Jul - Coubertin Speaks

Jul 31

What joy the splendid youth of Hellas would have felt in far-off times had it possessed the foil, that docile weapon, the supple and firm boxing glove, the coaxing bicycle, and above all the outrigger, that marvelous craft the very feel of which lends the rower wings!

After weighing the practical chances for the undertaking in New York and London, I asked immortal Greece for the dose of idealism required for this remarkable synthesis.

It is vital that athletics retain the noble and chivalrous quality which distinguished it in the past, so that it can continue to play the admirable educational role which the Greek masters attributed to it.

(The) modern Games go back, little by little, to their illustrious ancestors by the successive restoration of both the ceremonies and the symbolic acts which gave to the former so great and deep a meaning.

Social reform must be achieved through education. Our efforts must focus not on adults, but on children, in order to ensure our success.

O Sport, you are Joy! At your demand, bodies dance and eyes smile; blood races abundantly through the arteries … You enable the happy to fully taste their joie de vivre.

Truth does not exist in some sort of well from which it must be drawn, according to the fable. Truth resides at the center of the prism.

I would ask you to be convinced of just one thing: that your children have to play.

Olympism is a great, quiet piece of machinery. Its gears do not screech and its movement never stops.

Humanity is taking small steps toward a better world … what it achieves is extremely fragile.

The time has come to enter a new phase, and to restore the Olympiads to their original beauty.

Athleticism has a major role to play in bringing about social reforms. The athletic group is, in a way, the basic cell of democracy.

The crown of wild olive placed on the ancient victor's head remained a symbol of selflessness and the chivalrous spirit.

We are living in a grand age, for all around us we see the unexpected.

I wanted to give back to today’s world, in a sustainable way, an ancient institution, the principles of which were becoming relevant again.

In one of those mysterious glimpses that music sometimes gives us of lost worlds, for a few seconds those gathered at Paris perceived Greek antiquity in all its splendor.

To serve sport, a man must improve himself both physically and spiritually. Sport forces him to abide by a greater discipline …

A great principle that is too often ignored: the only way to change the man is to change the child.

If young men are active … they will want to contend, in the name of their country, against young men of other countries.

Men are not angels … But the truly strong man is one whose will is powerful enough to make himself … stop pursuing his desire … for domination …

Every institution, every creation, no matter how vibrant it may be, evolves in keeping with the customs and passions of the moment.

With the aid (of art), a worthy setting for the Games may be framed … in which athletes … (are) conscious of the special glory it confers upon them.

When all is said and done … it always comes down to the struggle, and the struggle is noble.

Ancient Olympia was a city of athletics, art, and prayer.

The rhythm of the Olympiads has entered the fabric of international life, and is now a regular factor in that life.

O Sport, you are Daring! The whole meaning of muscular effort lies in one word—to dare.

No doubt, low ambition and mean passions were present; there is no human assembly without them, no human institution which they do not infest. But despite them the whole result was something grandiose and strong …

A Message to American Youth: Dear friends, beyond the seas, I hope that you will work to strengthen what I have accomplished and to complete what I will leave unfinished.

Sport is an essential element in modern progress.

I am taking on this new work in the athletic spirit that we have cultivated together, in other words in the spirit of effort, the taste for risk, and the pursuit of the impartial ideal.

(Athletics) sow the seeds of observation, critical thinking, self-control, calculated effort, expenditure of energy, and a practical philosophy in the face of failure. These are qualities that this generation needs desperately.

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