I didn't train to make the Olympic team until 1968. I simply trained for the moment. I never even imagined I would be an Olympic athlete. It always seemed to evolve.

When you reach that elite level, 90 percent is mental and 10 percent is physical. You are competing against yourself. Not against the other athlete.

I adapted an antiquated style and modernized it to something that was efficient. I didn't know anyone else in the world would be able to use it and I never imagined it would revolutionize the event.

Logic only tells us what's there

Is not about creating an object. It is about creating a perspective.

The difference between trying and doing is one leads to success, while the other leads to excuses.

Anger and hatred lead to fear; compassion and concern for others allow us to develop self-confidence, which breeds trust and friendship.

I'd like to have money. And I'd like to be a good writer. These two can come together, and I hope they will, but if that's too adorable, I'd rather have money.

A premature attempt to explain something that thrills you will destroy your perceptivity rather than increase it, because your tendency will be to explain away rather than seek out.

Boredom dismantles the mind, renders it superficial, out at the seams, saps it from within and dislocates it.

When my grandfather died, I started adopting some of his accents, to sort of remind myself of him. A homage. He was a war hero, and he was really great with his hands.

To give one's heart is to give all.

A preacher who doesn't believe he's that bad will attract people who don't think they're that bad. And that's bad.