A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.

Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.

Don't be a spectator, don't let life pass you by.

In the successful organization, no detail is too small to escape close attention.

When all is said and done, more is said than done.

You're never as good as everyone tells you when you win, and you're never as bad as they say when you lose.

I never learn anything talking. I only learn things when I ask questions.

You'll never get ahead of anyone as long as you try to get even with him.

A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.

Motivation is simple. You eliminate those who are not motivated.

I can't believe that God put us on this earth to be ordinary.

Coaching is nothing more than eliminating mistakes before you get fired.

A lifetime contract for a coach means if you're ahead in the third quarter and moving the ball, they can't fire you.

How you respond to the challenge in the second half will determine what you become after the game, whether you are a winner or a loser.

On this team, we're all united in a common goal: to keep my job.

If what you did yesterday seems big, you haven't done anything today.

Show me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I'll show you someone who has overcome adversity.

Do right. Do your best. Treat others as you want to be treated.

It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it.

I think everyone should experience defeat at least once during their career. You learn a lot from it.

If you're bored with life - you don't get up every morning with a burning desire to do things - you don't have enough goals.

The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely the one who dropped it.

No one has ever drowned in sweat.

If you burn your neighbors house down, it doesn't make your house look any better.

If he's got golf clubs in his truck or a camper in his driveway, I don't hire him.

If you try to fight the course, it will beat you.

It is a fine thing to have ability, but the ability to discover ability in others is the true test.

The problem with having a sense of humor is often that people you use it on aren't in a very good mood.

All an agent is going to do is buy things for a player, damage his eligibility, and make the player dependent on them.

An agent won't help you get drafted higher, won't make you win more games, and won't make you faster or stronger.

As a coach, one thing that used to frustrate me was one player would make a bad decision, and that's all you would read about in the papers all over the country. We have so many athletes do so many wonderful things for other people, and you never read about it.

At age nine, I got a paper route. Sixty-six papers had to be delivered to sixty-six families every day. I also had to collect thirty cents a week from each customer. I owed the paper twenty cents per customer per week, and got to keep the rest. When I didn't collect, the balance came out of my profit. My average income was six dollars a week.

At home I have a copy of the April 21, 1986, issue of 'Sports Illustrated.' I'm on the cover with the blurb, 'Can Lou Do It?' I'd just arrived at Notre Dame, and with spring football underway, I was the focal point of that week's coverage.

Don't run if you can walk. Don't walk if you can stand. Don't stand if you can sit. Don't sit if you can lie down.

Don't tell your problems to people: eighty percent don't care; and the other twenty percent are glad you have them.

Everyone goes through adversity in life, but what matters is how you learn from it.

Football coaches don't have real problems.

For victory in life, we've got to keep focused on the goal, and the goal is Heaven.

God answers prayers, but he doesn't always answer it your way.

God looks after children, animals and idiots.

Had I been a great athlete, I'm not sure I would have even gone into coaching. I may have turned out feeling that my life ended when my athletic career ended, as happens so many times with various athletes.

How do you know what it's like to be stupid if you've never been smart?

I believe - we all pay taxes. I'm happy to pay it, but I hate to have it abused, money wasted, no accountability. That's going to bother you.

I believe in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

I believe that having a spiritual life is so important in everybody's life.

I do know this: God does answer your prayers, but it's not always in the way you expect. God knows what's best for us, though, so there's no need to worry when things don't go how we originally wanted them to go.

I do think coaches need to get away from the game more, though. It's good for them.

I don't drink water, haven't drank water in 40 years.

I don't think there's been anything in the game of football in my lifetime that has changed college football more than redshirting.