--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A penalty is a cowardly way to score." description: "\"A penalty is a cowardly way to score.\" — Pele" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33e/pel-6980_cowardly_a-penalty-is-a-cowardly-way-to-score-306_3068509.png" --- # A penalty is a cowardly way to score. ![“A penalty is a cowardly way to score.” quote by Pele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33e/pel-6980_cowardly_a-penalty-is-a-cowardly-way-to-score-306_3068509.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33e/pel-6980_cowardly_a-penalty-is-a-cowardly-way-to-score-306_3068509.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33e/pel-6980_cowardly_a-penalty-is-a-cowardly-way-to-score-306_3068509.png) > “A penalty is a cowardly way to score.” [Pele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Winning by penalizing opponents avoids true skill and undermines sportsmanship **In simple terms:** Cheating defeats the spirit of competition Key Takeaway Play fairly and respect rules Themes sports ethics competition Mood determined reflective Type sports ethical When to use this quote - coaching clinics - team meetings - referee training Key Concepts fair play integrity Questions to Reflect On - What values guide your competitive behavior? - How can teams reinforce integrity? A Different Perspective Pressure to win can tempt rule‑bending ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cowardly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cowardly/) [Cowardly Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cowardly-way-4906317/) [Penalty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/penalty/) [Penalty Cowardly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/penalty-cowardly-5180073/) [Score](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/score/) [Soccer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soccer/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [It is wicked to withdraw from being useful to the needy, and cowardly to give way to the worthless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/it-is-wicked-to-withdraw-from-being-useful-to-the-needy-and-cowardly/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Always keep your composure. You can't score from the penalty box; and to win, you have to score.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/always-keep-your-composure-you-can-t-score-from-the-penalty-box-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All the f------ experts in America, everybody who thinks they know about soccer, they can all look at the score tonight and let's see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bradley/all-the-f-experts-in-america-everybody-who-thinks-they-know-about/) [Michael Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bradley/) > [Well we got nine and you can't score more than that](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-robson/well-we-got-nine-and-you-can-t-score-more-than-that/) [Bobby Robson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-robson/) > [Whatever happens, there are always things you could have done better. You score two goals and you usually feel you could have done better.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-cantona/whatever-happens-there-are-always-things-you-could-have-done-better/) [Eric Cantona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-cantona/) > [The last player to score a hatrick in a cup final was Stan Mortenson. He even had a final named after him, the Matthews…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrie-mcmenemy/the-last-player-to-score-a-hatrick-in-a-cup-final-was-stan-mortenson/) [Lawrie McMenemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrie-mcmenemy/) > [...let's talk about soccer scores. There are a few things that people all around the world need to admit to themselves. Trade restraints slow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/let-s-talk-about-soccer-scores-there-are-a-few-things-that-people-all/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [I can remember certain Manchester United defeats the way most people remember family bereavements or great political events. The four-nil drubbing by Barcelona, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-dunne/i-can-remember-certain-manchester-united-defeats-the-way-most-people/) [Tom Dunne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-dunne/) > [Remember I've seen a video tape of a Scotland-England match and I've seen him miss a chance from five yards. It was against England…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/berti-vogts/remember-i-ve-seen-a-video-tape-of-a-scotland-england-match-and-i-ve/) [Berti Vogts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/berti-vogts/) > [The first World Cup I remember was in the 1950 when I was 9 or 10 years old. My father was a soccer player,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pel/the-first-world-cup-i-remember-was-in-the-1950-when-i-was-9-or-10/) [Pele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pel/) > [When football stars disappear, so do the teams, and that is a very curious phenomenon. It is like in the theatre, in a play,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pel/when-football-stars-disappear-so-do-the-teams-and-that-is-a-very/) [Pele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pel/) > [When I was playing, they said soccer was a man's world and women should remain on the sidelines, all I can say is I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pel/when-i-was-playing-they-said-soccer-was-a-man-s-world-and-women/) [Pele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pel/) > [The world, and the great and free United States in particular, is full of narrow-minded, ignorant, moronic, bigoted, cowardly, self-righteous, anemic, pig-headed, stupid, puritanical,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-atherton/the-world-and-the-great-and-free-united-states-in-particular-is-full/) [Gertrude Atherton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-atherton/) > [Poor human nature, what horrible crimes have been committed in thy name! All wars are wars among thieves who are too cowardly to fight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/poor-human-nature-what-horrible-crimes-have-been-committed-in-thy/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [A love to Christ which is so cowardly and selfish that it is unwilling to proclaim by a public confession its faith in Him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbott-eliot-kittredge/a-love-to-christ-which-is-so-cowardly-and-selfish-that-it-is/) [Abbott Eliot Kittredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbott-eliot-kittredge/) ## More by Pele > [“People argue between Pele or Maradona. Di Stéfano is the best, much more complete.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pel/people-argue-between-pele-or-maradona-di-st-fano-is-the-best-much/) [Pelé](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pel/) > [We're not great friends, but I admire him. If he thinks he's the best player of the century, that's his problem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pel/we-re-not-great-friends-but-i-admire-him-if-he-thinks-he-s-the-best/) [Pele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pel/) > [I sometimes lie awake at night and wonder why I am still so popular and, to be honest, I don't know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pel/i-sometimes-lie-awake-at-night-and-wonder-why-i-am-still-so-popular/) [Pele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pel/) > [When I was playing, they said soccer was a man's world and women should remain on the sidelines, all I can say is I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pel/when-i-was-playing-they-said-soccer-was-a-man-s-world-and-women/) [Pele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pel/) > [When football stars disappear, so do the teams, and that is a very curious phenomenon. It is like in the theatre, in a play,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pel/when-football-stars-disappear-so-do-the-teams-and-that-is-a-very/) [Pele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pel/) > [I treat everybody the same. You know I love to be with people: the youngsters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pel/i-treat-everybody-the-same-you-know-i-love-to-be-with-people-the/) [Pele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pel/) > [Enthusiasm is everything. It must be taut and vibrating like a guitar string.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pel/enthusiasm-is-everything-it-must-be-taut-and-vibrating-like-a-guitar/) [Pele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pel/) > [The bicycle kick is not easy to do. I scored 1,283 goals, and only two or three were bicycle kicks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pel/the-bicycle-kick-is-not-easy-to-do-i-scored-1-283-goals-and-only-two/) [Pele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pel/) > [Lionel Messi is a wonderful player. Very skillful. Highly intelligent. He is not good in the air.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pel/lionel-messi-is-a-wonderful-player-very-skillful-highly-intelligent/) [Pele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pel/) > [Everybody knows my life. I won a lot of tournaments and scored more than 1,000 goals, won three World Cups but I could not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pel/everybody-knows-my-life-i-won-a-lot-of-tournaments-and-scored-more/) [Pele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pel/) > [If I pass away one day, I am happy because I tried to do my best. My sport allowed me to do so much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pel/if-i-pass-away-one-day-i-am-happy-because-i-tried-to-do-my-best-my/) [Pele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pel/) > [Sport is something that is very inspirational for young people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pel/sport-is-something-that-is-very-inspirational-for-young-people/) [Pele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pel/) > [Love is more important than what we can take...Please say with me three times-Love! Love! Love!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pel/love-is-more-important-than-what-we-can-take-please-say-with-me-three/) [Pele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pel/) > [Pele doesn't die. Pele will never die. Pele is going to go on for ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pel/pele-doesn-t-die-pele-will-never-die-pele-is-going-to-go-on-for-ever/) [Pele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pel/) > [George Best was the greatest player in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pel/george-best-was-the-greatest-player-in-the-world/) [Pele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pel/) [Explore all 96 Pele quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pel/) ## More Cowardly quotes > [A love to Christ which is so cowardly and selfish that it is unwilling to proclaim by a public confession its faith in Him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbott-eliot-kittredge/a-love-to-christ-which-is-so-cowardly-and-selfish-that-it-is/) [Abbott Eliot Kittredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbott-eliot-kittredge/) > [Poor human nature, what horrible crimes have been committed in thy name! All wars are wars among thieves who are too cowardly to fight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/poor-human-nature-what-horrible-crimes-have-been-committed-in-thy/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [The world, and the great and free United States in particular, is full of narrow-minded, ignorant, moronic, bigoted, cowardly, self-righteous, anemic, pig-headed, stupid, puritanical,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-atherton/the-world-and-the-great-and-free-united-states-in-particular-is-full/) [Gertrude Atherton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-atherton/) > [It is no less vain to wish death than it is cowardly to fear it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/it-is-no-less-vain-to-wish-death-than-it-is-cowardly-to-fear-it/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [Not to be cowardly when it comes to our own actions! Not to leave them in the lurch!--The sting of conscience is indecent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/not-to-be-cowardly-when-it-comes-to-our-own-actions-not-to-leave-them/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [To go behind a man's hall-door is mean, cowardly, unfair opposition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-woodhull/to-go-behind-a-man-s-hall-door-is-mean-cowardly-unfair-opposition/) [Victoria Woodhull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-woodhull/) > [You're obliged to pretend respect for people and institutions you think absurd. You live attached in a cowardly fashion to moral and social conventions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octave-mirbeau/you-re-obliged-to-pretend-respect-for-people-and-institutions-you/) [Octave Mirbeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octave-mirbeau/) > [ “\[...\] god's cowardly, it doesn't want to know or take responsibility for what it's doing.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-aylett/god-s-cowardly-it-doesn-t-want-to-know-or-take-responsibility-for/) [Steve Aylett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-aylett/) > [“I’m a coward.” “No—” “Don’t deny what we both know to be true.” Richard put his hand on Jonathan’s shoulder. “You are worn down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sondra-allan-carr/i-m-a-coward-no-don-t-deny-what-we-both-know-to-be-true-richard-put/) [Sondra Allan Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sondra-allan-carr/) > [We must be neither cowardly nor rash but courageous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/we-must-be-neither-cowardly-nor-rash-but-courageous/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Blessed be those happy ages that were strangers to the dreadful fury of these devilish instruments of artillery, whose inventor I am satisfied is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/blessed-be-those-happy-ages-that-were-strangers-to-the-dreadful-fury/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [There is a time when to avoid trouble is to store up trouble, and when to seek for a lazy and a cowardly peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barclay/there-is-a-time-when-to-avoid-trouble-is-to-store-up-trouble-and-when/) [William Barclay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barclay/) > [“You may say suicide is a loss of control and cowardly. Foolish as it may sound, I am prepared to argue.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-remy/you-may-say-suicide-is-a-loss-of-control-and-cowardly-foolish-as-it/) [Dee Remy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-remy/) > [“You are a man. You are an average, lazy, boring, cowardly, woman-fearing man. Without me, that's what you would have kept on being, ad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/you-are-a-man-you-are-an-average-lazy-boring-cowardly-woman-fearing/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [I believe that women are many different types of people. There are brave women, there are cowardly women, there are altruistic women, there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin-2/i-believe-that-women-are-many-different-types-of-people-there-are/) [George R. R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin-2/) [Browse all 330 Cowardly quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cowardly/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A penalty is a cowardly way to score.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pele" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pel/a-penalty-is-a-cowardly-way-to-score/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cowardly" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pel/a-penalty-is-a-cowardly-way-to-score/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33e/pel-6980_cowardly_a-penalty-is-a-cowardly-way-to-score-306_3068509.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33e/pel-6980_cowardly_a-penalty-is-a-cowardly-way-to-score-306_3068509.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33e/pel-6980_cowardly_a-penalty-is-a-cowardly-way-to-score-306_3068509.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A penalty is a cowardly way to score.” — Pele", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Pele", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A penalty is a cowardly way...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pel/a-penalty-is-a-cowardly-way-to-score/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pel/a-penalty-is-a-cowardly-way-to-score/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```