“God determines how fast you’re going to run; I can help only with the mechanics.”

You can forget about recovery. There is no recovery – and there’s not going to be any recovery. Recovery is an impossibility.

Both the liberal and the conservative are in agreement: it is all very well to let the people alone, but only if they do what you want them to do.

There is no bad weather, just soft runners.

The world, then, no longer resembles the one that gave rise to the original insight. Soon, a person’s situation is so at odds with the world as it really is that a crisis develops, and he or she must seek a new metaphor for explanation and guidance.

Only simple ideas can be held by large groups of people. Commonly held ideas are almost always dumbed down until they are practically lies… and often dangerous ones.

I think people can handle 150 to 200 miles a week. But something has to give somewhere. If he’s a student, how’s he going to study? He may be at the age of chasing and courtship, and that’s an important form of sport and recreation, too.

A teacher is never too smart to learn from his pupils. But while runners differ, basic principles never change.

A man’s wealth can…also be measured by what he doesn’t have and doesn’t want. When he wants little, he is a rich man.

So it’s a matter of fitting your current practices to fit the event and the individual. See, what’s good for you might not be worth a darn for the next guy.

Once vast numbers of people have come to believe the lie, they adjust their own behavior to bring themselves into sync with it, and thereby change the world itself.

People are upset. They know something is wrong. But they don’t know what. The real explanation is too complicated. They won’t sit still for it. So, they look for scapegoats – the rich…the banks…the Chinese.

The entire world economy rests on the consumer; if he ever stops spending money he doesn’t have on things he doesn’t need — we’re done for.

That is the problem with age and wisdom—it merely shows you how helpless you are. The wiser you become, the more you learn to keep your mouth shut, until eventually the grave silences you forever.

Several of my critics have said, ‘Bowerman just tacks up a piece of paper in the locker room and turns his runners loose.’ They’re partially right. I do give the athletes a relatively free rein and for good reason. One of my principles is? ‘Don’t overcoach.’

Harness the Power of Accelerated Failure – the faster you fail, the faster you succeed.

There’s no such thing as bad weather, just soft people.

All children in some form or another have genius; the trick is to bring it out in them.

Sometimes a little brain damage can help.

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few; and let those be well-tried before you give them your confidence.

Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life.

It’s important in life if you don’t give a shit. It can help you a lot.

If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them.

If you don’t plan your time, someone else will help you waste it.

There is no better way to thank God for your sight than by giving a helping hand to someone in the dark.