Product Description

Vince Lombardi's uncanny ability to motivate and his unstoppable drive to succeed have made him the standard against which all NFL coaches are measured. Winning Is a Habit captures the charisma of the legend whose no-loss attitude in football was also his attitude in life.

Winning Is a Habit is divided into 11 subject categories -- from faith to football, from winning to racism, from family to business to himself -- reflecting the diversity of his insights and the power of his words.

Vince Lombardi taught that success in football and in his life is built on perseverance and hard work, lessons that continue to apply today.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #193122 in Books
• Published on: 1997-11-26
• Released on: 1997-10-18
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

Excerpted from Winning Is a Habit : Vince Lombardi on Winning, Success, and the Pursuit of Excellence by Gary R. George, Vince Lombardi. Copyright © 1997. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved

Winning

Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing.

Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all-the-time thing. You don't win once in a while, you don't do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing....

It's a reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive games draw the most competitive men. That's why they're there -- to compete. They know the rules and the objectiveswhen they get in the game. The objective is to win -- fairly, squarely, decently, by the rules -- but to win.

The will to excel and the will to win, they endure. They are more important than any events that occasion them. I don't care what people say about me as long as I win. That's what I get paid for.

There is no room for second place here. There is one place here and that's first place. I've finished second twice in my time here, and I don't ever want to finish second again. There's a second place bowl game, and it's a hinky-dinky football game, held in a hinky-dinky town, played by hinky-dinky football players. That's all second place is: Hinky-Dinky.

Customer Reviews

A great book for anyone, not just a sports fan
Full of laughs and in-depth knowledge of the competitive spirit, this book shows the flaws as well as the greatness of Vince Lombardi, and also in ourselves. One of my favorites: "The quality of a person's life is directly proportional to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor." This could be used even in a classroom environment as a point of discussion for lessons on the price of winning, and integrity.

Do You Want to Be and/or Remain a Winner?
Looking for great quotes, and not a storyline? Here they are. The areas represented and the sagacity of the quotes conferring the essential kernals of Vince Lombardi's thought and personal philosophy are at times stupendous. The major flaw is, I believe, the way he is characterized in the section: "The of Wrath of Lombardi." It is this section which I think pulls the book down, because it shows a part of him that is not consistent with the way he is portrayed, by virtue of the various quotes, in the other sections either before or after. In other words, it gives the impression, that although he may have said these things, they could be out of context and not truly representative of him as a person. Other than that, there are things in here we all need to hear from time to time; or even all of the time. It is a wonderful memory of a trememdous motivator and personal achiever who followed his dream and obtained it. His legacy, conveyed to us in these marvelous quotations, is that all persons can overcome fear, cowardice, impulsivity, etc., and be winners in our own personal lives--and by doing so, encourage others to do and be the same.

Poor reading rip-off of Strive to Excel Lombardi book
This book is a poor rip-off of Jennifer Briggs' much classier Strive to Excel: The Wit, Will & Wisdom of Vince Lombardi. George is a politician with book editor connections, not a writer--and it shows in his clumbsy writing and diction. Briggs' Strive to Excel is a much better read on Lombardi. And I'd expect it to be. She's an award-winning sportswriter who's written for USA Today, SI, etc. Buy Brigg's book, not George's fluff.