Life was very simple. My parents had come from the North of England, which is a fairly rugged, bleak, hard-working part of England, and so there was not the expectation of luxury.

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.

With a library you are free, not confined by temporary political climates. It is the most democratic of institutions because no one - but no one at all - can tell you what to read and when and how.

What is it that love does to a woman? Without it she only sleeps with it alone she lives.

Space and light and order. Those are the things that men need just as much as they need bread or a place to sleep.

The pedal is the soul of the piano.

How nature loves the incomplete. She knows If she drew a conclusion it would finish her.

I was never exposed to a great deal of racism, but the Chicago I grew up in was very, very segregated.

My own singing voice is not very good and I don't think that anybody really sings in their own voice.

I'm usually alone or asleep, at home.

The truly educated can listen to any view without losing their temper or self-confidence.

Thirst drove me down to the water where I drank the moon's reflection.