"People say it was degrading for an Olympic champion to run against a horse, but what was I supposed to do? I had four gold medals, but you can't eat four gold medals."

"Hitler didn't snub me—it was FDR who snubbed me."

"The only way to be a champion is to act like one."

"I wasn't invited to shake hands with Hitler, but I wasn't invited to the White House to shake hands with the President, either."

"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."