I couldn't touch my toes with straight legs, but I could break 4 minutes for the mile.

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

My athleticism was really the core to social acceptance, because in those days the overwhelming number of students came from more of a public school background than I did.

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

My concentration was really on getting to university and becoming a doctor. My parents let me know that school marks were important. Achievement was something which came by hard work.

Our concept of a family holiday was going to a guest house in the Lake district or Wales, where walking was part of the holiday.

Sport is not about being wrapped up in cotton wool. Sport as about adapting to the unexpected and being able to modify plans at the last minute. Sport, like all life, is about taking risks.

We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves

To move into the lead means making an act requiring fierceness and confidence. But fear must play some part...no relaxation is possible, and all discretion is thrown into the wind.

Sport, like all of life, is about taking your chances.

No longer conscious of my movement, I discovered a new unity with nature. I had found a new source of power and beauty, a source I never dreamt existed.

Laughter is regional: a smile extends over the whole face.

It's useful for activists just to be out there to keep you mindful and not get complacent, even if ultimately you think some of their criticism is misguided.

When insolvent, pack minimally, with a valise tough enough to be thrown onto a London pavement from a first- or second-floor window. Insist on hotel rooms no higher.

Pig power in America was infuriating, but pig power in the communist framework was awesome and unaccountable.

I never program anything, I decide at the last minute.

I hate saying, 'I like exercising.' I want to punch people who say that in the face.

If being a woman is a factor politically, it's usually not because of a conscious bias, but because women are a novelty.

Physicists analyse systems. Web scientists, however, can create the systems.

Nothing that God ever made is the same thing to more than one person.