Jesse Owens

Friendships born on the field of athletic strife are the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust.
Jesse Owens

I fought, I fought harder . . . but one cell at a time, panic crept into my body, taking me over.
Jesse Owens

If you don't try to win you might as well hold the Olympics in somebody's back yard. The thrill of competing carries with it the thrill of a gold medal. One wants to win to prove himself the best.
Jesse Owens

I let my feet spend as little time on the ground as possible. From the air, fast down, and from the ground, fast up. My foot is only a fraction of the time on the track.
Jesse Owens

I always loved running - it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs.
Jesse Owens

A lifetime of training for just ten seconds.
Jesse Owens

For a time, at least, I was the most famous person in the entire world.
Jesse Owens

For a time, at least, I was the most famous person in the entire world.
Jesse Owens

It all goes so fast, and character makes the difference when it's close.
Jesse Owens

Only by God?s grace have I made it to see today and only by God?s grace will I ever see tomorrow.
Jesse Owens

I decided I wasn't going to come down. I was going to fly. I was going to stay up in the air forever.
Jesse Owens

One chance is all you need.
Jesse Owens

Find the good. It's all around you. Find it, showcase it and you'll start believing in it.
Jesse Owens

The lives of most men are patchwork quilts. Or at best one matching outfit with a closet and laundry bag full of incongruous accumulations. A lifetime of training for just ten seconds.
Jesse Owens

The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself -- the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us -- that's where it's at.
Jesse Owens

I wanted no part of politics. And I wasn't in Berlin to compete against any one athlete. The purpose of the Olympics, anyway, was to do your best. As I'd learned long ago from Charles Riley, the only victory that counts is the one over yourself.
Jesse Owens

We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.
Jesse Owens

The black fist is a meaningless symbol. When you open it, you have nothing but fingers -- weak, empty fingers. The only time the black fist has significance is when there's money inside. There's where the power lies.
Jesse Owens

People come out to see you perform and you've got to give them the best you have within you.
Jesse Owens