George Carlin - Lawrie McMenemy - Muhammad Ali - Muhammad Ali & Bob Gee - Floyd Paterson - Bruce Toperoff - George Plimpton - Stephen Brunt - Martin Amis - Fight Club 1999 - The Business 2005 - The Hustler 1961 - Revolver 2005 - Adulthood 2008 - Enemy of the State 1998 - Outside the Wall 1950 - Kansas City Confidential 1952 - Lights of New York 1928 - The Magnificent Seven 1960 - Le Samourai 1967 - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine TV - Star Trek: Voyager TV - George Foreman - Anatoly Karpov - Izaak Walton - Proverbs - Arthur Miller & Death of a Salesman 2006 - The Sopranos TV - William Shakespeare - Citizen Kane 1941 - Charles Bukowski - Snoop Dogg - The Gambler 2014 - Syrus - Lyndon B Johnson - Thomas Hardy - Bruce The Mouse Strauss - The War of the Roses 1989 - Niall O’Mahoney - Alex McLeish - David Pleat - Hunter S Thompson - George Crabb - Neville Chamberlain - Phenomenon: The Lost Archives TV - Ninja Bachelor Party 1991 - Panorama TV - Killing Eve TV - Losers 2019 - House of Cards US 2013-2018 - Joseph P Kennedy - Soren Kierkegaard - Jarhead 2005 - Billie Jean King - Bob Dole TV - Citizen Kane 1941 - George R R Martin -
Life is worth losing. George Carlin
When you are 4-0 up, you should never lose 7-1. Lawrie McMenemy
How can I lose with the stuff I use? Muhammad Ali, interview Harry Carpenter
I would like to say that I didn’t lose a thing up until this very moment. I haven’t lost one thing. O have gained a lot. Number one: I have gained a peace of mind. I have gained a peace of heart. I now know that I am in content with almighty God himself, whose proper name is Allah. Muhammad Ali
No-one knows what to say in the loser’s locker room. Muhammad Ali
‘Just lost a fight, that’s all,’ he [Ali] said after Joe Frazier had beaten him in Madison Square Garden a month after Bob Dylan’s 30th birthday. ‘There are more important things to worry about in life. Probably be a better man for it. News don’t last long.’ Bob Mee, Simply a Hero; other witnesses report Ali’s immediate post-fight response as less charitable
The losing fighter loses more than just his pride in the fight. He loses part of his future. He’s a step closer to the slum he came from. Floyd Patterson
But we don’t win eventually. Even if everything goes our way, we will lose the big one in the end. The Fix is in. The only intimations we have for the ultimate defeat are the knockdowns and bad decisions we suffer along the way. Positive thinking be damned, I loved the losers. Bruce Toperoff, ‘Ree-Jected’
I worry very much about the fellow who is going to lose, which is neither sophisticated nor practical ... Losing a prizefight has always seemed to me the ultimate disaster for an athlete. George Plimpton, ‘The Greatest is Gone’
But he doesn’t. The loser works up a ghastly grin for his opponent during the embrace; he accepts having his hair tousled with the heel of the other fellow’s glove. A J Liebling once offered an interesting explanation for this behaviour: that the fighter, whatever the outcome, always ‘feels good’ after it was over. ‘A fighter’s hostilities are not turned inward, like a Sunday tennis player’s or a lady MPs ... they come out naturally with his sweat, and when his job is done he feels good because he has expressed himself.’ ibid.
A fighter named Joe Grim, a second-rate boxer in the early part of the century whose forte was the ability to take punishment, would totter to the ropes at the end of a fight whatever his state, and call out to the crowd: ‘I am Joe Grim! I fear no man on earth!’ ibid.
They never asked Vinton Hammock to make a television commercial, never wanted his smiling face hawking barbecued chicken or lottery tickets. All anyone ever wanted Vint for was his fists and his chin and his willingness to get hit for a buck. He was a pug, an opponent, the guy who shows up with a carload of confreres in your home town, battling local heroes and usually losing. Then on again, a couple of hundred dollars richer, the next stop always the same. With little talent and few options, the road continues until, beaten a few too many times, they don’t want you even for losing. Stephen Brunt, ‘A Break for the Opponent’
As he is pounded almost senseless in the final round, with the crowd chanting ‘Shaun, Shaun, Shaun’, the referee again gives him the option to stop. But at the final bell, Vint Hammock is still standing, $1,000 richer, and Shawn O’Sullivan is a pro, an undefeated pro. He has won every round and earned at least 40 times more than his opponent for the same 18 minutes of work. ‘Believe me, we were concerned about this fight,’ Mike Trainer told disbelieving local reporters, who tabbed Hammock ‘a moving punching bag’. ibid.
Life is about losing. We’re all losing: lovers, fathers, mothers, hair, teeth, friends. Take life away. It’s too hard. It’s too difficult. We aren’t any good at it. Martin Amis, Money, BBC 2010
It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything. Fight Club ***** 1999 starring Edward Norton & Brad Pitt & Helena Bonham Carter & Meatloaf & Jared Leto et al, director David Fincher
The good thing about losing everything was there was nothing else left to lose. The Business 2005 starring Danny Dyer & Tamer Hassan & Geoff Bell & Georgina Chapman & Linda Henry & Roland Manookian & Camille Coduri & Andy Parfitt et al, director Nick Love
How can I lose? I mean how can I lose? The Hustler 1961 starring Paul Newman & Jackie Gleason & Piper Laurie & George C Scott & Myron McCormick & Murray Hamilton & Stefan Gierasch et al, director Robert Rossen, Fast Eddie
A new and cold reality dawns. A fact that we like to ignore. You cannot. The only prize they guarantee when you play this game is that you will lose. Revolver 2005 starring Jason Statham & Ray Liotta & Andre Benjamin & Vincent Pastore & Mark Strong & Terrence Maynard & Francesca Annis et al, director Guy Ritchie, Jake’s commentary
Never fuck with a guy with nothing to lose. Adulthood 2008 starring Noel Clarke & Adam Deacon & Scarlett Alice Johnson & Femi Oyeniran & Red Madrell & Jacob Anderson & Ben Drew & Wil Johnson & Nathan Constance & Adjoa Andoh & Madeleine Fairley et al, director Noel Clarke, geezer
Everything’s gone: wife, job, bank accounts, everything. Enemy of the State 1998 starring Will Smith & Gene Hackman & Jon Voight & Barry Pepper & Regina King & Ian Hart & Lisa Bonet & Jascha Washington & James LeGros & Jake Busey & Scott Caan & Jamie Kennedy & Jason Lee & Gabriel Byrne & Loren Dean et al, director Tony Scott, Robert to cab driver
You look lost; so am I. Outside the Wall 1950 starring Richard Basehart & Marilyn Maxwell & Signe Hasso & Dorothy Hart & Joseph Pevney & Lloyd Gough & Harry Morgan & John Hoyt, director Crane Wilbur, broad to Larry in bar
You’re a three-time loser, Tony. Kansas City Confidential 1952 starring John Payne & Coleen Gray & Lee van Cleef & Jack Elam & Preston Foster & Neville Brand & Dona Drake & Mario Siletti & Carleton Younget al, director Phil Karlson, bloke in mask
I’ve lived and I’ve loved and I’ve lost. Lights of New York 1928 starring Helene Costello & Cullen Landis & Mary Carr & Wheeler Oakman & Gladys Brockwell & Robert Elliott & Eugene Pallette et al, director Bryan Foy, Molly
We lost; we’ll always lose. The Magnificent Seven 1960 starring Steve McQueen & Yul Brynner & Charles Bronson & Robert Vaughn & Brad Dexter & Eli Wallach & Horst Buchholz & Vladimir Sokoloff et al, director John Sturges
I never lose. Lose completely. Le Samourai 1967 starring Alain Delon & Francois Perier & Nathalie Delon & Cathy Rosier & Jacques Leroy & Michael Boisrond & Robert Favart & Jean-Pierre Posier & Catherine Joudan et al, director Jean-Pierre Melville, Jef to card players
He [old Odo] doesn’t have to lose you. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine s5e22: Children of Time, New Odo to Kira
You cannot, or you will not? Logic! I hate logic! Star Trek: Voyager s5e13: Gravity, Noss to Tuvok
I tried every excuse in the world but when you lose, you got to be man enough. George Foreman
Only he who never plays never loses. Anatoly Karpov
No man can lose what he never had. Izaak Walton, The Compleat Angler, 1653
One man’s loss is another man’s gain. Early 16th century proverb
You win a few, you lose a few. Mid-20th century proverb
I think he’s very lost. Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman 2006 starring Xavarian Dramatic Society, Warren Able Theatre starring Daniel Valez & Amanda Magnavita & Michael Longo & Michael Maldonado et al, Linda of Biff
You’re just a bunch of losers! The Sopranos s5e10 Cold Cuts starring James Gandolfini & Lorriane Bracco & Edie Falco & Michael Imperioli & Dominic Chianese & Steven van Zandt & Tony Sirico & Robert Iler et al, aggressive mums at children’s football match, HBO 2004