Avery Brundage

“Sport must be amateur or it is not sport. Sports played professionally are entertainment.”

“The very foundation of the Olympic Movement rests on the amateur code.”

“The Olympic Games must be kept purely amateur. They must not be used for political or commercial purposes.”

“We are concerned with the joyous struggle of the athletes, not with the conflict of nations.”

“The Olympic Movement is a 20th century religion, a religion with universal appeal which incorporates all the basic values of other religions, a modern, exciting, virile, dynamic religion.”

“Every civilized person must recoil in horror at the barbarous criminal intrusion of terrorists into peaceful Olympic precincts.”

“In ancient times the Olympiads were stopped when there was a war. Now we have the modern Olympics. We must stop the wars for the Olympiads.”

“The games must go on.”

“The important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part. The essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.”