“If he’s having a good day and running the right race, nobody can beat Frank Shorter at 10,000 meters, nobody except me.”

Somebody may beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it.

I can endure more pain then anyone you’ve met. That’s why I win, because I can endure more pain.

Don’t let fatigue make a coward of you.

As far as being a coach, it’s always fascinated me. It’s a greater responsibility than most people give it credit for because you’re dealing with people.

What kind of crazy nut would spend two or three hours a day just running?

A race is a work of art.

If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

Kids made fun of me because I was a slow learner, because I was hyperactive, because of a lot of things. Running gave me confidence.

A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more.

The idea of losing the three at Hayward Field and the idea of losing my specialty to someone who wasn’t running his specialty. Mostly, the idea of losing in front of my people. They haven’t forgotten about me.

To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.

Don’t be afraid to give up the good for the great.

No one will ever win a 5,000-meter by running an easy two miles. Not against me.

I run to see who has the most guts.

Running gives me confidence.

Some people create with words or with music or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, ‘I’ve never seen anyone run like that before.’ It’s more than just a race, it’s a style. It’s doing something better than anyone else. It’s being creative.

The media cause more problems than they do good.

The money pigs of capitalist democracy: Money has made slaves of us. Money is the curse of mankind. It smothers the seed of everything great and good. Every penny is sticky with sweat and blood.

The life my people want is a life of freedom. I have seen nothing that a white man has, houses or railways or clothing or food, that is as good as the right to move in the open country and live in our fashion.

I never pretended to have a great voice. It works and I can carry a tune. If you have a good song, that’s about all that’s required.

When the venerable pontiff’s hour has come, a Roman of good age shall be elected, of whom it will be said that he dishonored his throne though he held it long, with virtuous acts.

A good joke will sell quicker than a good poem, and, measured in sweat and blood, will bring better remuneration.

Keep good company, read good books, love good things and cultivate soul and body as faithfully as you can.

Salt is like good-humor, and nearly every thing is better for a pinch of it.