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

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.

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.

I knew I could compete with most people in high school. It didn't quite give me an attitude, but it made me think I didn't have to try hard sometimes.

Like a missing tooth, sometimes an absence is more noticeable than a presence.

There's going to be positive and negative in anything in life.

A good leader needs to know how to follow.

[Having monologue] are talking to somebody even if it's just to yourself, convince yourself if that's what you're trying to do.

We live in a time where the media is a very difficult thing to navigate because it's everywhere, and I tend to want to be a lot more private with my life.

Pull downe your hatt on the winds side.

I hate Sunday, I can't wait for Monday so I can go back to work again.

Certainly I think being an absentee farther helps in adding a layer of conflict.

Burton did not believe in miracles . Nothing happened that could not be explained by physical principles if you knew all the facts .

Government central planning means over-riding other people's plans.