cole’s in Charge and Ali’s Not.”

Gena Showalter (1975) American writer

Source: The Queen of Zombie Hearts

Terry Pratchett photo

“God does not play games with His loyal servants", said the Metatron, but in a worried tone of voice.
"Whoopee", said Crowley.”

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) English author

Source: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

“A finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the play.”

James P. Carse American academic

Source: Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility

William Shakespeare photo
Brandon Sanderson photo

“You can't just avoid the game by saying you don't want to play.”

Brandon Sanderson (1975) American fantasy writer

Source: The Final Empire

Jawaharlal Nehru photo
Michael Crichton photo
Albert Einstein photo

“You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.”

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity

An abbreviated version of a quote by California politician Dianne Feinstein, from an interview with Cosmopolitan magazine in October 1985 https://books.google.com/books?id=zmxNAQAAIAAJ&dq=You+have+to+learn+the+rules+of+the+game+and+then+you+have+to+play+better+than+anyone+else&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=%22rules+of+the+game%22, on the topic of women running for public office. The original was: "... I really do have staying power. That's important for women who run for office. When you get in there and push for a lot of new things all at once and don't get them, you don't just leave. You have to commit, be a team player, learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play it better than anyone else."
Misattributed

Henry Jenkins photo
Arthur Conan Doyle photo

“The game is afoot.”

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) Scottish physician and author

Source: Adventure of the Abbey Grange

Louise Erdrich photo
Joseph Brodsky photo
Charles Baudelaire photo
John Osborne photo
Robert Greene photo
Aldo Leopold photo

“Harmony with land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left. That is to say, you cannot love game and hate predators… The land is one organism.”

Aldo Leopold (1887–1948) American writer and scientist

"Conservation" (c. 1938); Published in Round River, Luna B. Leopold (ed.), Oxford University Press, 1966, p. 145-146.
1930s
Context: Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land. … Harmony with land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left. That is to say, you cannot love game and hate predators; you cannot conserve the waters and waste the ranges; you cannot build the forest and mine the farm. The land is one organism.

Terry Pratchett photo
Stephen King photo
Scott Lynch photo
Vladimir Nabokov photo

“Satire is a lesson, parody is a game.”

Interview with Nabokov http://lib.ru/NABOKOW/Inter06.txt_with-big-pictures.html conducted on September 25, 27, 28, 29, 1966, at Montreux, Switzerland and published in Wisconsin Studies in Contemporary Literature, vol. VIII, no. 2, spring 1967.
Source: Strong Opinions

Eleanor H. Porter photo
Robert Baden-Powell photo

“The Scoutmaster teaches boys to play the game by doing so himself.”

Robert Baden-Powell (1857–1941) lieutenant-general in the British Army, writer, founder and Chief Scout of the Scout Movement
Grantland Rice photo
Marcel Duchamp photo