Michael Johnson Quotations

Opting for gold shoes could have been considered downright cocky, but I was confident and never doubted my ability to deliver gold medals to match my shimmering footwear.

I don't always do a lot of predicting, but, when I get a really strong feeling about something, I will tell people.

Life is often compared to a marathon, but I think it is more like being a sprinter; long stretches of hard work punctuated by brief moments in which we are given the opportunity to perform at our best.

The only one who can beat me is me.

Rivalries don't necessarily mean races being close at major championships. I had a rivalry with Butch Reynolds for many years. I won all the races, but Butch was the world record holder before I came into the sport, he was extremely talented and he was the only other man running 43 seconds.

I work hard to improve myself as a person - as a father, as a husband, as a manager. I'm always on that mission.

I had already been into my professional career for six years and had not won an individual gold medal at the Olympics. There was a tremendous amount of pressure going into 1996 to get it done.

You can't control what the other athlete is going to do; you can't control anything except for your competition and how you execute the race or how you execute the task.

The mind is absolutely instrumental in achieving results, even for athletes. Sports psychology is a very small part, but it's extremely important when you're winning and losing races by hundredths and even thousandths of a second.

As an athlete, I'd average four hours a day. It doesn't sound like a lot when some people say they're training for 10 hours, but theirs includes lunch, massage and breaks. My four hours was packed with work.

As an athlete, I was never really comfortable with being a celebrity.

One of the main techniques I used was focusing on the goal and visualising myself competing in the race before the race started.

I've had to learn that not everybody does things my way. But I do expect the absolute best of everyone around me, and I'm disappointed when people don't expect that of themselves.

Difficult as it was to hear, slavery has benefited descendants like me - I believe there is a superior athletic gene in us.

All my life I believed I became an athlete through my own determination, but it's impossible to think that being descended from slaves hasn't left an imprint through the generations.

There's a complete difference between training for a specific event and goal and just training.

They don't give you gold medals for beating somebody. They give you gold medals for beating everybody.

They think because I'm small, they can do what they want to do to me. But I'm not weak. If I lower my shoulder and they lower they're shoulder, they're going to go down.

Mr. Bush, tolerance of wickedness and sin is no family value.

I don't always do a lot of predicting, ... but, when I get a really strong feeling about something, I will tell people.

We just have one basic focus. We're focused on going one direction, and that's forward.

Jim is an extremely talented banker with more than 15 years of experience in the energy sector. He will be a great asset to our team, and together with Mitch will provide our clients with outstanding advice and execution.

My personal feeling is we all pay -- why not her. If we're all going to live in the same community we all have to pay our fair share.

The area was cleaned up and the soil was dug up and trucked away. It was all handled according to EPA guidelines.

That was a positive thing going into the Texas Relays. We will basically use this as a practice meet. It'll be a good test for us. What we're working toward is getting ready for district.

We really saw the market begin to rebound in 2004 and continue through 2005, which was a very good year for us. As we look forward through 2006, we are ahead of our pace from last year.

We can spare one on (the day shift), ... But when we're called, we'll go.

Under Texas law, the proceeds from most retirement plans are typically not subject to the claims of the decedent's creditors unless the decedent has designated his or her estate as the beneficiary of the plan.

We play a schedule of 30 to 35 games, and we've been told we're comparable to some small colleges and community colleges. We have to make cuts because so many players turn out. All of our guys have solid backgrounds in high school or community college ball.

We've been working on the project for about four years. We are very excited and the community as a whole is very excited.

When the rail network crashes and burns, the road network does too,

UCLA did not come ready to play. Once they got down, you could see they were acting like they were going to come back, but we were ready. We stayed composed and were able to shut down everything they like to do.

UCLA did not come ready to play, ... Once they got down, you could see they were acting like they were going to come back, but we were ready. We stayed composed and were able to shut down everything they like to do.

Too many seniors are trying to take the bare minimum to get to graduation as opposed to taking advantage of it.

Too many people try to put these championships on a par with the world championships or the Olympics but they are not -- never have been, never will be.

With as many as 50 percent of children with autistic disorder experiencing regular GI problems, we recognize the significant impact these issues have on the autism community, which currently has limited information on the cause and appropriate treatments.

I've been involved in the district, and it's one of the most diverse districts, ... We've been able to bring the community together, unite them and give them a seat at the table, and they've been able to have input. In order for District 8 to continue to thrive, they need proven and strong leadership.

Right now, the Plano police detectives as well as FBI agents are coordinating their investigation.

Somebody's planting a lot of marijuana out there, and it's not local people just growing it for personal use, ... These people are growing to make a profit. A big profit.

This clinic has tripled in size since we did our first one last year.

They shoot good and they shoot quick. They shoot their threes real quick. It seems like their whole team is guards.

There's a lot of people out there who have the talent, but they don't apply themselves as much as they should.

It's more than I thought it would be, ... There's a lot of stuff down here.

It's going to be fun. There's always something to do.

It's our problem. You've got to be responsible. Anything to help my brothers from killing each other, I'll come.

That's one thing we won't find out. We're just going to have to wait for next year.

Everyone came in thinking East Aurora's always in the game. You always have to stay up and keep playing with them because they can have runs.

It was a great chance for the lads to start getting to know each other,

On average, 44.73 isn't going to win you a lot of major titles. So he'll need to improve, but that is quite probable.

Against Elgin (Friday) we didn't get any rebounds. So we put a big emphasis on boxing out and getting rebounds.

The family was very relieved of knowing the whereabouts of their mother/sister.

I made the decision because of budget restrictions and we need the manpower here in the department, ... There hasn't been a decline in drug crime in the county, but I think we could put the officer to better use locally through our department.

I know principals all over the state are very concerned about participation in this new program.

I'm just trying to take care of football right now, ... I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

I'm just trying to learn as much as I can every day. I've got some great guys in front of me and great coaches around me,

If you look at the big picture, I think the whole THG, designer drug scandal is a good thing for the sport, ... Every time someone gets caught I see that as a positive, because it is an effort to clean up the sport. We really have to look at drug use in sports, whether track and field or any other sport, just like you would look at crime in society. To think it is going to stop completely would be foolish and unrealistic. It is never going to happen. Just like with criminals in society, you are always going to have people who are raised with poor morals or who don't feel confident in their ability to go out and be successful without cheating someone else.

He's an inside runner and he's smaller than I am. I know he's not the premier back in the league, but he's dependable so that's why I watch him.

I can vouch for that. Right after he got his first check, I expected him to sit down and do nothing. But he'd just bought a new engine for his dump truck ... he worked a few more months till he was able to pay it off.

How could you look more stupid than to be the guy accepting a bronze medal in gold shoes?

You owe it to yourself to find your own unorthodox way of succeeding, or sometimes, just surviving.

(Natural Talent + Opportunity) Hard Work = Success

You can make goals for family, relationships, anything.

A bird, music and food -desert island items

The only way to deal with loss - as a horribly unwelcome guest that you know will show up eventually. And so you deny it and reject it and ignore it and laugh in its face. You toss it out into the street and push it away and fight it off, and only it has landed square in your lap, only then do you deal with it.

Be who you are in every situation.

A good traveller is one who knows how to travel with the mind.

The only thing you can never change is your values.

Your problems pale in comparison with those of the millions of people in the world who do not have enough to eat.

When you're gone I can go running though the house screaming and no one will ever hear me.

On the £20,000 Mercedes prizes for each winner at the World Athletics Championships in Stuttgart- Anyone good enough to win already has one.

The basis of self-discipline: Don't allow the edges to blur.

I believe that it is better to learn from the diverse people around us than to try in vain to emulate them, better to be a teacher than a role model. As strong as my legs are, it is my mind that has made me a champion.

Don't shoot for something unattainable - completely outside of your nature or opportunity.

A good mentor offers directions and driving tips from the back seat. You still have to drive the car.

It is important that you strive for humility, but not humiliation, for a cool, level-headed confidence, not a stiff, delusional arrogance.

Along with trustworthiness, consistency is the thing to look for when you surround yourself with people who can help you on your quest.

It is clearly not the journey for everyone. People succeed in as many ways as there are people. Some can be completely fulfilled with destinations that are much closer to home and more comfortable. But if you long to keep going, then I hope you are able to follow my lead to the places I have gone. To within a whisper of your own personal perfection. To places that are sweeter because you worked so hard to arrive there. To places at the very edge of your dreams.

Examine the opportunities, the challenges you've given yourself.

Protect your good image from the eyes of negative viewers, who may look at your good appearance with an ugly fiendish eye, and ruin your positive qualities with their chemical infested tongues.

You learn as much from those who have failed as from those who have succeeded.

That first peak is the best place to pause and look back, to see if you took the easiest route, to learn the lessons from the first climb. And it is the best place to examine the terrain ahead, to change your plans and goals, to take a deep breath and begin climbing again.

As strong as my legs are, it is my mind that has made me a champion.

I always wanted to be a sprinter.

The kids are improving from last week. The big surprise for me was Justin Bowie in the long jump. We just have to keep improving and good things will happen.

All things being equal, in many cases an equity rally benefits the credit market.

All respect to Alvin, he's a great player, but I don't honestly see any chance for us slowing down. If you talked to him, he'd probably say the same thing.

The last two games, Charles has graded out the highest among the receivers. Charles is not only catching the ball, but he's blocking.