Pierre de Coubertin quotes:

The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.

May joy and good fellowship reign, and in this manner, may the Olympic Torch pursue its way through ages, increasing friendly understanding among nations, for the good of a humanity always more enthusiastic, more courageous and more pure.

The day when a sportsman stops thinking above all else of the happiness in his own effort and the intoxication of the power and physical balance he derives from it, the day when he lets considerations of vanity or interest take over, on this day his ideal will die.

Holding an Olympic Games means evoking history.

In our view the Olympic idea involves a strong physical culture supplemented on the one hand by mobility, what is so aptly called 'fair play', and on the other hand by aesthetics, that is the cultivation of what is beautiful and graceful.

Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy found in effort, the educational value of a good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles.

The Olympic Games are the quadrennial celebration of the springtime of humanity.

The Olympic Games are for the world and all nations must be admitted to them.

Racial distinctions should not play a role in sport.

The Olympic Games were created for the exhaltation of the individual athlete.

The Olympic Movement gives the world an ideal which reckons with the reality of life, and includes a possibility to guide this reality toward the great Olympic Idea.

Sport is the habitual and voluntary cultivation of intensive physical effort.

Success comprises in itself the seeds of its own decline and sport is not spared by this law.

Festival of the impassioned efforts and manifold ambitions of all forms of youthful activity of every generation springing from the threshold of life.

In the Olympic Oath, I ask for only one thing: sporting loyalty.

The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.

In the name of all competitors, I promise that we will take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by all the rules which govern them in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honour of our teams.

The Olympic Spirit is neither the property of one race nor of one age.

The important thing in life is not victory but combat; it is not to have vanquished but to have fought well.

If he is knocked out of the competition, he encourages his brothers with his words and presence.

All sports must be treated on the basis of equality.

Olympism... exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, mind and will.

The Games were created for the glorification of the individual champion.

The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle.

Sport must be the heritage of all men and of all social classes.

The important thing in life is not to triumph but to compete.

Sport is part of every man and woman's heritage and its absence can never be compensated for.

For each individual, sport is a possible source for inner improvement.

Sport must be accessible to working class youth.

All sports for all people.

A better world could be brought about only by better individuals.

A country can truly call itself sporting when the majority of its people feel a personal need for sport.

For each individual, sport is a possible source for inner improvement

For me sport was a religion... with religious sentiment.

I therefore think that I was right in trying from the outset of the Olympic revival to rekindle a religious awareness.

In no way can sport be considered a luxury object.

Olympism is a doctrine of the fraternity between the body and the soul.

Olympism is not a system - it is a state of mind. This state of mind has emerged from a double cult: that of effort and that of Eurythmy - a taste of excess and a taste of measure combined.

Swifter, higher, stronger.

The essential thing in life is not so much conquering as fighting well.

The essential thing is not to have conquered, but to have fought well.

The heart of our problem is the selfishness in our heart. The human spirit soars with hope when lifted by an encouraging word. The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle.

The important thing is that all stages from adolescent to mature man, work is done to spread the sporting spirit.

The Olympic flag [] has a white background, with five interlaced rings in the centre: blue, yellow, black, green and red []. This design is symbolic; it represents the five continents of the world, united by Olympism, while the six colours are those that appear on all the national flags of the world at the present time.

The Olympic Games are not just ordinary world championships but a quadrennial festival of universal youth. . . celebrated by each succeeding generation as it arrives on the threshold of adulthood.

The six colors, including the white background, represent the colors of all the world's flags ... this is a true international emblem.

The strength of Olympism comes to it from that which is simply human, hence worldwide is its essence.

Winning medals wasn't the point of the Olympics. It's the participating that counts.