"If you're planning only to make money and nothing else, you'll be broke."
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Quote collection
Haile Gebrselassie quotes (page 2 of 4)
74 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"You know the marathon in my country is just exceptional. It's like soccer in England. If England win the world cup and Ethiopia win the marathon - it's the same."
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"The marathon always starts after 30K. That's where the problems start. You start without any problems, without any pain. All the pain comes after 30K. Sometimes, it's possible to have pain even in the finger."
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"Why should I say I will retire in three or four years? You retire the very moment you utter those words."
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"Many people know that Ethiopia is poor. When I break a world record, maybe people get to know something else about Ethiopia, something good. We can't make planes or cars, we don't have the materials. We do what we can."
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"I feel a social responsibility. We need to open people's eyes. There is a lack of education in Ethiopia."
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"In the rainy season, sometimes to get to the first lesson we had to run really quick, because we had to cross the river to school and we'd have to go up and down the bank to find a place to cross because there is no bridge."
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"In my life I do a lot of things but I never forget my training."
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"When I run in Ethiopia, I look out and see eucalyptus trees and rivers."
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"He was not a runner, my father, but he was quick. I always remember it was very difficult to escape from him when he was angry. If he wanted to beat us he would always catch us. Even me, he could always catch me."
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"Life is a kind of struggle. Life is a sort of fight."
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"Like some high official, you have to tell your brain: 'Do it. Come on. I have to do it.'"
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"My father didn't think running was sensible. He told me running is just wasting time."
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"Since I achieved something, running has exploded in my country. For me sometimes it is difficult even to know who the athletes are who are competing at the highest level. There are thousands."
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"I have to change a lot of things before I become a good marathon runner."
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"That is not enough. Sport has been great for me, a great learning place that if you want to achieve you can, even if you are from the poorest part of Africa."
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"When you talk about world record times, you have to understand that everything must be perfect the weather, the course, the temperature. It is not always enough to be in good shape."
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"When you promise something, you must fulfill it."
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"I'm a runner first before anything else."
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"This hand is not very active always, because it was in this hand that I carried my books. My carrying hand was always my strongest. Now I think my other hand has developed more muscles from signing all those autographs."
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