Something inside of me just said 'Hey, wait a minute, I want to beat him,' and I just took off.

Somebody may beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it.

To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.

How does a kid from Coos Bay, with one leg longer than the other win races? All my life people have been telling me, 'You're too small Pre', 'You're not fast enough Pre', 'Give up your foolish dream Steve'. But they forgot something, I HAVE TO WIN.

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 let fatigue make a coward of you.

Every once in a while I think, 'What am I doing out here running, busting myself up? Life could be so much easier. The other guys are out having fun, doing other things, why not me?'