Sport

On the court, there was no prejudice, just your contribution to the team. Off the court, teamwork seemed like a parody of what we did. So, the lesson I eventually learned was to distinguish between which teams are sincere in promoting true teamwork, and which are jingoistic self-serving pretenders.

NBA's All-Time Leading Scorer & Six-Time Champion

Coach Wooden's little lesson wasn't just about socks, but about how everything in life was basically a Rube Goldberg contraption with many seemingly unrelated parts that form a greater interrelated machine. Neglecting what appears insignificant can create a domino effect of failure.

NBA's All-Time Leading Scorer & Six-Time Champion

I wasn't just fighting for myself. I was fighting for an entire country and millions of fans around the world who believe in me. That is why I will always give 100% in and out of the ring.

World Champion Boxer & Philippine Senator

If you're not an action sport athlete, and you spend all your time chasing action sport athletes around mountains and across oceans, you're going to break things… I broke 82 bones and realized that if I didn't take my obsession beyond action sports that I would kill myself.

Author & Researcher on Flow State & Human Peak Performance

Until James DeGale won a World Title, no-one who'd won a gold medal for Britain in the Olympic Games had ever won a professional World Title, which is quite amazing. Sometimes the greatest boxers get overlooked.

Founder of PostSecret, anonymous confessions project & book series

There's an old adage that the boxer is the last one to know – it's not true, he's the first one to know, but the last to acknowledge it. You can learn from defeat – it's not the end of the world, but you have to learn from it.

Founder of PostSecret, anonymous confessions project & book series

Anyone can have a good trainer; you can learn the moves and get fit. Any boxer or athlete can get super fit – the edge is mental ability – It's having the self-belief. If you're not right in the head? You'll never do it.

Founder of PostSecret, anonymous confessions project & book series

To be a great fighter you obviously have to have talent, but what really matters is dedication and discipline. I've seen so many guys with talent where I've thought, 'this guy's going to be a world champion...' but they've not had the dedication. You can't just succeed with talent.

Founder of PostSecret, anonymous confessions project & book series

It's like playing chess but while getting punched in the face.

Boxing coach of Conor McGregor at Straight Blast Gym Dublin

I approached fighting, and each contest, as an experiment. I would develop hypotheses on what strategies and techniques were winning, I would set-up experiments (or go into fights)- try them out- run tests- look at the results and try to be as unemotional as possible.

Boxing coach of Conor McGregor at Straight Blast Gym Dublin

I wish I had known that Football is the most important part of the least important parts of my life. A bad result or losing in a final of the champions League is hard to take, but there are worse things to endure in life.

Legendary football manager with multiple Champions League titles

You can have athletes that are at their physical peak but without the right mental resilience and approach, their performance will not be where it needs to. I've focused on that a lot through my career- learning through experiences and trying to keep a perspective on what I'd achieved previously, what I was going to achieve, and how to get the most out of communication with the people around me.

British Olympic heptathlon champion and gold medalist

I would have played basketball for $120,000 for 7 years rather than $120 million, because I loved to play basketball. I never said to myself that I would only play basketball if they pay me $100million – I played basketball because I loved basketball.

Hall of Fame NBA Center & 4-Time NBA Champion

To achieve greatness means to maximise your potential at the highest possible level, and the highest possible rate. I don't really consider myself the best, but the fact that people consider me the best I take as a great honour and as testament to the hard work and what I was able to achieve.

Hall of Fame NBA Center & 4-Time NBA Champion

I realised that athletes were my customers- they were the people I wanted to sell too. We wrote to them with a 15% discount offer, and the chance to become an agent to help fund their club. I must have got 200 agents signed-up and the business started to grow.

Mixed martial arts aren't like boxing. In boxing, if you lose on your way up? It's pretty much career over. In mixed martial arts, there are so many ways to win and lose... When that happens, you say, 'OK, what did I do wrong?' – you have to be honest with yourself.

Former UFC Middleweight Champion & MMA fighter turned commentator