For me Sir Alex was my father in football. He was crucial in my career and, outside football, was a great human being with me. Talent isn't everything. You can have it from the cradle, but it is necessary to learn the trade to be the best.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of mentorship and hard work in achieving greatness, beyond just natural talent.
Cristiano Ronaldo reflects on the significant impact Sir Alex Ferguson had on his career, highlighting that while talent is important, it must be complemented by learning and guidance to truly excel. This tribute underscores the value of leadership and the human qualities that contribute to personal and professional development.
In practice
During a motivational speech for young athletes, this quote can illustrate the importance of guidance and dedication.
There's no point in making predictions. It's not worth speculating because nothing is set in stone and things change all the time in football. Today there are opportunities that no one knows if they will come round again in the future.
Without football, my life is worth nothing.
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.
Scoring goals is a great feeling, but the most important thing to me is that the team is successful - it doesn't matter who scores the goals as long as we're winning.
My father was always in good spirits, he loved football. It makes me a bit sad because if he could enjoy seeing me now, what I have achieved, that would be a highlight in his life. But I'm sure that he watches over me from above.
I feel endless need to LEARN, to IMPROVE, to EVOLVE, not only to please the coach and the fans, but also to feel SATISFIED with myself
Mentally, the only players who survive in the pros are the ones able to manage all their responsibilities. Everybody struggles in different ways.
I am always interested in why young people become writers, and from talking with many I have concluded that most do not want to be writers working eight and ten hours a day and accomplishing little; they want to have been writers, garnering the rewards of having completed a best-seller. They aspire to the rewards of writing but not to the travail.
I have found that people who really want to work at 'Saturday Night Live' and pursue it get pretty close. You have to be funny - but everyone who works there, it was their dream to work there. So it's kind of nice in that way - there's a lot of people who say, 'I just always wanted to do this, and now I'm doing it.'
Always work hard and have fun in what you do because I think that's when you're more successful. You have to choose to do it.
I ... have two vocations: chess and engineering. If I played chess only, I believe that my success would not have been significantly greater. I can play chess well only when I have fully convalesced from chess and when the 'hunger for chess' once more awakens within me.
I financed and made my own films from the start. My path has been autonomous and independent, so I don't have any horror stories about glass ceilings and expectations and tense studio meetings.
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