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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

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
It all goes so fast, and character makes the difference when it’s close.
JESSE OWENS

Character Difference Fast
The only victory that counts is the one over yourself.
JESSE OWENS

Inspirational Oneself Victory Yourself
Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust.
JESSE OWENS

Friendship Reward
When I came back, after all those stories about Hitler and his snub, I came back to my native country, and I could not ride in the front of the bus. I had to go to the back door. I couldn’t live where I wanted. Now what’s the difference?
JESSE OWENS

Country Difference Live Myself Story
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 realized now that militancy in the best sense of the word was the only answer where the black man was concerned, that any black man who wasn’t a militant in 1970 was either blind or a coward.
JESSE OWENS

Best Black Man Myself Oppression Word
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
The black fist is a meaningless symbol. When you open it, you have nothing but fingers – weak, empty fingers. The only time the black fist has significance is when there’s money inside. There’s where the power lies.
JESSE OWENS

Black Fingers Money Power Time Yourself
Although I wasn’t invited to shake hands with Hitler, I wasn’t invited to the White House to shake hands with the President either.
JESSE OWENS

Hands Myself Sarcastic
The only bond worth anything between human beings is their humanness.
JESSE OWENS

Bond Human Relationship Worth
I had four gold medals, but you can’t eat four gold medals.
JESSE OWENS

Eat Gold Myself Reward
It dawned on me with blinding brightness. I realized: I had jumped into another rare kind of stratosphere – one that only a handful of people in every generation are lucky enough to know.
JESSE OWENS

Bright Enough Hands Kind Morning Myself People
I always loved running. It was something you could do by yourself and under your own power.
JESSE OWENS

Love Myself Power Run Sports Yourself
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
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

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