Floyd Patterson Quotes

In the dust of defeat as well as the laurels of victory there is a glory to be found if one has done his best.

Somewhere in the world there is a defeat for everyone. Some are destroyed by defeat, and some made small and mean by victory. Greatness lives in one who triumphs equally over defeat and victory.

It's easy to enjoy your job and enjoy other people when things are going good. When you're faced with adversity is when the character of men is measured. There's a Mennonite proverb, 'Man, like a tree, is measured best when cut down.'

Defeat has its lessons as well as victory.

A good balance of winning and losing is important. If you just win all the time, you won't get anything out of it; having some tough losses can be really important.

You can't win unless you learn how to lose.

Defeat never comes to any man until he admits it.

Big defeats make us learn.

I'll tell you what, this is a humbling sport.

I have not lost an awful lot in my life, but the defeats have taught me more than the victories. Whenever I lose, I focus on the ability of my opponent and on the mistakes I made.

I think a person's true worth is measured during times of failure.

I beat some of the best of the best, and I've lost to some of the best of the best.

Losing and winning is a part of life.

I wasn't thinking that I was going to go through my career undefeated. You expect to lose sometimes.

I think you learn a lot from losses.

Not all things always go your way and you have to accept that. That's what you are going to get as a footballer.

You always learn a lot more when you lose.

Sometimes you lose; that is football.

I think all human beings can surprise themselves when they are in situations where they are tested. That's when you see your true character coming out, and I was definitely tested.

No man is beaten until his hope is annihilated, his confidence gone, As long as a man faces life hopefully, confidently, triumphantly, he is not a failure; he is not beaten until he turns his back on life.

At last, the answer why. The lesson that had been so hard to find, so difficult to learn, came quick and clear and simple. The reason for problems is to overcome them. Why, that’s the very nature of man, I thought, to press past limits, to prove his freedom. It isn’t the challenge that faces us, that determines who we are and what we are becoming, but the way we meet the challenge, whether we toss a match at the wreck or work our way through it, step by step, to freedom.

No one is easy until you actually beat them.

When people feel that they have failed, it's usually because somebody or something caused them to feel that way and taste defeat. I refuse to dwell on that. Yes, it sucks at first, and the feeling is valid, but it all happens for a reason.

Only true champions come out and show their worth after defeat- and I expect us to do that.

The more dangerous the situation I put myself into, the more I rise, the better I become.