If you are not prepared, you cannot work out intensely. If you do not perform, you cannot get results, and if you can't do your best to recover, you won't get the benefits of your hard work.

I don't want to be better than you or her or him - I want to be better than I am right now

A true competitor works the hardest, cares the most, and makes the best of what they have.

Passion is a huge prerequisite to winning. It makes you willing to jump through hoops, go through all the ups and downs and everything in between to reach your goal.

That wall is your mind playing tricks on you. You just need to say, 'One more step, I can do this. I have more in me.' You'll be so proud of yourself once you push yourself past your threshold.

Adversity, if you allow it to, will fortify you and make you the best you can be.

You touch every other ball and, if you screw up, you only have one more person to back you up. You can't go hide in the corner.

To me, crying is not a sign of weakness. She wants it that bad and she puts her whole heart into it. She had really high expectations, and that's why she's so good. She just had a bad game.

We have to fight the entire time, we can't start at the end when it's getting down to crunch time. We can't leave anything on the floor.

I firmly believe that when you have a foundation of respect, love of what you're doing, and a shared vision, so much is possible.

We had two goals...One was to cherish every moment together, cherish the journey because the journey allows you to learn and grow. The other was to win a gold medal.

A miracle is often the willingness to see the common in an uncommon way.

Do not hold on to circumstances

Do not ask intelligent rich people what car they driver, but what books they read.

If Ross Perot runs, that's good for us. If he doesn't run, it's good for us.

One of my favourite fighters was Lennox Lewis - he got out at number one. A fight with the winner of the Wladimir Klitschko and Anthony Joshua fight would put me at number one.

Anywhere where the humanity of people is undermined, anywhere where people are left in the dust, there we will find our cause.

When I did Inherit the Wind, I learned about teaching school. I also found out what a fundamentalist was.

I thought you were all-seeing.” All-knowing, not all-seeing!” he snapped. “I’m a God, not Santa Claus!

I think that certain directors are better at choosing actors that match well with each other. And I have feelings about actors and who I think I'd work well with better moreso than others.

[To the audience at her farewell concert:] You have always given me more than I gave to you ... You were the wings on which I soared.