Runner's World Quotes of the Day (Updated 8/26/07)

I subscribe to receive quotes of the day from Runner's World... I just thought I'd share some of my favorites so far (I'm sure I'll add to the list as the quotes keep coming):

"With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable." Sir Thomas Foxwell Buxton, British abolitionist

"What counts in the battle is what you do once the pain sets in." John Short

"I've always taken the philosophy that you have to dream a little in this sport, if you stay in your comfort zone, you're not going to do anything special." Deena Drossin, America's top women's distance runner

"You have a choice. You can throw in the towel, or you can use it to wipe the sweat off of your face." Gatorade

"Never, never, never quit!" Winston Churchill, British prime minister during World War II

"The greatest pleasure in life is doing the things people say we cannot do." Walter Bagehot, English social scientist (I am a very competitive person, so I love this quote!)

"Run like hell and get the agony over with." Clarence DeMar, 7-time Boston Marathon winner

"True sport is always a duel: a duel with nature, with one's own fear, with one's own fatigue, a duel in which body and mind are strengthened." Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Russian poet (This quote is absolutely perfect!)

"I like running because it's challenge. If you run hard, there's the pain - and you've got to work your way through the pain. You know, lately it seems all you hear is 'Don't overdo it' and 'Don't push yourself.' Well, I think that's a lot of bull. If you push the human body, it will respond." Bob Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers General Manager, NHL Hall of Famer

"Running is the classical road to self-consciousness, self-awareness and self-reliance. Independence is the outstanding characteristic of the runner. He learns the harsh reality of his physical and mental limitations when he runs. He learns that personal commitment, sacrifice and determination are his only means to betterment. Runners only get promoted through self-conquest." Noel Carroll, Irish track trailblazer (I think this is one of my all-time favorite quotes. It describes how I feel perfectly!)

"You have to have a dream so you can get up in the morning." Billy Wilder, Austrian screenwriter/director/producer

"Start by doing what's necessary, then what's possible and suddenly you are doing the impossible." Saint Francis of Assisi

"Long distance running is particularly good training in perseverance." Mao Tse-Tung, former Chairman of China's Communist Party

"Running is the greatest metaphor for life because you get out of it what you put into it." Oprah Winfrey, talk show magnate (This is soooo good as well!)

"Running is real and relatively simple - but it ain't easy." Mark Will-Weber, editor of The Quotable Runner (Haha, so very true!)

"Success is to be measure not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed." Booker T. Washington, anti-slavery activist (This makes me think of the song "Survive" by Rise Against. I love that song...)

"The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it." Moliere, French Playwright

*****Added 08/08/07*****

"Running allows us to define our weaknesses and make them strengths. It supplies those missing attributes that diminish us and keep us from functioning fully. It makes us whole." George Sheehan

"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least." Goethe

"If you set a goal for yourself and are able to achieve it, you have won your race. Your goal can be to come in first, to improve your performance, or just to finish the race - it's up to you." Dave Scott

"Fear is probably the thing that limits performance more than anything - the fear of not doing well, of what people will say. You've got to acknowledge those fears, then release them." Mark Allen

"You learn you can do your best even when it's hard, even when you're tired and maybe hurting a little bit. It feels good to show some courage." Joe Namath

"Accept the challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory." General George Patton

"Running gives a new meaning to the word spiritual, and it can bring you to that place." Sister Marion Irvine, who qualified at the age of 54 for the Women's Olympic Marathon Trials

"There will come a point in the race, when you alone will need to decide. You will need to make a choice. Do you really want it? You will need to decide." Rolf Arands, a runner

"If you don't invest very much, then defeat doesn't hurt very much and winning is not very exciting." Dick Vermeil

"Don't listen to negative influences. Believe in yourself, and show others what you can do. Only "you" can find your potential." Marla Runyan

"Running gives me creativity. It provides the meditative setting. It opens up areas in my mind I seem not to use otherwise." Dr. George Sheehan

"It takes as much courage to have tried and failed as it does to have tried and succeeded." Anne Morrow Lindbergh

"Courage is being afraid but going on anyhow." Dan Rather

"Running has given me the courage to start, the determination to keep trying, and the childlike spirit to have fun along the way. Run often and run long, but never outrun your joy of running." Julie Isphording, winner of the 1990 Los Angeles Marathon

"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved." William Jennings Bryan, early 20th Century politician

"You have to take it as it happens, but you should try to make it happen the way you want to take it." German proverb

"Don't ever accept anyone else's preconceived limitations. If there's something you want to do, there isn't any reason you can't do it." Amy Dodson, running amputee

*****Added 08/26/07*****

"Anything is possible, but you have to believe and you have to fight." Lance Armstrong

"I often wondered why runners could accomplish what they did. It's like analyzing love or passion. Why I had to run remains one of the mysteries of my life." John J. Kelley, one of America's greatest marathoners

"I've always felt running is a form of meditation. Running enables us to stop our lives, to go out and find a safe place for ourselves." Nina Kuscsik, first official women's champ with her 1972 Boston Marathon win and two-time NYC Marathon winner

"To me, running means freedom, but you need the discipline to gain the freedom. Find nice places, find people to run with. Use your runs as 'devotions,' a time to be thankful for life's beauty." Doris Heritage, five-time world cross-country champion; set six world records and 17 American records; won 14 AAU national titles; two-time Olympian

"Running gives me a sense of strength and power. On the way in from a run, I'm a new woman." Lynn Jennings, three-time World Cross-Country champion; Olympic bronze medalist in the 10,000; and winner of a record 38 U.S. national titles in track, road, and cross-country

"It all comes down to having a dream. You have to know why you head out the door every day to run. Your purpose will motivate you in every mile you train." Brian Diemer, three-time Olympian steeplechaser and 1984 bronze medalist

"Running country is everywhere. Open your door, and you're in business....Run in a schoolyard....at the beach....in a vacant lot." Bill Bowerman, coaching great