The amount of work and the amount of both physical and emotional investment it takes to get to the top.

That's the only reason I'm here. I don't need to play the game for any other reason than to win a championship.

I kind of picked up the game at an early age. The way that other kids would learn what a fork or a spoon is.

You want hot days to get your fruit ripe but then you want it to cool off nicely at night so that the grapes stay on the vine longer and develop complexity.

I retire with a smile on my face, in good health, and ready to spend autumns at my kids' games instead of my own. I'm excited to start the next chapter of my life.

I had a great career and I enjoyed all of it, with the exception of losing.

I'm not fast. But there are a lot of guys that are a hell of a lot slower than I am. Somebody wants to do a pay-per-view race between me and [Tom] Brady, sign me up.

I feel pretty good when I get out of bed in the morning. I don't feel all beat up, which is nice.

Playing in New England and the Boston area, the fans are so passionate about their sports if you don't play well, they'll let you know so I know it's not something that they take lightly.

We're phenomenally blessed in the Walla Walla Valley. We have great, complex soil that's nutrient-rich but fairly porous.

The positives of retiring outweighed the positives of returning and my desire to still play.

You never die from a snake bite, you can't be unbitten it's in the way, what continues to pour through you long after the bite has taken place.

Gain fame, and the paparazzi or media waits and watches for them to slip, just to shame their name.

I don't like painting flowers in my music. I like painting guts and pain.

It's important to realize that whenever you give power to politicians or bureaucrats, it will be used for what they want, not for what you want.

In general, we’re least aware of what our minds do best.

The reality we live in is selected by our conceptual definitions. You and I may be in the same physical space, but each of us will see it as entirely different.

I see History as a relay race in which one of us, before dropping in his tracks, must carry one stage further the challenge of being a man.

Successful people see adversity as a stepping stone rather than a stumbling block.

Anyone can be happy when times are good; the richer experience is to be happy when times are not