quotey mcquoterson

I'm reading The Athlete's Way: Sweat and the Biology of Bliss by Christopher Bergland. He's an ultramarathoner and son of a neurosurgeon and he's telling his story about his crazy distances he does and how he uses the mind-body connection. He has lots of quotes and here are some of the poignant ones I found so I thought I'd put them here to have a record of them and also let someone else read them if they want. I like to think about the story behind these quotes, whatever may have brought them to arrive at whatever they said. Kinda neat.

Nobody realizes that some people spend tremendous energy merely to be normal. - Albert Camus

I know very well that many others might, in this matter, as in others, do better than I can; and though I believe that I have not so much of the confidence of the people as I had some times since, I do not know that, all things considered, any other person has more; and, however this may be, there is no way in which I can have any other man put where I am. I am here. I must do the best I can and bear the responsibility of taking the course which I feel I ought to take. - Abraham Lincoln

I sweat real sweat and I shake real shakes. - Elizabeth Taylor

What we feel and what we think and are is to a great extent determined by the state of our ductless glands and viscera. - Aldous Huxley

The surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels. How worn and dusty, then, must be the highways of the world, how deep the ruts of tradition and conformity! - Henry David Thoreau

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. - Albert Einstein

Strong reasons make strong actions. - William Shakespeare

A box without hinges, key or lid, yet golden treasure inside is hid . . . Still round the corner there may wait, a new road or a secret gate. - J. R. R. Tolkien

I would not talk so much about myself if there were anybody else whom I knew so well. - Henry David Thoreau

Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that! - Lewis Carroll

Some people create with words or with music or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, "I've never seen anyone run like that before." It's more than just a race, it's a style. It's doing something better than anyone else. It's being creative. - Steve Prefontaine

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer. - Albert Camus

The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination. - Maya Angelou

Yippee! That may have been a small one for Neil, but it was a big one for me. - Pete Conrad, on the moon

Life is 440 horsepower on a 2-cylinder engine. - Henry Miller

You have to sweat, and roll up your sleeves and plunge both hands into life up to the elbows. - Jean Anouilh

In this age, which believes that there is a short cut to everything, the greatest lesson to be learned is that the most difficult way is, in the long run, the easiest. - Henry Miller

One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time. - Andre Gide

There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered. - Nelson Mandela

Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight. - Benjamin Franklin