Alex Ferguson > Quotes

“I can't believe it. I can't believe it. Football. Bloody hell.”
― Sir Alex Ferguson

“Once you bid farewell to discipline you say goodbye to success”
― Alex Ferguson, Leading: Lessons in leadership from the legendary Manchester United manager

“I've never played for a draw in my life.”
― Alex Ferguson

“There’s a reason that God gave us two ears, two eyes and one mouth. It’s so you can listen and watch twice as much as you talk. Best of all, listening costs you nothing.”
― Alex Ferguson, Leading: Lessons in leadership from the legendary Manchester United manager

“I had to lift players' expectations. They should never give in. I said that to them all the time: "If you give in once, you'll give in twice.”
― Sir Alex Ferguson

“If I were running a company, I would always want to listen to the thoughts of its most talented youngsters, because they are the people most in touch with the realities of today and the prospects for tomorrow.”
― Alex Ferguson, Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United

“In the long run principles are just more important than expediency.”
― Alex Ferguson, Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United

“You cannot lead by following.”
― Alex Ferguson, Leading: Lessons in leadership from the legendary Manchester United manager

“Don’t play the occasion, play the game.”
― Alex Ferguson, Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United

“Perhaps the most important element of each activity is to inspire a group of people to perform at their very best. The best teachers are the unsung heroes and heroines of any society,”
― Alex Ferguson, Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United

“Origins should never be a barrier to success. A modest start in life can be a help more than a hindrance.”
― Alex Ferguson, ALEX FERGUSON: My Autobiography: The Sensational Million Copy Number One Bestseller

“The experience of defeat, or more particularly the manner in which a leader reacts to it, is an essential part of what makes a winner.”
― Alex Ferguson, Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United

“you learn more from defeats than you do from victories”
― Alex Ferguson, Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United

“For me drive means a combination of a willingness to work hard, emotional fortitude, enormous powers of concentration and a refusal to admit defeat.”
― Alex Ferguson, Leading: Lessons in leadership from the legendary Manchester United manager

“Watching others, listening to their advice and reading about people are three of the best things I ever did.”
― Alex Ferguson, Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United

“One mark of a leader is his willingness to share information.”
― Alex Ferguson, Leading: Lessons in leadership from the legendary Manchester United manager

“Eleven Nobel laureates are not going to win the FA Cup.”
― Alex Ferguson, Leading: Lessons in leadership from the legendary Manchester United manager

“I always felt that our triumphs were an expression of the consistent application of discipline.”
― Alex Ferguson, Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United

“When I was lost in my own thoughts, Cathy would always say, ‘You’re not listening to me.’ She was right.”
― Alex Ferguson, Leading: Lessons in leadership from the legendary Manchester United manager

“Sweeter after difficulties’.”
― Alex Ferguson, ALEX FERGUSON: My Autobiography: The Sensational Million Copy Number One Bestseller

“Losing is a powerful management tool so long as it does not become a habit.”
― Alex Ferguson, Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United

“If you can assemble a team of 11 talented players who concentrate intently during training sessions, take care of their diet and bodies, get enough sleep and show up on time, then you are almost halfway to winning a trophy. It is always astonishing how many clubs are incapable of doing this.”
― Alex Ferguson, Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United

“I never had a problem reaching a decision based on imperfect information. That’s just the way the world works.”
― Alex Ferguson, Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United

“very often our victories were squeaked out in the last few minutes, after we had drained the life from our opponents. Games – like life – are all about waiting for chances and then pouncing on them.”
― Alex Ferguson, Leading: Lessons in leadership from the legendary Manchester United manager

“We had a virus that infected everyone at United. It was called winning.”
― Alex Ferguson, Leading: Lessons in leadership from the legendary Manchester United manager

“With young people you have to try to impart a sense of responsibility. If they can add greater awareness to their energy and their talents they can be rewarded with great careers.”
― Alex Ferguson, ALEX FERGUSON: My Autobiography: The Sensational Million Copy Number One Bestseller

“Sometimes defeats are the best outcomes. To react to adversity is a quality.”
― Alex Ferguson, Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography

“As long as you don’t criticise individual players in public, admonishing the team is fine, not a problem. We can all share in the blame: the manager, his staff, the players. Expressed properly, criticism can be an acceptance of collective responsibility. Under”
― Alex Ferguson, ALEX FERGUSON: My Autobiography: The Sensational Million Copy Number One Bestseller

“There was no way I could contemplate taking the England job. Can you imagine me doing that? A Scotsman? I always joked that I would take the position and relegate them: make them the 150th rated country in the world, with Scotland 149.”
― Alex Ferguson, ALEX FERGUSON: My Autobiography: The Sensational Million Copy Number One Bestseller

“Onde you bid farewell to discipline you day goodbye to success”
― Alex Ferguson, Leading: Lessons in leadership from the legendary Manchester United manager