Olympics Quotes

“But the greatest paradox of the sport has to do with the psychological makeup of the people who pull the oars. Great oarsmen and oarswomen are necessarily made of conflicting stuff—of oil and water, fire and earth. On the one hand, they must possess enormous self-confidence, strong egos, and titanic willpower. They must be almost immune to frustration. Nobody who does not believe deeply in himself or herself—in his or her ability to endure hardship and to prevail over adversity—is likely even to attempt something as audacious as competitive rowing at the highest levels. The sport offers so many opportunities for suffering and so few opportunities for glory that only the most tenaciously self-reliant and self-motivated are likely to succeed at it. And yet, at the same time—and this is key—no other sport demands and rewards the complete abandonment of the self the way that rowing does. Great crews may have men or women of exceptional talent or strength; they may have outstanding coxswains or stroke oars or bowmen; but they have no stars. The team effort—the perfectly synchronized flow of muscle, oars, boat, and water; the single, whole, unified, and beautiful symphony that a crew in motion becomes—is all that matters. Not the individual, not the self.”
― Daniel James Brown, The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

“At BearPaw Duck And Meme Farm, our customer service representatives work 24/7 to make sure you are satisfied. If nobody answers your call within five rings, like The Olympics logo, call back in four years.”
― Jarod Kintz, BearPaw Duck And Meme Farm presents: Two Ducks Brawling Is A Pre-Pillow Fight

“Most ducks have legs like orange spatulas. Those must be lazy swimmers. Mine have thighs like Michael Phelps in the summer of 2008.”
― Jarod Kintz, Ducks are the stars of the karaoke bird world

“Your friends will still be your friends, if they're good friends.”
― Jennifer Weiner, Who Do You Love

“First of all, it's life. You don't win.”
― Jennifer Weiner, Who Do You Love

“I am convinced that there is no host in the world today who is both knowledgeable about fine things and more sovereign in power, whom we shall adorn with the glorious folds of song.”
― Pindar, The Olympian and Pythian Odes of Pindar

“If being lazy was an Olympic sport, I would totally win the bronze.”
― Kevin Molesworth, The Rudman Conjecture on Quantum Entanglement

“A pool table is a dining room table, if you wait fifteen minutes after eating to go swimming on it. That's what I tell my ducklings, whom I'm coaching to qualify for The Olympics.”
― Jarod Kintz, BearPaw Duck And Meme Farm presents: Two Ducks Brawling Is A Pre-Pillow Fight

“When people think about farmers, they think about people who grow things. Well, I'm a duck farmer, and what I grow is impatient waiting for some committee to recognize duck farming as an Olympic sport.”
― Jarod Kintz, Music is fluid, and my saxophone overflows when my ducks slosh in the sounds I make in elevators.

“When you first see a Pekin duck waddling across the grass, wobbly and lopsided, you might think it's the most unathletic animal in the world. But if you then watch it swim, you'd realize if there were a Bird Olympics, it wouldn't take gold, but it isn't Eric Moussambani, either.”
― Jarod Kintz, Music is fluid, and my saxophone overflows when my ducks slosh in the sounds I make in elevators.

“When swimming 50 yards, I mowed one of them, and that’s why I never finished the race. If I'd have kept going, I probably could have made The Olympics, but now all I've got to show for my time in the water is 25 ducklings.”
― Jarod Kintz, BearPaw Duck And Meme Farm presents: Two Ducks Brawling Is A Pre-Pillow Fight

“I dance like a dead man rolling out of a coffin, and that's also how Campbell's tastes. But if you fill up a thermos with my Duck Soup, it might help you win the marathon at the next Olympics. I'd like to sponsor your performance.”
― Jarod Kintz, BearPaw Duck And Meme Farm presents: Two Ducks Brawling Is A Pre-Pillow Fight

“If creatively traveling up an escalator on your back were an Olympic sport, every gold medalist would be geriatric. There should be a soap fragrance for muddy ducks that captures that athletic dominance.”
― Jarod Kintz, Music is fluid, and my saxophone overflows when my ducks slosh in the sounds I make in elevators.

“Tak jsem to hodila. Akorát. Ještě o 6 cm víc. A na olympiádu jsem jela. Ve slavnostní náladě, ale s ustrašeným srdcem, protože jsem se nemohla zbavit dojmu, že tam nepatřím, že jsem se tam dostala jen proto, že mám odjakživa štěstí. Emil mě utěšoval. Na olympiádu prý nejezdí jenom samí fanoméni, ale též saláti. To, že mne počítal mezi ty druhé, mě ještě víc mrzelo.”
― Dana Zátopková, Dana a Emil Zátopkovi vypravují...

“Sunday is God's day, and he was committed to honoring it. Just because he was in Paris to compete in the Olympics didn't justify changing his lifelong commitment.”
― Craig Groeschel, Weird: Because Normal Isn't Working

“I don't answer. I shut my eyes and hold my breath and hope whoever it is will think I'm not here and go home.”
― Jennifer Weiner, Who Do You Love

“I'm saying that it's a big decision. Your first love is important. It's part of your story The story you'll tell yourself, the one you'll tell about yourself, for the rest of your life.”
― Jennifer Weiner, Who Do You Love

“Sometimes I wish it has been you.”
― Jennifer Weiner, Who Do You Love

“It was high school. Evil is kind of the name of the game.”
― Jennifer Weiner, Who Do You Love

“Scores give better decision than judges.”
― Amit Kalantri, Wealth of Words

“When it was [Larry] Bird's turn [to sign souvenir Team USA basketballs], he said to [Brian] McIntyre ' What's the quickest it's taken anyone to do this?' McIntyre said between fifteen and twenty minutes. Bird said, 'Time me,' finished in about six minutes, tossed the pen to McIntyre and said, 'Won another one, didn't I?”
― Jack McCallum, Dream Team: How Michael, Magic, Larry, Charles, and the Greatest Team of All Time Conquered the World and Changed the Game of Basketball Forever

“I told Coach, ‘You know, I realize we’ve been working hard for this, but the medal almost doesn’t matter anymore because I feel like you all have elevated me in such a way that I never could have duplicated that.’ The reinforcement of the journey is so valuable, not just the prize or medal hanging around your neck. And we had such a special time pursuing that together.
-- Denna Kastor, 2004 Olympic bronze medalist in the marathon”
― Pat Melgares, Chasing Excellence: The Remarkable Life and Inspiring Vigilosophy of Coach Joe I. Vigil

“Olympics (noun): A Corporate Jamboree revolving around sport. Gold medals are awarded for excellence in product placement, brand positioning, advertising, consumerism, propaganda, brainwashing, mind control, conditioning, and the creation of a false consciousness.”
― Mark Romel, The Rigged Race of Life

“Seeing a sloppy wet penis enter a sloppy wet vagina, from above, going in and out with the practiced tempo of professionals, strikes me as yet another drama for the ages I am meant only to witness, rather than learn from, like the Olympics or presidential debates.”
― Anthony Veasna So, Afterparties

“In a study that examined clothing and athletic performance, researchers found that athletes who wore red clothing in the 2004 Olympic Games won more events than those athletes who wore blue.”
― Cary G. Weldy, The Power of Tattoos: Twelve Hidden Energy Secrets of Body Art Every Tattoo Enthusiast Should Know

“Mihai loomed over me. 'Your choice,' he said encouragingly. 'Do you want to make it because you could have done a little bit more? You can suffer now and be a champion for the rest of your life. Or you can rest and risk a different outcome. Keep pushing, Aly....”
― Aly Raisman, Fierce: How Competing for Myself Changed Everything

“I think we all realized that making the Olympic team could be harder than winning team gold at the Games itself.”
― Aly Raisman, Fierce: How Competing for Myself Changed Everything

“I stood up, leaving a pool of sweat on the mat below. I saw the outline of my body imprinted in sweat on the chalky blue mat. A sweat angel. How gross, I thought. 'Look, Mihai,' I said, pointing at it. 'That's the sign of a hard worker right there.”
― Aly Raisman, Fierce: How Competing for Myself Changed Everything

“Zeros don't make heroes.”
― Martin Uzochukwu Ugwu

“It was the USSR, as an emerging basketball power in the 1950s, that first called on Olympic leaders to officially add women's basketball to the program as a medal sport, a half century after the Fort Shaw girls demonstrated the game in St. Louis. Their first attempt came during a June 1955 meeting of the International Olympic Committee in Paris, where the Soviets asked delegates to vote on the adding women's competitions in volleyball, basketball, speed skating, and rowing, all of which were already open to male athletes.”
― Andrew Maraniss, Inaugural Ballers: The True Story of the First US Women's Olympic Basketball Team