Sir Alex Ferguson is a Scottish former football manager and player who managed Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is regarded by many players, managers, and analysts to be one of the greatest and most successful managers of all time. May his quotes inspire you to be a leader by becoming a master of self-discipline so that you live the life of your dreams.
1. “I do believe in fate” Sir Alex Ferguson
2. “I’ve never played for a draw in my life.” Sir Alex Ferguson
3. “I’m going to tell you the story about the geese which fly 5,000 miles from Canada to France. They fly in V-formation but the second ones don’t fly. They’re the subs for the first ones. And then the second ones take over – so it’s teamwork.” Sir Alex Ferguson
4. “I tell the players that the bus is moving. This club has to progress. And the bus wouldn’t wait for them. I tell them to get on board.” Sir Alex Ferguson
5. “The work of a team should always embrace a great player but the great player must always work.” Sir Alex Ferguson
6. “You can’t always come in shouting and screaming. That doesn’t work. No one likes to get criticised. But in the football dressing room, it’s necessary that you point out your players’ mistakes. I do it right after the game. I don’t wait until Monday, I do it, and it’s finished. I’m on to the next match. There is no point in criticising a player forever.” Sir Alex Ferguson
7. “If I have my health I can carry on.” Sir Alex Ferguson
8. “One of my players has been sent off several times. He will do something if he gets the chance – even in training. Can I take it out of him? No. Would I want to take it out of him? No. If you take the aggression out of him, he is not himself. So you have to accept that there is a certain flaw that is counterbalanced by all the great things he can do.” Sir Alex Ferguson
9. “I don’t like losing.” Sir Alex Ferguson
10. “If my parents were still alive, they would be very proud. They gave me a good start in life, the values that have driven me, and the confidence to believe in myself.” Sir Alex Ferguson
11. “Sometimes in football you have to hold your hand up and say, yeah, they’re better than us.” Sir Alex Ferguson
12. “There is no room for criticism on the training field. For a player – and for any human being – there is nothing better than hearing ‘well done’. Those are the two best words ever invented in sports. You don’t need to use superlatives.” Sir Alex Ferguson
13. “I like to tell different stories, and use my imagination. But generally, it is about our expectations, their belief in themselves, and their trust in each other.” Sir Alex Ferguson
14. “I think it’s important to work and I’m entitled to work. Some people do not want to work but I want to continue working.” Sir Alex Ferguson
15. “Only true champions come out and show their worth after defeat- and I expect us to do that.” Sir Alex Ferguson
16. “In the long run principles are just more important than expediency.” Sir Alex Ferguson
17. “If I were running a company, I would always want to listen to the thoughts of its most talented youngsters, because they are the people most in touch with the realities of today and the prospects for tomorrow.” Sir Alex Ferguson
18. “There’s a reason that God gave us two ears, two eyes, and one mouth. It’s so you can listen and watch twice as much as you talk. Best of all, listening costs you nothing.” Sir Alex Ferguson
19. “The experience of defeat, or more particularly the manner in which a leader reacts to it, is an essential part of what makes a winner.” Sir Alex Ferguson
20. “Very often our victories were squeaked out in the last few minutes after we had drained the life from our opponents. Games – like life – are all about waiting for chances and then pouncing on them.” Sir Alex Ferguson
21. “The medical scans of the players who hailed from climates warmer than Britain tended to reveal much healthier joints.” Sir Alex Ferguson
22. “We had a virus that infected everyone at United. It was called winning.” Sir Alex Ferguson
23. “For me, drive means a combination of a willingness to work hard, emotional fortitude, enormous powers of concentration and a refusal to admit defeat.” Sir Alex Ferguson
24. “I always felt that our triumphs were an expression of the consistent application of discipline.” Sir Alex Ferguson
25. “Once you bid farewell to discipline you say goodbye to success.” Sir Alex Ferguson
26. “There are plenty of attributes that separate the great leader from the good manager. Both may put their work before family and friends, survive on little sleep, endure a lifetime of red-eye flights. Look more closely and you will find that the great leader possesses an unusual, and essential, characteristic – he will think and operate like an owner, or a person who owns a substantial stake of the business, even if, in a financial or legal sense, he is neither.” Sir Alex Ferguson
27. “Losing is a powerful management tool so long as it does not become a habit.” Sir Alex Ferguson
28. “Part of the pursuit of excellence involves eliminating as many surprises as possible because life is full of the unexpected.” Sir Alex Ferguson
29. “You learn more from defeats than you do from victories.” Sir Alex Ferguson
30. “There’s a lot of satisfaction that comes from knowing you’re doing your best, and there’s even more that comes when it begins to pay off.” Sir Alex Ferguson
31. “A leader who arrives in a new setting, or inherits a big role, needs to curb the impulse to display his manhood.” Sir Alex Ferguson
32. “The way to win battles, wars and games is by attacking and overrunning the opposing side.” Sir Alex Ferguson
33. “I was always struck by the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo never chose to deface his body. It said a lot about his self-discipline.” Sir Alex Ferguson
34. “As you get older and more experienced, you start to think about how you allocate time.” Sir Alex Ferguson
35. “You can not lead by following.” Sir Alex Ferguson
