i had a series of childhood illnesses... scarlet fever.... pneumonia.... Polio. I walked with braces until I was at least nine years old. My life wasn't like the average person who grew up and decided to enter the world of sports.

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Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose.

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I would be disappointed if I were remembered as a runner because I feelthat my contribution to the youth of America has far exceeded the woman who was the Olympic champion

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Believe me, the reward is not so great without the struggle.

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I don't consciously try to be a role model, so I don't know if I am or not. That's for other people to decide.

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My doctor told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would. I believed my mother.

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What do you do after you are world-famous and nineteen or twenty and you have sat with prime ministers, kings and queens, the Pope? Do you go back home and take a job? What do you do to keep your sanity? You come back to the real world.

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The feeling of accomplishment welled up inside of me, three Olympic gold medals. I knew that was something nobody could ever take away from me, ever.

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Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us.

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I can't' are two words that have never been in my vocabulary. I believe in me more than anything in this world.

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