Champions invariably have fervent philosophical beliefs. Philosophy, in its simplest terms, means 'the love of wisdom.'

When I saw Kate Moss's champagne tower from her wedding, I was like, 'Okay, check - I want that. I want fireworks.'

As the World Champion, every day is pretty much like Valentine's Day for me - as far as hooking up with the ladies.

The truth is that I don't have a favourite goal. I remember important goals more than I do favourite goals, like goals in the Champions League where I had the opportunity to have scored in both finals I have played in. Finals in the World Cup or Copa del Rey are the ones that have stayed with me for longer or that I remember more.

My parents can't always travel with me because my little brother is a world champion on dirt bikes.

I saw 14 games in two and a half months at Churchill. It was what I really signed for. They were eyeing the championship and also playing the AFC Cup. So I am very thankful for Churchill, the coaching staff and the players.

I was thankful that TNA saw the potential in me and put me in a position to fulfill something like winning the World Heavyweight Championship.

I am thankful for this title of champion emeritus and proud I never lost my title.

At a certain point, when I let go and was done - when I stopped and could say I was blessed and thankful to be a champion, when I finally enjoyed life from this different perspective - that's when I healed. Letting go healed me.

Playing so many important games in a prestigious competition like the Champions League, I have experience to call upon, and I'm thankful for that. I hope the other players can feel more confident because of that.

Champagne, if you are seeking the truth, is better than a lie detector. It encourages a man to be expansive, even reckless, while lie detectors are only a challenge to tell lies successfully.

My old dance teacher, Jimmy Wilde, a former European ballroom dancing champion, was so sophisticated.

I'm a champion for personal differences. I have no sympathy for drug companies that can't figure out how to make personalized medicine. We could generalize that to 'All society should be much more personalized.'

My friends would say I'm not the person to go to for tea, a cuddle and sympathy, because I can't deliver. But if you want something sorted out and need a champion who will stand by your side, that is me.

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

We just want to win. That's the bottom line. I think a lot of times people may become content with one championship or a little bit of success, but we don't really reflect on what we've done in the past. We focus on the present.

Modesty should be typical of the success of a champion.

From my point of view, it is not the coach who becomes world champion, it is a team. Not just the players who played, but the whole squad, and also the team behind the team. Because if you want to achieve success, the whole team has to work perfectly, like a machine, and all the pieces of the puzzle need to fit together into one picture.

A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning.

As a child I was very involved with sports and I knew at age 9 that I wanted to be an Olympic champion.

Your dream, when you buy a sports franchise, is to win the championship, the Super Bowl.

Buying sports cars, going to expensive nightclubs, spraying people with champagne and things like that - what I learnt is that it wasn't for me, and, in fact, I feel pretty empty after doing that.

That's the one regret I have in all the years that I've played professional sports, that I didn't win a championship in the N.F.L. And that's why you play on any level of team sports: you want to win a championship as part of a team.

In sports, you simply aren't considered a real champion until you have defended your title successfully. Winning it once can be a fluke; winning it twice proves you are the best.