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 OWENSAwards become corroded, friends gather no dust.
More Jesse Owens Quotes
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To a sprinter, the hundred-yard dash is over in three seconds, not nine or ten.
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It’s like having a pet dog for a long time. You get attached to it, and when it dies you miss it.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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When I passed the Chancellor he arose, waved his hand at me, and I waved back at him. I think the writers showed bad taste in criticizing the man of the hour in Germany.
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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.
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Life doesn’t give you all the practice races you need.
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Friendships born on the field of athletic strife are the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust.
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I had four gold medals, but you can’t eat four gold medals.
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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?
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I always loved running. It was something you could do by yourself and under your own power.
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People come out to see you perform and you’ve got to give them the best you have within you.
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Running is real. It’s all joy and woe, hard as diamond. It makes you weary beyond comprehension, but it also makes you free.
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Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust.
JESSE OWENS