winning isn't everything

winning isn't everything

A phrase downplaying the importance of winning, often as an attempt at consolation when someone has lost some competition. I know you're bummed out about losing the big game, but winning isn't everything. After all, you played really well, even though your team didn't win. When you think of how many top professional athletes have had trouble with the law or have struggled with debt, it's a powerful reminder that winning isn't everything.
See also: everything, winning
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • (something) isn't everything
  • money, winning, etc. isn't everything
  • money isn't everything
  • You can’t win ’em all
  • You can’t win them all
  • you can't win 'em all
  • you can't win them all
  • (you) can't win them all
  • can’t win em all
  • can't win them all
References in periodicals archive
"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing, that is the reason I play and play to win.
Teach children that winning isn't everything in life.
Otherwise, 'Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing' would easily replace 'do for others what you want them to do for you.'
Remember what Vince Lombardi was quoted as saying, "Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing!" Well, come to find out, he really didn't say that.
That incident made me realize that winning isn't everything in life.
Since it knew it couldn't win a rigged election, and since the motto of both of the major Bangladesh political parties seems to be "winning isn't everything, it is the only thing" (falsely attributed to Vince Lombardi), the BNP chose not to run in spite of the fact that the polls showed it was very popular and surely could have won a sizeable chunk of seats.
Winning isn't everything, but victory in sports is one of the biggest boosters of national pride.
But sometimes winning isn't everything: public confidence in our democratic principles and processes is.
In the world of professional sports, winning isn't everything, it's the only thing.
But winning isn't everything. For everyone who plays, the reward also comes in the form of self-confidence, sportsmanship, and teamwork.
THEY say that winning isn't everything and the taking part what counts and I bet the boys down in Ballyragget wish now they had heeded those wise words.
We all know, or should know, that winning isn't everything," (http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article147718764.html) she wrote in a separate statement to the Herald.
THE legendary American football coach Vince Lombardi was credited with coining the phrase 'Winning isn't everything it's the only thing'.
Winning isn't everything when it comes to party control.
The culture-obsessed, slogandriven Stuart Lancaster regime was therefore probably just what was required next, but in the words of one such banner: winning isn't everything, it is the only thing.