A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more.

You said I was weak. You said I couldn't do it. Thank you. You gave me everything I needed to prove you wrong.

I like to make something beautiful when I run ... it's style. It's doing something better than anyone else. It's being creative.

Success isn't how far you got, but the distance you traveled from where you started.

The idea of losing the three at Hayward Field and the idea of losing my specialty to someone who wasn't running his specialty. Mostly, the idea of losing in front of my people. They haven't forgotten about me.

If he's having a good day and running the right race, nobody can beat Frank Shorter at 10,000 meters... nobody except me.

Don’t be afraid to give up the good for the great.