I had four gold medals, but you can’t eat four gold medals.
JESSE OWENSAlthough I wasn’t invited to shake hands with Hitler, I wasn’t invited to the White House to shake hands with the President either.
More Jesse Owens Quotes
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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.
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It all goes so fast, and character makes the difference when it’s close.
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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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I let my feet spend as little time on the ground as possible. From the air, fast down, and from the ground, fast up.
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The lives of most men are patchwork quilts. Or at best one matching outfit with a closet and laundry bag full of incongruous accumulations. A lifetime of training for just ten seconds.
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To a sprinter, the hundred-yard dash is over in three seconds, not nine or ten.
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The road to the Olympics, leads to no city, no country. It goes far beyond New York or Moscow, ancient Greece or Nazi Germany. The road to the Olympics leads — in the end — to the best within us.
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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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A lifetime of training for just ten seconds.
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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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For a time, at least, I was the most famous person in the entire world.
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Find the good. It’s all around you. Find it, showcase it and you’ll start believing in it.
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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.
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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.
JESSE OWENS






