As badly as I want a medal, I know there is a lot of luck involved in that. I want to put myself in position to be in the top three, give it my all and hope luck comes my way.

Progress is rarely a straight line. There are always bumps in the road, but you can make the choice to keep looking ahead.

Acknowledge all of your small victories. They will eventually add up to something great.

That's the thing about running: your greatest runs are rarely measured by racing success. They are moments in time when running allows you to see how wonderful your life it.

Don't try to rush progress. Remember -- a step forward, no matter how small, is a step in the right direction. Keep believing.

Do the work. Do the analysis. But feel your run. Feel your race. Feel the joy that is running.

There are a million reasons why you can't. Focus on the few reasons why you can.

The journey isn't always perfect, but always worth taking.

After we put my son to bed, my husband and I curl up and watch a movie or TV. That's when I finally put up my feet and have my glass of wine and a brownie.

Once you make the decision that you will not fail, the heart and the body will follow.

Racing is the fun part; it's the reward of all the hard work.

When you healed this tree, I felt like the leaves waved and made gentle sounds. Maybe the tree was saying thank you.

We must embrace the darkness as well as the light in order to truly understand life.

The world has white people and black people in it. Even in Harlem.

Every burden prepares you for eternity.

Film really is a collaborative art.

When you miss me just look up to the night sky and remember, I'm like a star; sometimes you can't see me, but I'm always there.

So many people shy away from using color in their homes for fear of getting it wrong...But ignorance and fear are no reason to live in a bland box.

If some Western politician claims he is in a position to use the normal Western methods to feed and clothe 1.2 billion Chinese, we would be happily prepared to elect him president of China.

Under bad manners, as under graver faults, lies very commonly an overestimate of our special individuality, as distinguished from our generic humanity.

Religious fanatics want people to switch off their own minds, ignore the evidence, and blindly follow a holy book based upon private 'revelation'.