30 Best Jim Valvano Quotes To Inspire You to Never Give Up

Check out the best Jim Valvano quotes that will inspire you to chase your dreams, believe in yourself, and never give up.

Jim Valvano, nicknamed “Jimmy V,” was an American college basketball coach, sports broadcaster, and motivational speaker who inspired millions with his passion, courage, and resilience.

Born in 1946 in Queens, New York, Valvano rose from a determined point guard at Rutgers University to a legendary coach who led NC State to one of the most unforgettable NCAA championship victories in 1983.

Beyond his coaching achievements, Jimmy V is remembered for his fearless fight against cancer and his powerful speech at the 1993 ESPY Awards.

His speech, filled with humor, heart, and unshakable strength, urged the world to “laugh, think, and cry” every day, and most importantly, to “never give up.”

In his final days, he co-founded the V Foundation for Cancer Research, which continues to fund life-saving cancer research and inspire people to fight with hope.

Here are the most famous Jim Valvano quotes that inspire you to live with heart, purpose, and laughter.

Top 10 Jim Valvano Quotes

1. “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.” — Jim Valvano

   

2. “Conceive the inconceivable – then accomplish it.” — Jim Valvano

   

3. “Be a dreamer. If you don’t know how to dream, you’re dead.” — Jim Valvano

   

4. “The greatest gift you can give your children is to believe in them.” — Jim Valvano

   

5. “You need to have a dream, a goal, and you must be willing to work hard.” — Jim Valvano

   

6. “Never give up! Failure and rejection are only the first step to succeeding.” — Jim Valvano

   

7. “If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day.” — Jim Valvano

   

8. “What enables us to achieve our greatness contains the seeds of our destruction.” — Jim Valvano

   

9. “There are 86,400 seconds in a day. It’s up to you to decide what to do with them.” — Jim Valvano

   

10. “My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.” — Jim Valvano

    

Best Jimmy V Quotes On Life, Dreams, & Success

1. “Enjoy your life, the precious moments you have.” — Jim Valvano
2. “To find the unlimited scope of human possibility, look within yourself.” — Jim Valvano
3. “Know where you have been, where you are now and where you want to be.” — Jim Valvano
4. “A person really doesn’t become whole, until he becomes a part of something that’s bigger than himself.” — Jim Valvano
5. “Nothing has ever been accomplished in any walk of life without enthusiasm, without motivation, and without perseverance.” — Jim Valvano
6. “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.” — Jim Valvano
7. “In every single day, in every walk of life, ordinary people do extraordinary things. Ordinary People accomplish Extraordinary things.” — Jim Valvano
8. “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.” — Jim Valvano
9. “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.” — Jim Valvano
10. “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.” — Jim Valvano

Famous Coach Jim Valvano Quotes

1. “I’m not happy to be here. I’m just happy to be!” — Jim Valvano
2. “I will thank God for the day and the moment I have.” — Jim Valvano
3. “And if you see me, smile and maybe give me a hug. That’s important to me too.” — Jim Valvano
4. “I set out very calculatedly to become known. The only thing I maybe miscalculated was how easy it would be.” — Jim Valvano
5. “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.” — Jim Valvano
6. “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.” — Jim Valvano
7. “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.” — Jim Valvano
8. “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.” — Jim Valvano
9. “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.” — Jim Valvano
10. “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.” — Jim Valvano

Conclusion

Which of these Jim Valvano quotations and sayings inspired you the most? If we missed one of your favorites, share it with us in the comments below!

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