Pele quotes:

I always had a philosophy which I got from my father. He used to say, 'Listen. God gave to you the gift to play football. This is your gift from God. If you take care of your health, if you are in good shape all the time, with your gift from God no one will stop you, but you must be prepared.'

The first World Cup I remember was in the 1950 when I was 9 or 10 years old. My father was a soccer player, and there was a big party, and when Brazil lost to Uruguay, I saw my father crying.

Wherever you go, there are three icons that everyone knows: Jesus Christ, Pele and Coca-Cola.

Every kid around the world who plays soccer wants to be Pele. I have a great responsibility to show them not just how to be like a soccer player, but how to be like a man.

Enthusiasm is everything. It must be taut and vibrating like a guitar string.

Over the years I've learnt to live with two persons in my heart. One is Edson, who has fun with his friends and family; the other is the football player Pele. I didn't want the name. 'Pele' sounds like baby-talk in Portuguese.

I don't believe there is such a thing as a 'born' soccer player. Perhaps you are born with certain skills and talents, but quite frankly it seems impossible to me that one is actually born to be an ace soccer player

The bicycle kick is not easy to do. I scored 1,283 goals, and only two or three were bicycle kicks.

Neymar is undoubtedly the best player in Brazil. He deserves to play in the best team in the world; next to the best player in the world, Messi.He is a very good player with great quality and a great future.I have no doubt. For me, Neymar is a genius.

Everything is practice.

Brazil eats, sleeps and drinks football. It lives football!

The level of football in England is the top. English football is the leader in the world.

When I was a footballer, I surrounded myself with footballers. We were all friends. But in Brasilia you don't know who your friends are. It can be a dangerous place.

I don't think I'm a very good businessman. I act too much with my heart.

The World Cup is a very complicated tournament - six games, seven if you make it to the final - and maybe if you lose one game you're out, even if you're the best.

I represent Brazil all over the world. Wherever I go I have to do my best, to not disappoint the Brazilian people. And that I've done.

You must respect people and work hard to be in shape. And I used to train very hard. When the others players went to the beach after training, I was there kicking the ball.

A lot of people, when a guy scores a lot of goals, think, 'He's a great player', because a goal is very important, but a great player is a player who can do everything on the field. He can do assists, encourage his colleagues, give them confidence to go forward. It is someone who, when a team does not do well, becomes one of the leaders.

The bicycle kick is not easy to do.

The biggest family in the world is football, because football has more associate - and FIFA, for example - has more associates than UNESCO.

At 17, I already had responsibility because I took care of my family, but in the football I was young; I wasn't experienced or the captain - I was just in the team.

Of course, my father was a soccer player. He used to play very good. Then, when I was young, eight or nine years old, ten years old, I just want to be like my father.

No doubt, I am earning more money with my endorsements than I ever earned playing soccer.

If you don't give education to people, it is easy to manipulate them.

Everything on earth is a game. A passing thing. We all end up dead. We all end up the same, don't we?

I always think that I would have become an actor if I hadn't been a soccer player.

I am constantly being asked about individuals. The only way to win is as a team. Football is not about one or two or three star players.

I've come to accept that the life of a frontrunner is a hard one, that he will suffer more injuries than most men and that many of these injuries will not be accidental.

All my life I thank God. My family was very religious.

I have to trust something that gives me power; I have to believe in something, but in my career I have a lot of moments I cannot explain with God.

Nelson Mandela was one of the most influential people in my life. He was my hero, my friend, and also a companion to me in our fight for the people and for world peace. Let us all continue his legacy with purpose and passion.

I think I've always had the shots. But in the past, I've suffered too many mental lapses. Now, I'm starting to get away from that and my mental discipline and commitment to the game are much better. I think I'm really taking a good look at the big picture. That's the difference between being around for the final or watching the final from my sofa at home.

For 20 years they have asked me the same question, who is the greatest? Pele or Maradona? I replay that all you have to do is look at the facts - how many goals did he score with his right foot or with his head?

When I was playing, they said soccer was a man's world and women should remain on the sidelines, all I can say is I'm glad I never had to go up against Mia Hamm

Everybody knows my life. I won a lot of tournaments and scored more than 1,000 goals, won three World Cups but I could not play in Olympic Games.

Everyone talks about the forwards, the players when they are scoring goals. But sometimes I look for the complete player not just the players who score but those who can pass.

Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do

Considerable research on successful soccer players and their developmental history, affirms that a good percentage of them have spent time in isolation, working on soccer skills.

If you ever want to be a decent player, you have to be able to use both feet without stopping to think about it.

When I retired, at that time I had a lot of proposals to play in Europe, England, Italy, Spain, Mexico. But I said no, after 18 years I want to rest, because I want to retire.

How much soccer training is it needed to become a top player? It depends on the efficiency of your training routine. Setting long and short-term goals is a must. When planning out a soccer training regime, one must strive for realistic and consistent program that will diminish specific weaknesses. Broad versatility of soccer skills is the Nirvana of every dedicated trainee.

Another reason why I am always close to the people, because the communication is very important. When I stopped to play soccer I continued to... I continued to work with UNICEF. I did a lot of work with UNESCO. We did a lot of charity programme and games.

Sport is something that is very inspirational for young people.

The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.

Pele doesn't die. Pele will never die. Pele is going to go on for ever.

Edson is the person that supports Pele. Edson is the base. Pele just comes and adds the face.

I played for Santos at 16, and we had an excellent team, so it helped a lot. And then I played for Brazil at the Maracana against Argentina. So I get more experience. This was one year before the World Cup, and it made a lot of difference.

In 1962, my injury wasn't because of violence; I just kicked the ball and it happened. And that was OK because Brazil won; I didn't have any difficulty in accepting that. I still got a medal because I'd played two games.

Lionel Messi is a wonderful player. Very skillful. Highly intelligent. He is not good in the air.

Brazil's always had great players, both at home and abroad, but we need to put all that talent together and mould a team out of it.

A penalty is a cowardly way to score.

I was really proud that I was named after Thomas Edison and wanted to be called Edson. I thought Pele sounded horrible. It was a rubbish name. Edson sounded so much more serious and important.

When I was minister of sport in Brazil, I tried to bring in a law that would make the chairmen of clubs reveal their accounts like other businesses. It was turned down, but I think it is an important story that will make a good film.

The World Cup is a very important way to measure the good players, and the great ones. It is a test of a great player.

When you play against dirty players or very tough players, it's easy to escape because you know what they're going to do. But when the player is tough but intelligent, it's much more difficult.

A team is not made up of isolated individuals. Always stay in the game. Don't be passive. Football is a team game. No one plays alone. Success depends on your whole team being a single unit.

Always when I come to the field, I try to do my best for other people.

Brazil is crazy about football. People, they wait for this moment, but this doesn't mean we are going to win the championship. That is the problem.

Brazil, always they buy from the United States. The first who was sell to the United States was football.

Enthusiasm is everything. It must...

Football is like a religion to me. I worship the ball, and I treat it like a god. Too many players think of a football as something to kick. They should be taught to caress it and to treat it like a precious gem.

Football is the best, is the biggest sport in the world.

Football is the only sport where you put people together, it doesn't matter if you are rich, or poor, or black, or white. It is one nation. This is the beauty of football.

George Best was the greatest player in the world.

Great genetics are not necessarily a precursor for success in the game. Brazilian Legend Pelé has often said that soccer stars are not born. Without proper soccer training a player will never reach his full potential. It is true that great speed would benefit someone who plays as a winger but would not be as useful for a goalkeeper. The greatest advantage of soccer is that it is not as discriminating as basketball or volleyball. There are no limitations when it comes to physique and it all comes down to individual soccer skills.

Great teams are not made up of many well-rounded players. Great teams are made up of a variety of players, each having their own strengths.

He is the greatest player in the world right now, without a doubt, he is the player who gives Brazilians the most joy. (on Ronaldinho)

His left foot is fantastic. It's like Mozart. God gave Freddy the gift to play soccer. If he is prepared mentally and physically, nobody will stop him. (on Freddy Adu)

I love people. I wanted to be with the people. I wanted to give something back what I get from football, because God gave everything to me.

I played futsal growing up in Baurd. In futsal you need to think quick and play quick so its easier for you when you move to normal football.

I sometimes lie awake at night and wonder why I am still so popular and, to be honest, I don't know.

I think he'll reach 1000 goals, but he'll never overtake my total. (on 40-year old Romario)

I think that France, Germany, Spain, Holland and England will join Brazil in the semi-finals.

I think the kids always they look forward to be always the big stars. Not only football, any profession. They want to be the best, singer, they want to be the best political, only the stars. But I think sometime the life give you opportunity, and long to be a big star, but you don't need to be a big star, you need to be beautiful, excellent man. Human being. This is the first.

I treat everybody the same. You know I love to be with people: the youngsters.

I want to do my best to make the people happy. I play with my heart for the sport.

I was born to play football, just like Beethoven was born to write music and Michelangelo was born to paint.

If I pass away one day, I am happy because I tried to do my best. My sport allowed me to do so much because it's the biggest sport in the world.

It was with a homosexual, I was barely 14 years old. But let's be fair, I wasn't the only one who did it. He was a man in Bauru that all our team visited.

Love is more important than what we can take...Please say with me three times-Love! Love! Love!

Most important is be a good man.

No individual can win a game by himself.

People always ask me: 'When is the new Pele going to be born?' Never. My father and mother have closed the factory.

Ronaldo has come through for the past two or three years and is the best in Europe. I think at the moment no doubt Ronaldo is the best player.

Success isn't determined by how many times you win, but by how you play the week after you lose.

The head talks to the heart and the heart talks to the feet.

There is always someone out there getting better than you by training harder than you.

When football stars disappear, so do the teams, and that is a very curious phenomenon. It is like in the theatre, in a play, where there is a great star. If the star is not well, the whole cast suffers.

When you control the ball you control the score

Yes, I have a lot of business interests. But I don't work for just anyone, and I choose the companies very carefully.

Yes, Ronaldinho is bigger than me. Exactly 4 centimeters.

We're not great friends, but I admire him. If he thinks he's the best player of the century, that's his problem.

To be a striker you need to be in good shape.