To me, the decathlon is its own little society and I am part of that culture.

The decathlon includes ten separate events and they all matter. You can't work on just one of them.

It really means a lot that I won the gold medal - but I woke up the next morning expecting to feel different. I felt the same.

I always know where the scissors are.

And there is such a thing as a decathlon high. It's like a rock rolling down hill, picking up momentum. You get better and better.

It took me time to realize that the men who won Olympic gold medals in the decathlon are just men, just like me.

Try everything, because you're never sure what you're going to be great at.

When I was little, I wasn't allowed to put sugar on my breakfast cereal because it made me so hyper.

Breaking the world record in '92 was a very special personal moment, but I'd say my favorite moment as a decathlete was winning the Olympic gold medal.

It's important for me to think I'm mixed-race.

You can only look forward to a South Dakota winter if, as with childbirth, remodeling a house, or writing a novel, you're able to forget how bad it was the last time.

What happens if anger takes you over, Tessa? Who will you be then? What will be left of you?

Comic-Con is nerd Christmas. People go wanting to have fun.

Around '93, '94, the conventional wisdom about the Internet was that it was a toy for academics and researchers. So it was very, very underestimated for about two years.

Your gender identity is who you are. Sexual identity is who you bounce that off of.

I am no proponent of a theocracy. I am a secularist. I want an independent Iraqi government, not a lackey of Tehran.

You always gotta be on time, an hour ahead of everything. You always gotta be prepared.

Unified party control of the organs of government has proved no panacea.

Probably one of the worst things that happened to photography is that cameras have viewfinders.

Whether I'm stressed out or angry or happy or depressed - however I feel, I say "I love my life," no matter what. That usually keeps me centered.