“No one will ever win a 5,000-meter by running an easy two miles. Not against me.”

I don’t just go out there and run. I like to give people watching something exciting.

You cannot propel yourself forward by patting yourself on the back.

Nobody likes tainted victories.

I like to make something beautiful when I run … it’s style. It’s doing something better than anyone else. It’s being creative.

Somebody may beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it.

I can endure more pain then anyone you’ve met. That’s why I win, because I can endure more pain.

Don’t let fatigue make a coward of you.

As far as being a coach, it’s always fascinated me. It’s a greater responsibility than most people give it credit for because you’re dealing with people.

What kind of crazy nut would spend two or three hours a day just running?

A race is a work of art.

If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

Kids made fun of me because I was a slow learner, because I was hyperactive, because of a lot of things. Running gave me confidence.

A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more.

The idea of losing the three at Hayward Field and the idea of losing my specialty to someone who wasn’t running his specialty. Mostly, the idea of losing in front of my people. They haven’t forgotten about me.

If he’s having a good day and running the right race, nobody can beat Frank Shorter at 10,000 meters, nobody except me.

To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.

It is difficult to speak adequately or justly of London. It is not a pleasant place; it is not agreeable, or cheerful, or easy, or exempt from reproach. It is only magnificent.

I’m easy to work with, not a pushover, but I respond to criticism and find it inspiring.

Castles in the air – they are so easy to take refuge in. And so easy to build too.

The job of the evangelist is never easy.

I’m pretty easy going, I think.

It’s not an easy choice, but that’s OK. Easy doesn’t equal good. Difficulty doesn’t equal bad. It’s just life, is all.

It is not easy to measure the ocean, but we can be measured by it, confront it, and be in it.

Hopefully we can be a band who has a career like U2 or Aerosmith or somebody like that but that’s very far and few between. We’re happy to be where we are at now, so it’s a gift, you gotta just keep pushing forward.