It’s hard for me to congratulate somebody after you just lose to them. I’m a winner. It’s not being a poor sport or anything like that. If somebody beats you up, you’re not going to congratulate them. That doesn’t make sense to me. I’m a competitor. That’s what I do. It doesn’t make sense for me to go over and shake somebody’s hand.
— Lebron James, after his team, Cleveland Cavaliers, lost the Eastern Conference Finals 2009 series to Orlando Magic.
Conrado de Quiros says it best in his article, “Winners”.
The second drives home the point that the competition is not an enemy, he is an ally despite the ferocity of his opposition, despite the obstacle he puts in your path. The first extends the point by showing that in the end, you are not really competing against other people, you are competing against yourself. You are not really trying to conquer others, you are trying to conquer yourself. That’s where the real gold is.
