Bill Russell Quotes

12 Sourced Quotes

Most people have a harder time letting themselves love than finding someone to love them.

Bill Russell
We learn to make a shell for ourselves when we are young and then spend the rest of our lives hoping for someone to reach inside and touch us. Just touch us—anything more than that would be too much for us to bear.

Bill Russell
The most important measure of how good a game I played was how much better I'd made my teammates play.

Bill Russell
To me, the most important part of winning is joy. You can win without joy, but winning that's joyless is like eating in a four-star restaurant when you're not hungry. Joy is a current of energy in your body, like chlorophyll or sunlight, that fills you up and makes you naturally want to do your best.

Bill Russell
Learning is a daily experience and a lifetime mission. I truly believe in the saying "We work to become, not to acquire."

Bill Russell
Success is a result of consistent practice of winning skills and actions. There is nothing miraculous about the process. There is no luck involved.

Bill Russell
"What do you think of the Chicago Bulls winning three in a row?" — Russell: "Not much."

Bill Russell
If Shakespeare can compare all of life to a stage, maybe it's not odd to believe that part of the play can take place on a basketball court.

Bill Russell
My father once told me that anyone who worked for three dollars an hour owed it to himself to put in four dollars' worth of work.

Bill Russell
My most prized possession was my library card from the Oakland Public Library.

Bill Russell
Heart in champions has to do with the depth of our motivation and how well your mind and body react to pressure - that is, being able to do what you do best under maximum pain and stress.

Bill Russell
Like alcohol, sports doesn't lie. What it reveals about a person under its influence was just hiding.

Bill Russell