I'm the sort of person who needs a big mountain in front of me to climb.

It's hard work to make a four-minute program look effortless and elegant.

Figure skating is a mixture of art and sport.

When I go out on the ice, I just think about my skating. I forget it is a competition.

Money was never the motivation. It never should be in sports.

Almost nothing is presented to you on a silver platter. You have to really work for it.

I can't say, 'It doesn't matter if you win or lose.' It's not true. You go in to win.

When I get up, I have a cup of coffee, surf the Internet, then do a half-hour run.

I learned not to depend on other people. I needed support, but it's you who has to go out and deliver.

It's not like I didn't do anything for 10 years and chose a new profession. I've been on the ice a lot. I'm not an outsider.

I was the very first athlete in East Germany allowed to go professional.

You will hear thunder and remember me, And think: she wanted storms. The rim Of the sky will be the colour of hard crimson, And your heart, as it was then, will be on fire.

I'd love to do a comedy. I'm terrified of comedy. I don't think I'm funny, but I guess that's why it's so thrilling.

This filthy twentieth century. I hate its guts.

My friends are my second family. Sometimes friends can understand my problem but my family can't.

I always feel a bit vulnerable when I begin a new project, especially when I am playing a character with either a troubled past or unique personality.

The original Greek meaning of the word anthology is a collection or gathering of flowers in bloom.

The difference between being ordinary and extraordinary is doing the right thing while nobody is watching.

I used to pull rank and wait until the wind was blowing out.

Equanimity is calamity's medicine.

Exhilarating. Radical Grace moved me to tears with its portrayal of good people putting their beliefs into action in ways that transcend all ideological boundaries.