1.
If you don't have confidence, you'll always find a way not to win.
Carl Lewis
2.
Scientists have proven that it's impossible to long-jump 30 feet, but I don't listen to that kind of talk. Thoughts like that have a way of sinking into your feet.
Carl Lewis
3.
My best year of track competition was the first year I ate a vegan diet.
Carl Lewis
4.
I want to be remembered as a person who felt there was no limitation to what the human body and mind can do and be the inspiration to lead people to do things they never hoped to do.
Carl Lewis
5.
Channel your energy. Focus.
Carl Lewis
6.
It's all about the journey, not the outcome.
Carl Lewis
7.
Life is about timing and overcoming difficult things.
Carl Lewis
8.
My thoughts before a big race are usually pretty simple. I tell myself: Get out of the blocks, run your race, stay relaxed. If you run your race, you'll win... channel your energy. Focus.
Carl Lewis
9.
Join me in the final race to smash poverty and achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals
Carl Lewis
10.
The trials on the road to world harmony are no greater than the courage of those who accept the challenge.
Carl Lewis
11.
The best kids are going to become the best. But the best thing about it is that you're going to learn lessons in playing those sports about winning and losing and teamwork and teammates and arguments and everything else that are going to affect you positively for the rest of your life.
Carl Lewis
12.
I never competed against athletes. I competed against perfection.
Carl Lewis
13.
I've found that a person does not need protein from meat to be a successful athlete. In fact, my best year of track competition was the first year I ate a vegan diet.
Carl Lewis
14.
Every New Year's Eve, I have a pact to do something I never thought I'd do. So I created this list. You have to free your mind to do things you wouldn't think of doing. Don't ever say no.
Carl Lewis
15.
I've always known that sporting people frequently suffer from joint problems because of the repeated strain they put on their bodies to get to the top. But somehow I never thought it would happen to me.
Carl Lewis
16.
I know there are a lot of people out there who have the best intentions but not the voice, so it's about people like me to give them a voice and hear their ideas.
Carl Lewis
17.
The people are fed up with their elected officials playing the blame game and treating their political counterparts as enemies.
Carl Lewis
18.
When I decided to go for four gold medals I planned it out over a few years. It was in four different events and there was a lot to it.
Carl Lewis
19.
I want to be a millionaire, and I don't ever want a real job.
Carl Lewis
20.
There is no correlation between a childhood success and a professional athlete.
Carl Lewis
21.
An athlete and actor are really two different temperaments, night and day. As an athlete you really keep things out and as an actor you really bring things in.
Carl Lewis
22.
Whether I'm 40, 50 or 60, I'm going to be as physically strong as I am able.
Carl Lewis
23.
People have a moral standard about what they will do and will not do. At the end of the day someone who cheats has a lower moral standard than someone who does not. And they will cheat in other areas of life as well.
Carl Lewis
24.
I'm not running for state Senate because I wanted to become a politician. I'm running because I wanted to serve.
Carl Lewis
25.
You're not going to get a chance to vote for me on the ballot, but you can actually vote for what I believe in.
Carl Lewis
26.
My life isn't interesting! It's my mom. You need to write her life and put me in it. I'm a cameo in her life.
Carl Lewis
27.
I'm very serious about becoming a dramatic actor. I don't want to play cameo parts walking on as Carl Lewis the athlete. I want to go on stage or screen and be taken seriously.
Carl Lewis
28.
By carrying the torch, you will be bridging cultural and social barriers, and all the boundaries that separate nation from nation.
Carl Lewis
29.
After I left the podium in Atlanta, I felt so fulfilled in my career that I lost my desire to compete at that level again.
Carl Lewis
30.
I wouldn't be surprised if one day Carl's halo slipped and choked him.
Carl Lewis
31.
I work with the Carl Lewis Foundation focusing on youth from high school down.
Carl Lewis
32.
I'm a fast learner. I may not run as fast as I used to, but I think I still learn as fast.
Carl Lewis
33.
We cannot rest until we make sure that our families can afford to live and raise their kids here, that our seniors can remain in their homes and afford their health and pharmaceutical costs.
Carl Lewis
34.
Track and field is the best way to reach out for kids. It doesn't matter how fast you are. You always want to beat someone.
Carl Lewis
35.
Our message of the day is service does not need a title.
Carl Lewis
36.
'm so fortunate to have done what I love to do for so long, but the day I retired was one of the best days of my life. Not because I was happy to get away from the sport, but because it was clear in my mind that I had done all I possibly could, and that it was time to go.
Carl Lewis
37.
I like the pressure of having to perform so people will come to me.
Carl Lewis
38.
My best performances were when I was 30 years old, and I was a vegan.
Carl Lewis
39.
Most people want to become movie stars and I just want to be in the business. I already was a star. If I get the part of a lifetime and it blows up, then that's wonderful. But if the acting doesn't work, fine. I'll just be a producer. And if the producing doesn't work, fine. I've got a lot of other stuff.
Carl Lewis
40.
I found the emotion that as an athlete you block out, and it really helped me to understand myself as a person. I'm a really emotional person and it helped make me a better person.
Carl Lewis
41.
I don't intend to stay around any longer than I feel I can be No. 1.
Carl Lewis
42.
Amateurism is the strongest form of discrimination in sports. Because it discriminates against the underprivileged, it discriminates against the poor. If we want sports to go back to the wealthy, let's make it amateur again.
Carl Lewis
43.
I always wanted to be wealthy. I did.
Carl Lewis
44.
Any press is good press. So keep on ragging me.
Carl Lewis
45.
I'm not a coach and I know it. I'm too busy and it doesn't pay. I'm expensive. But I would always advise.
Carl Lewis
46.
I tell you, it was kind of two-fold. I fortunately had a lot of support. My coach was amazing - he told me to focus on being prepared and that is what I did. Every athlete is nervous - any athlete who tells you they're not nervous isn't telling you the truth. I was as prepared as I could be.
Carl Lewis
47.
I'm not Carl Lewis the athlete any more. I'm growing into a new person with new interests and new goals.
Carl Lewis
48.
Countries like Jamaica do not have a random program, so they can go months without being tested. I'm not saying anyone is on anything, but everyone needs to be on a level playing field.
Carl Lewis
49.
People have always thought of me as being something, but I'm just a human being like everyone else.
Carl Lewis
50.
Some Americans just shouldnt leave the country.
Carl Lewis
