It's like having a pet dog for a long time. You get attached to it, and when it dies you miss it.

Life doesn't give you all the practice races you need.

For a time, at least, I was the most famous person in the entire world.

Hitler didn't snub me - it was our president who snubbed me. The president didn't even send me a telegram.

I realized now that militancy in the best sense of the word was the only answer where the black man was concerned, that any black man who wasn't a militant in 1970 was either blind or a coward.

I always loved running.... It was something you could do by yourself and under your own power.

People come out to see you perform and you've got to give them the best you have within you.