“Heroes have a rough time because they stand up when they ought not to, they speak when they ought not to; they always have to go that extra mile.”

Excellence isn’t achieved without inspiration and perspiration. You’ve got to have both.

I was a tiger, a good fighter, in good shape, but I was always nervous before boxing matches.

It’s great to reminisce about good memories of my past. It was enjoyable when it was today.

Everybody wants to be somebody. The thing you have to do is give them confidence they can. You have to give a kid a dream.

If something is worth doing, it is worth doing right. I take that one step further. You shouldn’t do anything unless you do it right.

Changing your nature is the hardest thing to do. But I discovered that you can be who you choose to be.

I want to keep fighting because it’s the only thing that keeps me out of the hamburger joints. If I don’t fight, I’ll eat this planet.

I hope to have one more boxing match at the age of 55. Given that demographic at the age of 55 to 65, you’ve got to make a statement with your life. Otherwise, you are just existing.

If you want to be obsessed to be your best, you must get ride of the negative things that are weighing you down.

Growing up poor, I didn’t even have a lunch to take to school.

I’ve seen George Foreman shadow boxing and the shadow won.

Evil lurks where disappointment lodges.

Being angry and resentful of someone is like letting them live rent-free in your head.

Nobody can do everything well, so learn how to delegate responsibility to other winners and then hold them accountable for their decisions.

Without appreciation and respect for other people, true leadership becomes ineffective, if not impossible.

Read the Bible; it is your roadmap through life.

There was a folk club there and a girl called Jill Doyle taught me the guitar, who happened to be Davey Graham’s sister. Davey Graham is one of my heroes and always has been.

Since I was seventeen I thought I might be a star. I’d think about all my heroes, Charlie Parker, Jimi Hendrix…

I was acting with all my childhood heroes: Meryl Streep, Saoirse Ronan, all of those amazing women.

I have lots of heroes: anyone and everyone who does whatever they can to leave the natural world better than they found it.

Physically, the Ventoux is dreadful. Bald, it’s the spirit of Dry: Its climate (it is much more an essence of climate than a geographic place) makes it a damned terrain, a testing place for heroes, something like a higher hell.

I believe you must live honestly and develop your abilities to the full. People who do this are the real heroes.

My heroines are part of me and my heroes are part of what I’d like to know.

Everybody starts by imitating their heroes. For me it was Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters.