Best 50 quotes of Carl Lewis on MyQuotes

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.

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.

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.

At the end of the day, if you're a professional athlete in track and field you are the CEO of your company.

Channel your energy. Focus.

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.

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.

I always separated sports and my personal life.

I always wanted to be wealthy. I did.

I don't feel I'm qualified to be a coach outside the high school level. I think I would need to do more education to really be a good coach.

I enjoy my life, I love track, I'm set for life financially.

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.

If you don't have confidence, you'll always find a way not to win.

If you go by other people's opinions or predictions, you'll just end up talking yourself out of something. If you're running down the track of life thinking that it's impossible to break life's records, those thoughts have a funny way of sinking into your feet.

I have no intention of lingering through a season, just to have a chance to be an alternate on a relay. I don't want that.

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.

I like the pressure of having to perform so people will come to me.

I'm a businessman and actor and I still make appearances.

I'm a fast learner. I may not run as fast as I used to, but I think I still learn as fast.

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.

I'm not Carl Lewis the athlete any more. I'm growing into a new person with new interests and new goals.

I'm not running for state Senate because I wanted to become a politician. I'm running because I wanted to serve.

I'm not supposed to be able to speak clearly, and decipher what's going on in the media. I'm supposed to be the typical amateur who's 22 and scared to death and can't believe he won the Olympics.

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.

I never competed against athletes. I competed against perfection.

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.

It's all about the journey, not the outcome.

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.

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.

I want to be a millionaire, and I don't ever want a real job.

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.

I work with the Carl Lewis Foundation focusing on youth from high school down.

I wouldn't be surprised if one day Carl's halo slipped and choked him.

Join me in the final race to smash poverty and achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals

Life is about timing and overcoming difficult things.

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.

'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.

My best year of track competition was the first year I ate a vegan diet.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

There is no correlation between a childhood success and a professional athlete.

The trials on the road to world harmony are no greater than the courage of those who accept the challenge.

To this day, most people think of me as the fastest human. They don't really think me as a long jumper, although that's the event I had more success in.

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.

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.

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.

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.