Sir Roger Bannister, the legendary runner, passed away this weekend. He made history in 1954 by breaking the four-minute mile barrier, a feat widely thought impossible. Even Roger, a  medical student at the time, doubted it could be done — but he laced on his shoes and did it anyway. A gathering of Roger’s wisdom and winning mindset to inspire us:

“It is the brain, not the heart or lungs, that is the critical organ.”

“However ordinary each of us may seem, we are all in some way special, and can do things that are extraordinary, perhaps until then…even thought impossible.”

“Just because they say it’s impossible, doesn’t mean you can’t do it.”

“The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful will win.”

“Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must move faster than the lion or it will not survive. Every morning a lion wakes up and it knows it must move faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn’t matter if you are the lion or the gazelle, when the sun comes up, you better be moving.”

“Sport is not about being wrapped up in cotton wool. Sports is about adapting to the unexpected and being able to modify plans at the last minute. Sports, like all life, is about taking risks.”“I trained for less than three-quarters of an hour, maybe five days a week – I didn’t have time to do more. But it was all about quality, not quantity – so I didn’t waste time jogging, ever.”

“Sport, like all of life, is about taking your chances.”

“We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves.”

“The human spirit is indomitable. No one can ever say you must not run faster than this or jump higher than that. There will never be a time when the human spirit will not be able to better existing records.”

“To move into the lead means making an act requiring fierceness and confidence. But fear must place some part…no relaxation is possible, and all discretion is thrown into the wind.”

“The reason that sports is attractive to many of the general public is that it’s filled with reversals. What you think may happen doesn’t happen. A champion is beaten, an unknown becomes a champion.”

“Every time I ran the mile, I was aware of my own weakness, there was some opponent who could give me a hell of a fight, so I never went into a race with a sense of invincibility. I always had the feeling of fragility and nerves which made me run faster.”

“Without the concentration of the mind and the will, performance would not result.”

“No longer conscious of my movement, I discovered a new unity with nature. I had found a new source of power and beauty, a source I never dreamt existed.”

Inspirited and energized by Roger’s rambunctious spirit, let’s all write on!