Bobby Knight Quotes

In order to achieve positive results, one must work for them, not hope for them.

~ Bobby Knight

When I first started coaching, one of the worst things that I think I heard was 'It will be O.K.' I would wonder, 'How the hell is it going to be O.K.?' The worst word in the English language is 'hope.'

~ Bobby Knight

You don't play against opponents, you play against the game of basketball.

~ Bobby Knight

When somebody asks about the greatest players in history, I start with Bill Russell. More than the best player is the MVP, and the MVP in the history of team sports is Bill Russell.

~ Bobby Knight

I'm an unemployed teacher right now and I'm looking for a place to teach.

~ Bobby Knight

I'm a teacher. My mother was a teacher. I spent 40 years as a teacher.

~ Bobby Knight

I don't have to wait until the next morning to regret something I did that was kinda dumb.

~ Bobby Knight

People change over the years, and that changes situations for good and for bad.

~ Bobby Knight

Why talk now when so many things have been said without ever giving me a chance to talk?

~ Bobby Knight

If I were involved with the NBA, I wouldn't want a 19-year-old or a 20-year-old kid to bring into all the travel and all the problems that exist in the NBA. I would want a much more mature kid. I would want a kid that maybe I've been watching on another team, and now he's 21, 22 years old instead of 18 or 19, and I might trade for that kid.

~ Bobby Knight

My dad was a very quiet person, and unbelievably tough. But my grandmother gave me my first look at negative thinking to bring about positive results. When I was just a little guy, anytime I came to my grandmother and said I wish for this or that, Grandma would say, 'If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.'

~ Bobby Knight

The will to succeed is important, but what's more important is the will to prepare.

~ Bobby Knight