Quotes from Alex Ferguson

Wayne is truly blessed. He doesn't just have ability, he has a fire inside him.

I feel sympathy for the working class lad. I've always championed about ticket prices and try to equate that to people's salaries.

If I have my health I can carry on. There will be a point when I do quit but I have absolutely no idea when that is.

Football management is such a pressurised thing - horseracing is a release. I'm also learning to play the piano - I'm quite determined - it's another release from the pressure of my job.

In England, it's a rare thing to see a player smoking but, all in all, I prefer that to an alcoholic. The relationship with alcohol is a real problem in English football and, in the short term, it's much more harmful to a sportsman. It weakens the body, which becomes more susceptible to injury.

Once you bid farewell to discipline you say goodbye to success

I've never played for a draw in my life.

There's a reason that God gave us two ears, two eyes and one mouth. It's so you can listen and watch twice as much as you talk. Best of all, listening costs you nothing.

If I were running a company, I would always want to listen to the thoughts of its most talented youngsters, because they are the people most in touch with the realities of today and the prospects for tomorrow.

In the long run principles are just more important than expediency.

You cannot lead by following.

Perhaps the most important element of each activity is to inspire a group of people to perform at their very best. The best teachers are the unsung heroes and heroines of any society,

The experience of defeat, or more particularly the manner in which a leader reacts to it, is an essential part of what makes a winner.

you learn more from defeats than you do from victories

Don't play the occasion, play the game.

I always felt that our triumphs were an expression of the consistent application of discipline.

Eleven Nobel laureates are not going to win the FA Cup.

When I was lost in my own thoughts, Cathy would always say, 'You're not listening to me.' She was right.

Origins should never be a barrier to success. A modest start in life can be a help more than a hindrance.

Watching others, listening to their advice and reading about people are three of the best things I ever did.

For me drive means a combination of a willingness to work hard, emotional fortitude, enormous powers of concentration and a refusal to admit defeat.

Sweeter after difficulties'.

One mark of a leader is his willingness to share information.

We had a virus that infected everyone at United. It was called winning.