Best Lionel Messi Quotes

The best decisions aren't made with your mind, but with your instinct.

A lion doesn't concern himself with the opinions of the sheep.

I think my desire to always get better, [is a trait that accounts for my success], to always want more, to always be my top critic, and accepting the good and the bad.

Barcelona is my life, they have brought me to where I am today, I could not leave, I don't want to leave. My heart stays with Barcelona.

Sometimes you have to accept you can't win all the time.

Something deep in my character allows me to take the hits and get on with trying to win.

Money is not a motivating factor.

Every year I try to grow as a player and not get stuck in a rut. I try to improve my game in every way possible. But that trait is not something I've worked on, it's part of me.

I start early, and I stay late, day after day after day.

My motivation comes from playing the game I love. If I wasn't paid to be a professional footballer, I would willingly play for nothing.

There are more important things in life than winning or losing a game.

I never think about the play or visualize anything. I do what comes to me at the moment. Instinct. It has always been that way.

Goals are only important if they win games.

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.

Every player in my position wants to score goals.

It's scoring goals that's great, whether against Brazil or anybody else.

I like to score goals but I also like to have friends among the people I have played with.

I have changed nothing, my style of play is still that of a child. I know that above all it is my job and that I should approach it in another way, but one must not lose sight of the fact that football is a game. It is imperative one plays to amuse oneself, to be happy. That is what children do and I do the same thing.

The truth is my idea has been to always stay at Barcelona and see out the rest of my career here. Like I always say, one doesn't know what can happen in the future, but if it were up to me to decide, I would stay at Barcelona for the rest of my career.

At Barca we trained every day with the ball. I hardly even took a step running without a ball at my feet.

Whether it's a friendly match, or for points, or a final, or any game - I play the same. I'm always trying to be my best, first for my team, for myself, for the fans, and to try and win.

One of the Arsenal players came up to me afterwards and said it had been an honor to be on the same pitch as me. I thought, My God, that is a great thing to say when your team has just lost.

The Barcelona youth program is one of the best in the world. As a kid, they teach you not to play to win, but to grow in ability as a player.

I go out and do the best I can in each game, and I don't think about the fouls other players will commit or whether I might be injured. It only does you harm to worry about those things.

It's not so easy for us when we play teams who have a different mindset, like Chelsea or Inter Milan, because they have the intention of trying to stop us rather than playing a game that is more attractive for the spectators to enjoy.

I never had any problems with my height. I was always the smallest kid, at school and in my teams.

I want to concentrate on winning things with Barcelona and Argentina. Then if people want to say nice things about me when I have retired, great. Right now, I need to concentrate on being part of a team - not just on me.

I prefer to win titles with the team ahead of individual awards or scoring more goals than anyone else. I'm more worried about being a good person than being the best football player in the world. When all this is over, what are you left with? When I retire, I hope I am remembered for being a decent guy.

When the year starts the objective is to win it all with the team, personal records are secondary.

It's crazy to say that after three games [without a goal] I was in crisis. I do not care whether I score or not, what matters is that the team wins and continues to do so.