Life was very simple. My parents had come from the North of England, which is a fairly rugged, bleak, hard-working part of England, and so there was not the expectation of luxury.

The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.

Just because they say it's impossible doesn't mean you can't do it.

I was involved in music, acting, and some running, but my firm wish was to become a doctor. That was the formative age when I had decided on the pattern of my career.

Every time I ran the mile I was aware of my own weakness, there was some opponent who could give me a hell of a fight, so I never went into a race with a sense of invincibility. I always had that feeling of fragility and nerves which made me run faster.

It's amazing that more people have climbed Mount Everest than have broken the 4-minute mile.

It seems quite impossible to walk in America.