Lots of inspirational quotes for life in general, but many also applicable to endurance athletes: www.boogle.com
It’s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believe in myself. – Muhammad Ali
Failure is failure only when we stop trying anymore. – Sri Chinmoy
The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials. – Chinese proverb or Seneca?
Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe. – Gail Devers
Some men see things as they are and say, “Why?” I dream of things that never were and say, “Why not?” – George Bernhard Shaw
Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.
– George Bernard Shaw
I want to be all used up when I die.
– George Bernard Shaw
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. – Mark Twain
All can be done, if the God-touch is there. – Sri Aurobindo
If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things. – Albert Einstein
Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.
– Chinese proverb
To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe. – Anatole France
You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. – C.S. Lewis
Self–transcendence brings us the message of happiness. – Sri Chinmoy
If you can dream it, you can do it. – Walt Disney
All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them. – Walt Disney
How could there be any question of acquiring or possessing, when the one thing needful for a man is to become – to be at last, and to die in the fullness of his being. – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The one thing that matters is the effort. – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
When we are dreaming alone it is only a dream. When we are dreaming with others, it is the beginning of reality. – Dom Helder Camara
Hand to hand, heart to heart, we can change the world. – Lynne Cox, in “Swimming to Antarctica”
“When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. “ – Harriet Beecher Stowe (author of “Uncle Tom’s Hut”)
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Sir Winston Churchill
“If you are going through hell, keep going.” – Sir Winston Churchill
“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.” – Thomas Jefferson
“Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.” – William Faulkner
“Determination can change your mind. Determination can change your heart. Determination can change your life altogether.” – Sri Chinmoy
‘Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it!’ – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Be realistic: aim for the impossible.” – from a t-shirt of Freda “The General” Streeter, mother of Alison Streeter, Queen of the Channel
“Channel swimming is 80% mental, 20% the rest.” – Alison Streeter, Queen of the Channel
“The journey is what brings us happiness, not the destination.” Dan Millman (Way of the Peaceful Warrior)
“The determination in your heroic effort
Will permeate your mind and heart
Even after your success or failure
Is long forgotten.”
– Sri Chinmoy
And one of my favourite triathlon inspiration aphorisms or poems from the back of a T-shirt from the Sri Chinmoy Canberra Ultra-Triathlon 1998:
“I swim in the sea
of silver light.
I cycle along the road
of gold delight.
I run with the smile
of the beyond.”
– Sri Chinmoy
“Common does not change the world.” – from a video about Lewis Gordon Pugh
“If you want to swim across the English Channel from England to France – you have to leave your doubt on the beach in England.” – Lewis Gordon Pugh
“Individual self-transcendence collectively inspires humanity at large.” – Sri Chinmoy
Inspirational quotes posted on the Channel Chat group:
“If” – by Rudyard Kipling (video-recitation by Robert Morley)
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” – Marianne Williamson
“We are all God’s children.
But world-peace-dreamers,
world-peace-lovers
and world-peace-servers
are undoubtedly
God’s choicest children.”
– Sri Chinmoy
(You are welcome to use quotes from this page, but please include the author when quoting. Thanks!)
Marathon Monks
“In the last 300 days of the marathon, the focus shifts…a balance is struck between practise for one’s own sake and practise for the benefit of all. At the end, the marathon monk has become one with the mountain…The joy of practise has been discovered…The stars and sky, the stones, the plants, and the trees, have become the monks trusted companions; he can predict the week’s weather by the shape of the clouds, the direction of the wind, and the smell of the air…and he takes special delight in that magic moment of the day when the moon sets and the sun rises, poised in the centre of creation”.
Another great source for inspiring quotes about awareness, life, its challenges and beauty:
https://www.zenmoments.org/ and https://twitter.com/#!/@Zen_Moments
“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and your discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.” ~ Patanjali (Wikiquote)