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.

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

What I like most about track is the feeling I get after a good run.

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.

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

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

A race is a work of art.