If somebody wants me to do something I've never done, I can do it more easily because of all of the years of sports I've played.

I won't back down. I get a satisfaction from being tested and defeating the test.

If you have done something once, you can do it again or you can do it better. The beauty is the pursuit of the limit, not the limit itself. At least that's what I hope people realize.

The desire definitely comes from within. There are only a few people who make it to this level and those are the ones who have that innate desire.

To do the best that I possibly could in my world makes me pretty happy.

Competition is pretty much the essence of everything, it gives humans drive.

It's important not to make the gold medal bigger than it is.

The thing I like about decathlon is also the thing I dislike: It's the maximum challenge, but also the maximum frustration.

I'm not maximized yet.

I think a challenge for myself is to see how many times I can get above 9,000. That would be a good challenge.

I wouldn't say there was a moment of realization when I wanted to be a runner; it was always just something I was.

Some people feel like they don't deserve love. They walk away quietly into empty spaces, trying to close the gaps of the past.

In this world there is no place for sadness. No place

You don’t need extra food, extra water, extra clothing for extra warmth – anything extra. You don’t need soap or deodorant. Everything you carry you should need daily.

Dogs do not grasp the concept of house cleaning.

A man in a desert can hold absence in his cupped hands, knowing it is something that feeds him more than water.

When I'm [playing] a character, I can look at it and know it's not me and not be concerned with how it looks.

Lions mane may be our first smart mushroom. It is a safe, edible fungus that appears to confer cognitive benefits on our aging population.

Fragmentation occurs when a civilization is in decline.

You have more people that love you than you know.

Not only was Thebes built by the music of an Orpheus; but without the music of some inspired Orpheus was no city ever built, no work that man glories in ever done.