Inspiration/Quotes
Welcome to the Inspiration and Running Quotes Page. This page is updated with inspirational stories/articles and videos, along with quotes. Feel free to submit any inspiration or quotes of your own to bhickey@shakerrunning.com
Click here to jump to the Running Quotes section of this page
Inspiration:
Videos: (click on video title)
Ben Comen-The Cross Country Runner: Inspirational story of a runner who never gives up.
Finish Strong: Amazing stories of courage and inspiration.
Softball Miracle: This moving six-minute clip goes way beyond softball to touch the heart.
Best Dad in the World: The inspiring story of Rick and Dick Hoyt (Team Hoyt) of transformation between a father and his son. [See article link below]
A Remarkable Blind Teen: A California teenager who is blind and overcomes his disability by experiencing life with all his other senses. [See article link below]
Don't Quit Poem: An inspirational presentation based on a famous poem which was written many years ago.
Jim Abbott: Former major league baseball player Jim Abbott, who overcame a birth defect of only one hand.
Articles/Stories: (click on article/story title)
How A Blind Teen 'Sees' With Sound: Accompanying article to "A Remarkable Blind Teen" video.
Strongest Dad in the World: Accompanying article to "Best Dad in the World" video.
Bethany Hamilton: She was attacked by a shark, losing her left arm and nearly her life. But that didn't stop her from becoming a surfing star.
"You must persevere!" -Coach Springstead
"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." -Steve Prefontaine
"Running: No half times, no time outs, no substitutions. It must be the only true sport."
"Real athletes run, others just play games!"
"If you can beat 50 guys, why beat only 49?" -Coach Springstead
"It hurts up to a point and then it doesn't get any worse." -Ann Trason
"Most people race to see who is the fastest. I run to see who has the most guts." -Steve Prefontaine
"Pain is nature's way of telling you that you are still alive."
"The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win." -Roger Bannister
"The only time hard work beats talent is when talent doesn't work hard."
"Pain is weakness leaving the body."
"To win means nothing without the will to prepare."
"My sport is your team's punishment."
"Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it."
"Champions are made when nobody is watching."
"The greatest pleasure in life is doing what others say you cannot do."
"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 then just a race, it's a style. It's doing something better then anyone else. It's being creative."
“Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”
“You cannot propel yourself forward by patting yourself on the back.”
“A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.”
“Life’s battles don't always go to the strongest or fastest man,
But sooner or later the man who wins is the fellow who thinks he can.”
“Success isn't how far you got, but the distance you traveled from where you started.”
“Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
“If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.”
"A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways they’re capable of understanding."
"Man imposes his own limitations, don't set any" -Anthony Bailey
"Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character." -T. Alan Armstrong
"Tomorrow is another day, and there will be another battle!" -Sebastian Coe
"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." - Confucius
"All it takes is all you got." -Marc Davis
"The five S's of sports training are: Stamina, Speed, Strength, Skill and Spirit; but the greatest of these is Spirit." -Ken Doherty
"Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself." -William Faulkner
"Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it." -Lou Holtz
"Other people may not have high expectations of me, but I have high expectations for myself." - Shannon Miller
"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." - Will Rogers
"You can fight without ever winning, but never ever, win without a fight."
"It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness."
"Do a little more each day than you think you possibly can." -Lowell Thomas
"Success is to be measured 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
"Running is a mental sport...and we're all insane!"
"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the stars." -Les Brown
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." -Martin Luther King, Jr.
"No one ever drowned in sweat."
"Gold medals aren't really made of gold. They're made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts." -Dan Gable
"To win without risk is to triumph without glory."-Pierre Cornielle
"In running, it doesn't matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say 'I have finished.' There is a lot of satisfaction in that."