Jim Valvano Quotations

Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul.

My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.

If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special.

And if you see me, smile and maybe give me a hug. That's important to me too.

I can't tell you what an honor it is, to even be mentioned in the same breath with Arthur Ashe. This is something I certainly will treasure forever.

People think I have courage. The courage in my family are my wife Pam, my three daughters, here, Nicole, Jamie, LeeAnn, my mom, who's right here too.

I'll also tell you that five hundred thousand people will die this year of cancer. And I'll also tell you that one in every four will be afflicted with this disease, and yet, somehow, we seem to have put it in a little bit of the background.

But try if you can to support, whether it's AIDS or the cancer foundation, so that someone else might survive, might prosper, and might actually be cured of this dreaded disease.

Time is very precious to me. I don't know how much I have left and I have some things that I would like to say. Hopefully, at the end, I will have said something that will be important to other people too.

Be a dreamer. If you don't know how to dream, you're dead.

I asked a ref if he could give me a technical foul for thinking bad things about him. He said, of course not. I said, well, I think you stink. And he gave me a technical. You can't trust em.

I just got one last thing, I urge all of you, all of you, to enjoy your life, the precious moments you have. To spend each day with some laughter and some thought, to get you're emotions going.

How do you go from where you are to where you wanna be? And I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal. And you have to be willing to work for it.

I will thank God for the day and the moment I have.

We need your help. I need your help. We need money for research. It may not save my life. It may save my children's life. It may save someone you love. And it's very important.

No matter what business you're in, you can't run in place or someone will pass you by. It doesn't matter how many games you've won.

And I'm going to work as hard as I can... for cancer research and hopefully, maybe, we'll have some cures and some breakthroughs. I'd like to think I'm going to fight my brains out to be back here again next year for the Arthur Ashe recipient. I want to give it next year!

Now I'm fighting cancer, everybody knows that. People ask me all the time about how you go through your life and how's your day, and nothing is changed for me.

I talked about my family, my family's so important.

Now, I look at where I am now and I know what I wanna to do. What I would like to be able to do is to spend whatever time I have left and to give, and maybe some hope to others.

To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special.

To me there are three things everyone should do every day. Number one is laugh. Number two is think -- spend some time time in thought. Number three, you should have your emotions move you to tears. If you laugh, think and cry, that's a heck of a day.

The very first time you stood in the locker room to give a pep talk. That's a special place, the locker room, for a coach to give a talk.

How do you go from where you are to where you want to be? I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal, and you have to be willing to work for it.

Take time every day to laugh, to think, to cry.

Conceive the inconceivable - then accomplish it.

The difference between Namath and me is that when you make the money he makes, they say you're ruggedly handsome. When you make the money I make, they say you have a big nose. (On resembling Joe Namath)

Know where you have been, where you are now and where you want to be

I made a ridiculous statement when I first went to North Carolina State. I said I know basketball down there was like life or death. It was very wrong. It's more important.

We have a very intelligent team. I've had clubs that when you tell a guy to go back door, he leaves the gym. Or you tell the team you're going to have a closed practice and eight guys don't show up.

Why shouldn't I milk it? We're an agricultural institution.

A person really doesn't become whole, until he becomes a part of something that's bigger than himself.

Enjoy your life, the precious moments you have.

All really successful coaches have a system.

Are you saying that the assistant had the answers all along, he just wasn't telling anyone?

Nothing can happen if it's not first a dream. If you have someone with a dream, if you have a motivated person with a goal and a vision, if you have someone that never gives up, who has great hope, Anything can happen.

Never give up...never ever give up.

The greatest gift you can give your children is to believe in them.

Each day, be sure to laugh, to think, to cry; that's one heckuva full day...

Every day ordinary people do extra-ordinary things!

If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day.

Spend each day with some laughter and some thought, to get you're emotions going.

We win or the alumni bash in our teeth. (On the dental plan at NC State)

There are 86,400 seconds in a day. It's up to you to decide what to do with them.

Coaches are basically schizophrenic. We are pessimistic to the press and among fellow coaches, but to our team, we are the eternal optimists.

It's so important to know where you are.

You need to have a dream, a goal, and you must be willing to work hard.

Other people go to the office. I get to coach. I know I've been blessed.

To find the unlimited scope of human possibility, look within yourself.

Never give up! Failure and rejection are only the first step to succeeding.

Life changes when you least expect it to. The future is uncertain. So, seize this day, seize this moment, and make the most of it.

To spend each day with some laughter and some thought, to get your emotions going. To be enthusiastic every day and as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, 'Nothing great could be accomplished without enthusiasm,' to keep your dreams alive in spite of problems whatever you have. The ability to be able to work hard for your dreams to come true, to become a reality.

Don't give up. Don't ever give up.

In every single day, in every walk of life, ordinary people do extraordinary things. Ordinary People accomplish Extraordinary things.

Nothing has ever been accomplished in any walk of life without enthusiasm, without motivation, and without perseverance.

We should do three things every day of our life. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is to think, we should spend some time in thought. And, number three is you should have your emotions moved to tears.