Roger Bannister

“No longer conscious of my movement, I discovered a new unity with nature. I had found a new source of power and beauty, a source I never dreamt existed.”

“The human spirit is indomitable. No one can say you must not run faster than this or jump higher than that. The human spirit is unconquerable.”

“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're the lion or a gazelle — when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.”

“The distance runner teaches us that the victory is in the struggle.”

“The four-minute barrier was more like a brick wall. But once you got through it, everything opened up.”

“Running is the only sport where you can compete against yourself and always win.”

“Running is the classical pursuit of the classical man.”

“I discovered that the object of running isn't always to win. It's to relish the struggle itself.”

“Running is the greatest metaphor for life because you get out of it what you put into it.”

“We run not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves.”

“The real purpose of running isn't to win a race. It's to test the limits of human potential and to push back the barriers of what we think is possible.”

“To break the four-minute mile, you don't need to be superhuman. You need to be superhuman about preparation.”

“To break the four-minute mile is to defy the laws of nature. It requires the courage to believe in yourself when the world says it's impossible.”

“The only real limitation is the one in your mind.”