Nobody ever remembers who finished second at anything.
Interpretation
Winning is often more memorable than merely participating, especially in competitive contexts.
This quote by Jack Nicklaus emphasizes the importance of winning in competitive endeavors. It suggests that the recognition and legacy associated with first place are far greater than those given to second place, implying that achieving success is what ultimately leaves a lasting impression in sports and life.
In practice
In a sports team meeting, to encourage players to strive for victory.
There's more to be learned here [St. Andrews] about course design than anywhere. Collection bunkers, false fronts, bump shots. The fundamentals of design became fundamental because of what's here. And it happened accidentally. Or maybe accidentally on purpose.
Confidence is the most important single factor in this game, and no matter how great your natural talent, there is only one way to obtain and sustain it: work.
I'm a firm believer that in the theory that people only do their best at things they truly enjoy. It is difficult to excel at something you don't enjoy.
A big part of managing a golf course is managing your swing on the course. A lot of guys can go out and hit a golf ball, but they have no idea how to manage what they do with the ball. I've won as many golf tournaments hitting the ball badly as I have hitting the ball well.
All I ever wanted to do was play competitive golf against the best players in the world.
I don't think about winning the Masters as part of the slam. You want to win the Masters because of what it means to the game.
I didn't go into the Hall of Fame until I was a Hall of Famer. Three times I had been there, I never stepped foot inside.
After we played Sporting last week, the lads in the dressing room talked about him constantly, and on the plane back from the game they urged me to sign him. That's how highly they rated him.
Passion gets an entrepreneur through the startup days and the enormous efforts it takes to build a business.
Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts.
What's money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.
A lot of singers think all they have to do is exercise their tonsils to get ahead. They refuse to look for new ideas and new outlets, so they fall by the wayside... I'm going to try to find out the new ideas before the others do.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.