“I was built this way for a reason, so I’m going to use it.”

You can have fun and do well. Just let loose a bit.

You can still be very good at what you do and have fun.

We strive for greatness.

As a kid growing up, I was never like, ‘I want to go to the Olympics,’ so having to pass on 2012 because I was too young didn’t bother me at all.

I always say my biggest competitor is myself because, whenever I step out there on the mat, I’m competing against myself to prove that I can do this and that I am very well trained, prepared for it.

In the morning, I usually get up between 7:40 A.M. and 7:45 A.M., and then I’ll brush my teeth, do my hair, and just throw on my leotard and my clothes and go to the kitchen.

My mom, Nellie, got me a rosary at church. I don’t use it to pray before a competition. I’ll just pray normally to myself, but I have it there in case.

Most athletes get intimidated once they see how many fans are out there, but it almost calms me down in a way because I think of it as a fun way to show off what I’ve been working on.

I guess I just have really tough skin.

I started gymnastics when I was six years old. I was at day care, and they took us on a field trip to a gym club, Bannon’s Gymnastix in Houston, and that’s how I got started.

I’m the first Simone Biles.

One of my favourite things to do is compete for a crowd. It’s just really fun for me.

It doesn’t even matter if I don’t win a self-gold – after every meet, I have pizza. Pepperoni pizza.

I don’t fear what will happen, but you just get ahead of yourself, like, ‘Oh my gosh, I wish it would happen now.’

Father served in the Air Force for 22 years.

Growing up, it was kind of a struggle being small, since everyone would make fun of you – except for when it came to hide and seek: that’s the only advantage I ever had!

Things are never as bad as they seem.

Some nights I wear nothing but the thought of you, and I am breathtaking.

Revolutions are spiritual acts. They appear first in people, then in politics and the economy. New people form new structures. The transformation we want is first of all spiritual; that will necessarily change the way things are.

She seemed glad to see me when I appeared in the kitchen, and by watching her I began to think there was some skill involved in being a girl.

Trusting no man as his friend, he could not recognize his enemy when the latter actually appeared.

I want to look otherworldly, like I was made in a factory.

I saw opportunity appear in an ugly six-spindle shake machine … and grabbed it.

His conclusion was that things were not always what they appeared to be. The cub’s fear of the unknown was an inherited distrust, and it had now been strengthened by experience. Thenceforth, in the nature of things, he would possess an abiding distrust of appearances.