Jesse Owens — "My family was so poor that I didn't get to wear shoes until I was 7 years old."

"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."

"I've always believed that you can make your own breaks."

"My life was a race, and I ran it to the finish line."

"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."

"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."