So, in a way I was hedging and saying that if the Olympic stuff doesn't work out at least I can be a lawyer.

To put it another way, Michael Jordan was a gym rat.

I think he had a wake-up call. It's a different kind of race, and I think maybe he didn't take it quite as seriously as he might have, but you can bet he learned a lot of lessons.

You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can't know what's coming.

I admire runners older than I - they are now my heroes. I want to be like them as I grow older.

You have to know your body. It's part of the beauty of the training process, and once you've determined how much your body and mind can take, you can then begin to reach your potential.

Running a marathon is just like reading a good book. After a while you're just not conscious of the physical act of reading.

Yes, winning the gold medal was undoubtedly the biggest day of my career - mostly because I won the way I had prepared to run it. It was a totally satisfying experience.

A good athlete always mentally replays a competition over and over, even in victory, to see what might be done to improve the performance the next time.

Why couldn't Pheidippides have died at 20 miles?

Be willing to move forward and find out what happens next.

The secrets of success are getting started and being persistent.

Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.

Dont test me, Second guess me, Protest me, You will DISAPEAR! (East Jesus of Nowhere)

Writing is not an end in itself but life transmuted into radiance.

Sometimes I think what I write is funny in its quiet way.

Crises in themselves are highly educational.

Mediocrity in poets has never been tolerated by either men, or gods, or booksellers.

A person's taste is as much his own peculiar concern as his opinion or his purse.

To be perfectly original one should think much and read little, and this is impossible, for one must have read before one has learnt to think.

People working together in a strong community with a shared goal and a common purpose can make the impossible possible.