COMPETITION QUOTES

quotations about competition

Competition quote

It is in vain for us to devise schemes by which competition can be put out of civilized life. Competition is the condition of life.

LYMAN ABBOTT

Problems of Life: Selections from the Writings of Rev. Lyman Abbott


In previous ages a nation's life and culture could be protected to some extent by the growth of armies in national competition. Today we must abandon competition and secure cooperation. This must be the central fact in all our considerations of international affairs; otherwise we face certain disaster.

ALBERT EINSTEIN

"The Real Problem is in the Hearts of Man", New York Times Magazine, June 23, 1946


I feel sorry for those who live without competition ... fat, dumb, and unhappy in cradle-to-grave security.

DONALD M. KENDALL

How to Manage


The only competition worthy of a wise man is with himself.

WASHINGTON ALLSTON

Memoirs and Essays


If you can't win, make the fellow ahead of you break the record.

EVAN ESAR

20,000 Quips & Quotes


Competition is merely the absence of oppression.

FRÉDÉRIC BASTIAT

Economic Harmonies


Competition, founded upon the conflicting interests of individuals, is in reality far less productive of wealth and enterprise than co-operation, involving though it does the constant apparent sacrifice of the individual to the common interests.

ROBERT HUGH BENSON

A City Set on a Hill


When a man can do better than everyone else in the same walk, he does not make any very painful exertions to outdo himself. The progress of improvement ceases nearly at the point where competition ends.

WILLIAM HAZLITT

Characteristics


Competition is warfare. Mostly it is played by prescribed rules--there is a sort of Geneva Convention for competition--but it's thorough and often brutal.

ANDREW S. GROVE

The New Yorker, Oct. 1997


Competition is a lot like cod liver oil. First it makes you sick. Then it makes you better.

AMERICAN MICRO DEVICES

advertising headline, 1996


I found that competition was supposed to be a menace and that a good manager circumvented his competitors by getting a monopoly by artificial means.

HENRY FORD

My Life and Work


Taste the relish to be found in competition -- in having to put forth the best within you to match the deeds of risk-taking, hard-working competitors.

HENRY J. KAISER

Reader's Digest, 1950


Competitive people are always trying to usurp the position of the "one-up" person. They cannot stand for anyone to win "over" them, for it puts them in a one-down position in their head. Instead of saying, "I lost the game," they say, "I am an inferior person." Therefore, they must win in order to not be inferior to anyone.

HENRY CLOUD

Changes That Heal: Four Practical Steps to a Happier, Healthier You


Never compete with someone who has nothing to lose.

BALTASAR GRACIAN

The Art of Worldly Wisdom


Healthy competition keeps you alert--keeps you driven: You'll notice things that you might not have noticed before. When everyone else is in gear, there's not time for you to sit in neutral.

PHIL MARTIN

Play Hard--Have Fun: A Philosophy for Life


Strip away all the assumptions about what competition is supposed to do, all the claims in its behalf that we accept and repeat reflexively. What you have left is the essence of the concept: mutually exclusive goal attainment (MEGA). One person succeeds only if another does not. From this uncluttered perspective, it seems clear right away that something is drastically wrong with such an arrangement. How can we do our best when we are spending our energies trying to make others lose--and fearing that they will make us lose?

ALFIE KOHN

No Contest: The Case Against Competition


Free competition is worth more to society than it costs.

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES, JR.

Vegelahn v. Guntner, 1896


Competition is dangerous, socially offensive, considered right and normal, because you are brought up to that value system. What kind of competition did Jesus have? What kind of competition is there in your body? Suppose your brain said, "I'm the most important organ!" And the liver said, "I am. And I want a Free Enterprise system!" You'd rot away in a month if every organ of your body went out for itself.

JACQUE FRESCO

interview with Larry King, 1974


Competition brings out the best in products and the worst in people.

DAVID SARNOFF

attributed, Dynamics of Leadership In Public Service: Theory and Practice


You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your tricks of war.

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

attributed, The 100 Greatest Heroes