36 quotes found
"I will drive flat out all the time … I love racing."
"The sport is more important than anything. More important than any of the people in it. Of course I say what I think. I always have, even if it upsets people like Ecclestone and Balestre. Why should I be afraid of them? The fans aren't here to see politicians and manipulators. They're here to see Alain and Mario and Carlos and me. I am very secure in my feelings about racing. I make a lot of money from it, but one thing I can tell you for sure: if the money disappeared overnight, I would still be in racing, because I love it. The entrepreneurs would be gone."
"Gilles was a totally uncomplicated non-political guy with no hangups whatsoever. He was totally and completely honest. If we were testing .. and the car was rubbish, he'd come in and say 'Look, the car's rubbish … I don't mind driving the car, don't get me wrong, I'll drive it all day .. and I love every minute of it, but I thought that you ought to know the car's rubbish.' … The Old Man (Enzo Ferrari) loved him for this."
"He also never drove anywhere at anything less than an absolutely flat-out pace, be it on the road or the track..."
"I think Gilles was the perfect racing driver … He had the best talent of all of us."
"His car control was extraordinary, even compared with the many talented drivers I have had the opportunity to drive against over the years. … [He drove a] Grand Prix car to the absolute limit of its ability."
"I know no human being can do miracles but Gilles could really surprise us sometimes."
"Behind the wheel of a racing car he was fearfully quick, never stopped trying, and could extricate himself from the most precarious situations with deft brilliance."
"In a situation like that I know I would have been scared stiff. But I am sure that when Gilles felt his Ferrari take off, his last thought was anger, plain and simple, because he knew that he had spoiled that one perfect lap."
"His death has deprived us of a great champion - one that I loved very much. My past is scarred with grief; parents, brother, son. My life is full of sad memories. I look back and see the faces of my loved ones, and among them I see him."
"His death signified the passing of a certain approach. He was the last person who had the totally un-inhibited joy of driving a racing car."
"Quite seriously, I've never felt anything like the same about racing ever since. I nearly packed it up."
"I was at home in Monaco that Sunday. A friend of mine called from Zolder and said 'Gilles has had a big accident, and it doesn't look good at all.' So I phoned Joann, and shot up to her place very quickly. From then on it was chaos and disaster. You don't want to think about it."
"It was terrible when Gilles died. I cried that day and the next one too, even though I had to race... ...and I remember the feeling that we were all starting equal, from now. Villeneuve was gone. We all knew he had talent beyond our reach."
"The kids were just 8 and 10 years old and seemed to be doing much better than I expected. That first night they both went upstairs to bed, and later I went up to check on them. They were asleep. When I saw Melanie I started crying. She had a picture of her dad with her. She was holding it in her arms."
"[Gilles] was the fastest driver in the history of motor racing. .. But more important for me is that he was the most genuine person I have ever known."
""People often say, 'Ah, ultimate fighting is so violent,' but it's rooted in martial arts. Martial arts incarnate respect. You can't walk into a dojo and say to your sensei, 'Hey, salut tabarnac!' After every one of my fights I go and shake the hand of my opponent. I don't need to hate the other fighter to fight him well. It's a sport." **Interview with Isa Tousignant"
"A guy, a fighter is going to tell you that, ooh, he's not nervous, that he believes in himself 100%. I think he's a liar, or I think he's just not all there. Before [you] fight, you always have some little doubt about yourself, and I think that's what keeps you sharper. So yes, I was confident, but at the same time I was worried. I think that little feeling makes me sharper and makes me stronger."
"I am very glad you won that fight Matt, but I was not impressed by your performance and I look forward to fighting you in the near future"
"...and now, everybody, I want you to listen to me. I'm going to go to my knees, like that, and ask the UFC, my next match, to give me a world title shot. Please! I want the belt so bad! Please give it to me!"
"I knew I hurt him, because when I threw my first elbow... he said 'UGGH!'"
"I fought Hughes the first time, he beat me fair and square- fairly squarely, sorry."
"Today I'm doing boxing in the morning, tonight I'll do my sprints. Tomorrow it's jiu-jitsu in the morning, Olympic wrestling in the evening, and Friday it's Muay Thai and then techniques or swimming in the evening, something like that. Every day I've got a routine that enables me to diversify my training. In this sport the most important thing is to be as complete a fighter as possible."
"I went to a school where it was pretty rough - I'd get my clothes stolen, my cash. And at home life was pretty hard too. I had a difficult childhood, and I'm not saying that that's why I do ultimate fighting, but it helped shape my character."
"Hockey is an art. It requires speed, precision, and strength like other sports, but it also demands an extraordinary intelligence to develop a logical sequence of movements, a technique which is smooth, graceful and in rhythm with the rest of the game."
"Our hockey team consisted of boys seventeen and eighteen years old and I used to watch them play all the time on the outdoor rink. On this one day, I remember it was very cold and I was looking at the game while standing indoors with my back against a stove. The goalie was having trouble and the coach accused him of not doing his best. The goalie was mad and took his skates off. I rushed toward the coach and volunteered to take his place. There was no other goalie around, so I went in the net and played with them the rest of the season."
"My knees started to shake. In the dressing room that night, I was so nervous I couldn't tie my skates. Maurice Richard walked over and held out his hands. 'Look at them,' he said. 'They shake before a big game. You'll feel better when you get out on the ice.'"
"I was with the [Quebec] Citadelles. We had four defensemen. One couldn't skate backwards. Another couldn't turn to his left. The others were slow. It was a case of me having to go and get the puck when it was shot into our end because our defense couldn't get there fast enough. The more I did it, the farther I went. It seemed to be the best thing to do, so I did it and it worked." Plante continued, "Possession of the puck is number one. That's all I'm doing—getting control until one of my teammates comes along.""
"The shot by [Andy] Bathgate nearly ripped my nose off. I told Toe [Blake] I would only return if I could wear the mask, so there was no choice. He never wanted me to wear the mask because he thought it would make me too complacent."
"Goaltending is a normal job, sure. How would you like it in your job if every time you made a small mistake, a red light went on over your desk and 15,000 people stood up and yelled at you?*"
"I never pay attention to individual awards and I think that sometimes, too many people place too much value on them."
"Most kids today slap the puck. The backhand takes time to learn. It's not something you do naturally. But it is an effective shot."
"Everybody skated and played hockey. When I was five, Dad gave me a heavy box for Christmas. When I opened it, there was only a piece of wood. I was so mad! Then he gave me another box, and the skates were there. Dad used to build a rink behind our house every winter. That's where I started playing hockey. From the time I was seven, I used to sleep in all my equipment. That way, I was ready to play in the morning."
"It was tough going to school in the day and traveling to games at night. Sometimes we would get back about midnight. I never went to dances or hung around with girls. Hockey was the first thing."
"Individual records are nice to get, but before the season starts, you want to play to win the Stanley Cup!"
"It may be that everywhere else in the world, the ascendance of Flower Power began and ended in the sixties, Mr. Speaker, but in Montreal it began in 1971 and ended yesterday when Guy Lafleur retired. This is the end of a great era, Mr. Speaker. I am certain that the House and the entire population of Canada will join me in wishing him good luck in the future and thanking him for the unforgettable moments he has given us."