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

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

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

I wanted no part of politics. And I wasn't in Berlin to compete against any one athlete. The purpose of the Olympics, anyway, was to do your best. As I'd learned long ago from Charles Riley, the only victory that counts is the one over yourself.

"She (Minnie Ruth Solomon) was unusual because even though I knew her family was as poor as ours, nothing she said or did seemed touched by that. Or by prejudice. Or by anything the world said or did. It was as if she had something inside her that somehow made all that not count. I fell in love with her some the first time we ever talked, and a little bit more every time after that until I thought I couldn't love her more than I did. And when I felt that way, I asked her to marry me . . . and she said she would."

I let my feet spend as little time on the ground as possible. From the air, fast down, and from the ground, fast up.

I had four gold medals, but you can't eat four gold medals.