The road to the Olympics, leads to no city, no country. It goes far beyond New York or Moscow, ancient Greece or Nazi Germany. The road to the Olympics leads β in the end β to the best within us.
Jesse OwensRead
Friendships born on the field of athletic strife are the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True friendships formed through shared challenges in sports are more valuable than any award.
Jesse Owens emphasizes that the bonds formed through the trials and challenges of athletic competition hold far greater significance than trophies and accolades. While awards may tarnish and lose their luster over time, the friendships that emerge from shared experiences in sports remain enduring and precious, highlighting the importance of camaraderie and connection over material recognition.
Themes
FriendshipCompetitionAthleticsValueCamaraderie
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech at a sports awards ceremony to highlight the importance of friendships over trophies.
More from Jesse Owens
All quotes βIf you don't try to win you might as well hold the Olympics in somebody's back yard. The thrill of competing carries with it the thrill of a gold medal. One wants to win to prove himself the best.
Jesse OwensRead
A lifetime of training for just ten seconds.
Jesse OwensRead
In the end, it's extra effort that separates a winner from second place. But winning takes a lot more that that, too. It starts with complete command of the fundamentals. Then it takes desire, determination, discipline, and self-sacrifice. And finally, it takes a great deal of love, fairness and respect for your fellow man. Put all these together, and even if you don't win, how can you lose?
Jesse OwensRead
When I came back, after all those stories about Hitler and his snub, I came back to my native country, and I could not ride in the front of the bus. I had to go to the back door. I couldn't live where I wanted. Now what's the difference?
Jesse OwensRead
I wanted no part of politics. And I wasn't in Berlin to compete against any one athlete. The purpose of the Olympics, anyway, was to do your best. As I'd learned long ago from Charles Riley, the only victory that counts is the one over yourself.
Jesse OwensRead
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A blessed thing it is to have a friend; one human soul whom we can trust utterly; who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults; who will speak the honest truth to us, while the world flatters us to our face, and laughs at us behind our back; who will give us counsel and reproof in a day of prosperity and self-conceit; but who, again, will comfort and encourage us in days of difficulty and sorrow, when the world leaves us alone to fight our own battle as we can.
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But the best, in my opinion, was the home life in the little flat--the ardent, voluble chats after the day's study; the cozy dinners and fresh, light breakfasts; the interchange of ambitions--ambitions interwoven each with the other's or else inconsiderable--the mutual help and inspiration; and--overlook my artlessness--stuffed olives and cheese sandwiches at 11 p.m.
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