Pierre de Coubertin quotes
1863 – 1937 · Third French Republic, late 19th–early 20th c. · Educator, historian, founder of the modern Olympic Movement
About Pierre de Coubertin
Born in Paris in 1863, Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (1894) and helped stage the first modern Games in Athens (1896). Influenced by classical ideals and British school sport, he argued that organized athletics could build character, discipline and civic responsibility.
Works: Writings on the Olympic movement and physical education
Quotes
“The important thing in life is not the victory but the contest; the essential thing is not to have won but to have fought well.”
Source: Speech at the Grafton Galleries, 24 July 1908 · Check the source
Disputed attributionWhat we know
- What is documented
- Coubertin delivered a notable statement at a British government reception on 24 July 1908 and later popularized the fuller English wording as the Olympic Creed.
- What remains uncertain
- The common English formulation is a later expansion; Ethelbert Talbot’s 19 July 1908 sermon supplied the immediate wording that inspired Coubertin, so strict authorship is debated.
The line captures the Olympic ideal: what matters is how one competes, not only the final score. It reframes sport as moral training — courage, fairness and effort — and was enshrined as the Olympic Creed after Coubertin’s 1908 remarks.