“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.”

No matter how hard you train, Somebody will train harder. No matter how hard you run, Somebody will run harder. No matter how hard you want it, Somebody will want it more, I am Somebody.

A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways they’re capable of understanding.

Every once in a while I think, ‘What am I doing out here running, busting myself up? Life could be so much easier. The other guys are out having fun, doing other things, why not me?’

Having a true faith is the most difficult thing in the world. Many will try to take it from you.

You have to wonder at times what you’re doing out there. Over the years, I’ve given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.

What I like most about track is the feeling I get after a good run.

You said I was weak. You said I couldn’t do it. Thank you. You gave me everything I needed to prove you wrong.

Some people create with words or with music or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run.

I’ve been in international competition, and now I know what the big boys can do. You don’t go out and just run. There’s an offense and a defense.

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.

In a democracy, there should be representation from every field.

Take rest; a field that has rested gives a beautiful crop.

Anyone who sees and paints a sky green and fields blue ought to be sterilized.

Whenever you interact with people, don’t be there primarily as a function or a role, but as the field of conscious presence. You can only lose something that you have, but you cannot lose something that you are.

An understanding partner is a must on a cricket field, somebody who shares your beliefs and supports you along each journey.

I never was a good scorer in this field.

What captains want is players who move well in the field.

In my dreams and visions, I seemed to see a line, and on the other side of that line were green fields, and lovely flowers, and beautiful white ladies, who stretched out their arms to me over the line, but I couldn’t reach them no-how. I always fell before I got to the line.