I couldn't disappoint people. I did not want to fail and exhaust myself, because I was the kind of runner who trained so little that I couldn't race again within another 10 days.

The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.

My athleticism was really the core to social acceptance, because in those days the overwhelming number of students came from more of a public school background than I did.

Just because they say it's impossible doesn't mean you can't do it.

My concentration was really on getting to university and becoming a doctor. My parents let me know that school marks were important. Achievement was something which came by hard work.

Our concept of a family holiday was going to a guest house in the Lake district or Wales, where walking was part of the holiday.

Sport is not about being wrapped up in cotton wool. Sport as about adapting to the unexpected and being able to modify plans at the last minute. Sport, like all life, is about taking risks.

We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves

To move into the lead means making an act requiring fierceness and confidence. But fear must play some part...no relaxation is possible, and all discretion is thrown into the wind.

Sport, like all of life, is about taking your chances.

No longer conscious of my movement, I discovered a new unity with nature. I had found a new source of power and beauty, a source I never dreamt existed.

And his father has the gall to think I’d seduce a kid who uses Clearasil instead of aftershave!

She resented a universe that forced her to fabricate cover stories for its more inexplicable vagaries.

That's maturity-when you realize that you've finally arrived at a state of ignorance as profound as your parents.

I really like the idea of banality and repetition being used to generate the image, which are simple and unobstructed and not captivated by composition.

Never drink if you've got any work to do. Never.

After all, without understanding yourself, what basis have you for right thinking?

The place was a familiar as breath but as far from his life now as the moon.

Hopefully, I will emerge more shining. If I have that good fortune, if I am blessed in that way - and I do feel I am in the middle of the blessing - then I have faith my service will be greater.

Send the light of your own loving ahead of you. When you get there, the loving will have prepared a place for you. Be kind, gentle, and enjoy the journey.

If a script is good, you are 10 steps into the part just reading it. But my choices are not all down to my taste. It is about people you have worked with before.