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I wanted no part of politics. And I wasn’t in Berlin to compete against any one athlete. The purpose of the Olympics, anyway, was to do your best. As I’d learned long ago from Charles Riley, the only victory that counts is the one over yourself.

Jesse Owens

It’s like having a pet dog for a long time. You get attached to it, and when it dies you miss it.
JESSE OWENS

Animal Attachment Death Dog Time
After I came home from the 1936 Olympics with my four medals, it became increasingly apparent that everyone was going to slap me on the back, want to shake my hand or have me up to their suite. But no one was going to offer me a job.
JESSE OWENS

Hands Home Job Myself Oneself Reward
The only bond worth anything between human beings is their humanness.
JESSE OWENS

Bond Human Relationship Worth
I decided I wasn’t going to come down. I was going to fly. I was going to stay up in the air forever.
JESSE OWENS

Decision Forever Myself Stay
He was constantly on me about the job that I was to do and the responsibility that I had upon the campus. And how I must be able to carry myself because people were looking.
JESSE OWENS

Appearance Himself Job Myself People Responsibility See
I had four gold medals, but you can’t eat four gold medals.
JESSE OWENS

Eat Gold Myself Reward
To a sprinter, the hundred-yard dash is over in three seconds, not nine or ten.
JESSE OWENS

Run Sports Time
We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.
JESSE OWENS

Dedication Determination Discipline Dream Effort Reality
Friendships born on the field of athletic strife are the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust.
JESSE OWENS

Athletics Born Friendship Gold Reality
I wanted no part of politics. And I wasn’t in Berlin to compete against any one athlete. The purpose of the Olympics, anyway, was to do your best. As I’d learned long ago from Charles Riley, the only victory that counts is the one over yourself.
JESSE OWENS

Athlete Learning Myself Politics Purpose Victory
The battles that count aren’t the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself – the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us – that’s where it’s at.
JESSE OWENS

Battle Gold Oneself Reward Struggle
I fought, I fought harder, but one cell at a time, panic crept into my body, taking me over.
JESSE OWENS

Body Fight Hard Time Myself Time
If you don’t try to win you might as well hold the Olympics in somebody’s back yard. The thrill of competing carries with it the thrill of a gold medal. One wants to win to prove himself the best.
JESSE OWENS

Best Himself Oneself Reward Thrill Win Yourself
The only victory that counts is the one over yourself.
JESSE OWENS

Inspirational Oneself Victory Yourself
It was bad enough to have toppled from the Olympic heights to make my living competing with animals. But the competition wasn’t even fair. No man could beat a race horse, not even for 100 yards.
JESSE OWENS

Animal Bad Enough Live Man Myself Race
Running is real. It’s all joy and woe, hard as diamond. It makes you weary beyond comprehension, but it also makes you free.
JESSE OWENS

Beyond Freedom Joy Reality Run

I wanted no part of politics. And I wasn’t in Berlin to compete against any one athlete. The purpose of the Olympics, anyway, was to do your best. As I’d learned long ago from Charles Riley, the only victory that counts is the one over yourself.

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I wanted no part of politics. And I wasn’t in Berlin to compete against any one athlete. The purpose of the Olympics, anyway, was to do your best. As I’d learned long ago from Charles Riley, the only victory that counts is the one over yourself.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Jesse Owens Quotes