Quotes from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love

Bill Courtney ·  240 pages

Rating: (65 votes)


“A leader or mentor gives credit to others when things go right, and accepts the blame when things go wrong.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love


“Coaching doesn’t start with X’s and O’s. It starts with believing that players win games and coaches win players.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love


“Each one of us has a comfort zone. The problem comes when we are unwilling to leave it.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love


“Don’t believe in the fate society chose for you. Instead, carve out a new fate for yourself.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love


“We should feel grateful instead of entitled. We have a moral obligation to give back.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love



“The true measure of a person’s character is how one handles one’s failures, not successes.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love


“A true legacy is established over a lifetime and relates to what a human being does for others, not for himself.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love


“As cruel as life might be at times, if you throw in the towel, which is what everyone will expect, then nothing good will happen and your life will fall apart. Be better than that!”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love


“In the marathon of life, there is no finish line.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love


“Nothing profound ever happens in your life when you remain in your comfort zone.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love



“There is one possession that can never be taken away as long as you will not allow it to be taken, and that is your word.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love


“You can’t be a successful leader or mentor until you have served. You can’t serve until you have stepped out of your comfort zone. And you can’t step out of your comfort zone unless you have character and keep your word.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love


“It is never too late to show true character.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love


“Grace is not something one possesses; instead, grace is something one receives.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love


“How did you act when all was not good? Did you rise to the challenge? Did you display grit, resilience, and integrity in your response? Character isn't about being perfect or always doing the right thing. Character is how you respond to your own failures. It’s when you screw up and life hits you in the mouth that you have an opportunity to reveal your inner strength.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love



“In our community, we have a duty to strengthen the weakest among us to build a better society.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love


“Serving and attempting to inspire others is a responsibility, not a choice.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love


“Every great thing that has been accomplished, and is yet to be accomplished, starts with a dream.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love


“The effectiveness of a leader is best judged by the actions of those he guides.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love


“If you define yourself by the title of coach or boss, you’ll never earn real trust from your players or employees.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love



“Recognize the remarkable individuals in your life who help you envision a world far beyond yourself.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love


“Many men beg for a job but have no clue what hard work really means.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love


“We have the ability to survive anything.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love


“You are more in control of your destiny than you have ever imagined.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love


“Who you are should not be defined by your achievements.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love



“Only by entering new and unfamiliar worlds can a person change society as well as self.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love


“Internal character: how you behave when no one is watching.”
― Bill Courtney, quote from Against the Grain: A Coach's Wisdom on Character, Faith, Family, and Love


Video

About the author

Bill Courtney
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“To brood.” Her tone dared him to deny it.
“I had a lot of calls to make.”
Ha. “You were brooding.”
“I was trying to find out if there was a spell that could teleport people into secure places.”
“You were brooding.”
“No one was able to help with that.”
“So the brooding continued.”
― Suzanne Wright, quote from Blaze


“Until you rest in the finality of the cross, you will”
― Bob George, quote from Classic Christianity: Life's Too Short to Miss the Real Thing


“The problem was the liars. They said she could do anything she set her mind to, they told her she should shoot for the moon because if she missed she’d be among the stars, they made movies tricking her into thinking she could achieve heroic things. All lies. Because she was born to answer phones in call centers, to carry bags to customers’ cars, to punch a clock, to measure her life in smoke breaks. To think otherwise was insane.”
― Grady Hendrix, quote from Horrorstör


“crime? I was in trouble because a man had said I was not clean there. He was lying. He only said that because he was not clean there and I told him we should shower before we fucked.”
― Chris Bohjalian, quote from The Guest Room


“He dug and ploughed over his piece of land, and then sowed some turnip seed. Soon the seed began to show itself above ground, and there grew on turnip immensely large and thick, which seemed as if it would never have done growing, but was a princess among turnips; and as there had never before been seen such a turnip, so also there has never been such another since.”
― Jacob Grimm, quote from Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales


Interesting books

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street
(15K)
The Penderwicks on G...
by Jeanne Birdsall
How to Keep Rolling After a Fall
(774)
How to Keep Rolling...
by Karole Cozzo
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End
(79.1K)
Being Mortal: Medici...
by Atul Gawande
Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay
(43.7K)
Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice
(21.6K)
Red Notice: A True S...
by Bill Browder
Three Dark Crowns
(35K)
Three Dark Crowns
by Kendare Blake

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.