Quotes from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're the lion or a gazelle-when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“You don't stop running because you get old, you get old because you stop running.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“The reason we race isn't so much to beat each other,... but to be with each other.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“If you don't have answers to your problems after a four-hour run, you ain't getting them.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“That was the real secret of the Tarahumara: they'd never forgotten what it felt like to love running. They remembered that running was mankind's first fine art, our original act of inspired creation. Way before we were scratching pictures on caves or beating rhythms on hollow trees, we were perfecting the art of combining our breath and mind and muscles into fluid self-propulsion over wild terrain. And when our ancestors finally did make their first cave paintings, what were the first designs? A downward slash, lightning bolts through the bottom and middle--behold, the Running Man.
Distance running was revered because it was indispensable; it was the way we survived and thrived and spread across the planet. You ran to eat and to avoid being eaten; you ran to find a mate and impress her, and with her you ran off to start a new life together. You had to love running, or you wouldn't live to love anything else. And like everyhing else we ove--everything we sentimentally call our 'passions' and 'desires' it's really an encoded ancestral necessity. We were born to run; we were born because we run. We're all Running People, as the Tarahumara have always known.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“You don't have to be fast. But you'd better be fearless.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“Suffering is humbling. It pays to know how to get your butt kicked.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“We've got a motto here-you're tougher than you think you are, and you can do more than you think you can.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“...there was some kind of connection between the capacity to love and the capacity to love *running*. The engineering was certainly the same: both depended on loosening your grip on your own desires, putting aside what you wanted and appreciating what you've got, being patient and forgiving and... undemanding...maybe we shouldn't be surprised that getting better at one could make you better at the other.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“There's something so universal about that sensation, the way running unites our two most primal impulses: fear and pleasure. We run when we're scared, we run when we're ecstatic, we run away from our problems and run around for a good time.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“Make friends with pain, and you will never be alone.~Ken Chlouber, Colorado miner and creator of the Leadville Trail 100 mile race”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“If you don't think you were born to run you're not only denying history. You're denying who you are.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“There are two goddesses in your heart,” he told them. “The Goddess of Wisdom and the Goddess of Wealth. Everyone thinks they need to get wealth first, and wisdom will come. So they concern themselves with chasing money. But they have it backwards. You have to give your heart to the Goddess of Wisdom, give her all your love and attention, and the Goddess of Wealth will become jealous, and follow you.” Ask nothing from your running, in other words, and you’ll get more than you ever imagined.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“Perhaps all our troubles - all the violence, obesity, illness, depression, and greed we can't overcome - began when we stopped living as Running People. Deny your nature, and it will erupt in some other, uglier way.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“Nearly all runners do their slow runs too fast, and their fast runs too slow." Ken Mierke says. "So they're just training their bodies to burn sugar, which is the last thing a distance runner wants. You've got enough fat stored to run to California, so the more you train your body to burn fat instead of sugar, the longer your limited sugar tank is going to last."
-The way to activate your fat-burning furnace is by staying below your aerobic threshold--your hard-breathing point--during your endurance runs.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“But you can't muscle through a five-hour run that way; you have to relax into it like easing your body into a hot bath, until it no longer resists the shock and begins to enjoy it.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“We run when we're scared, we run when we're ecstatic, we run away from our problems and run around for a good time.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“Sometimes,' she said, 'it takes a woman to bring out the best in a man.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“But yeah, Ann [Trason] insisted, running was romantic; and no, of course her friends didn't get it because they'd never broken through. For them, running was a miserable two miles motivated solely by size 6 jeans: get on the scale, get depressed, get your headphones on, and get it over with. But you can't muscle through a five-hour run that way; you have to relax into it, like easing your body into a hot bath, until it no longer resists the shock and begins to enjoy it.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“We were born to run; we were born because we run.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“Blaming the running injury epidemic on big, bad Nike seems too easy - but that's okay, because it's largely their fault.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“-The reason we race isn't so much to beat each other but to be with each other.
-The Hopis consider running a form of prayer; they offer every step as a sacrifice to a loved one, and in return ask the Great Spirit to match their strength with some of his own.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“We wouldn't be alive without love we wouldn't have survived without running maybe we shouldn't be surprised that getting better at one could make you better at the other.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“That was the real secret of the Tarahumara: they'd never forgotten what it felt like to love running. They remembered that running was mankind's first fine art, our original act of inspired creation.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“Distance running was revered because it was indispensable; it was the way we survived and thrived and spread across the planet. You ran to eat and to avoid being eaten; you ran to find a mate and impress her, and with her you ran off to start a new life together. You had to love running, or you wouldn't live to love anything else. And like everything else we love-everything we sentimentally call our 'passions' and 'desires'-it's really an encoded ancestral necessity. We were born to run; we were born because we run.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“Lisa Smith-Batchen, the amazingly sunny and pixie-tailed ultrarunner from Idaho who trained through blizzards to win a six-day race in the Sahara, talks about exhaustion as if it's a playful pet. 'I love the Beast,' she says. 'I actually look forward to the Beast showing up, because every time he does, I handle him better. I get him more under control.' Once the Beast arrives, Lisa knows what she has to deal with and can get down to work. And isn't that the reason she's running through the desert in the first place-to put her training to work? To have a friendly little tussle with the Beast and show it who's boss? You can't hate the Beast and expect to beat it; the only way to truly conquer something, as every great philosopher and geneticist will tell you , is to love it.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“When I'm out on a long run," she continued, "the only thing in life that matters is finishing the run. For once, my brain isn't going blehblehbleh all the time. Everything quiets down, and the only thing going on is pure flow. It's jus time and the movement and the motion.That's what love--just being a barbarian, running through the woods.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“Only recently have we come up with the technology to turn lazing around into a way of life. We've taken our sinewy, durable, hunter-gatherer bodies and plunked them into an artificial world of leisure.”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

“You ran to eat and to avoid being eaten; you ran to find a mate and impress her, and with her you ran off to start a new life together. You had to love running, or you wouldn’t live to love anything else…We were born to run; we were born because we run”
― Christopher McDougall, quote from Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, The Ultra-runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

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“Romans 14 The Danger of Criticism 1 Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. 2 For instance, one person believes it’s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. 3 Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t. And those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord’s help, they will stand and receive his approval. 5 In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable. 6 Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor him. Those who eat any kind of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who refuse to eat certain foods also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God. 7 For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. 8 If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 Christ died and rose again for this very purpose—to be Lord both of the living and of the dead. 10 So why do you condemn another believer[*]? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For the Scriptures say,    “‘As surely as I live,’ says the LORD,    ‘every knee will bend to me,        and every tongue will declare allegiance to God.[*]’” 12 Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. 13 So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall. 14 I know and am convinced on the authority of the Lord Jesus that no food, in and of itself, is wrong to eat. But if someone believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong. 15 And if another believer is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it. Don’t let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died. 16 Then you will not be criticized for doing something you believe is good. 17 For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. 19 So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up. 20 Don’t tear apart the work of God over what you eat. Remember, all foods are acceptable, but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble.[*] 22 You may believe there’s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. 23 But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.[*]”
― quote from Holy Bible: New Living Translation

“Death is the expression of exhaustion, a solution arrived at rationally once one has known the deepest depths of tiredness.”
― Zhou Weihui, quote from Shanghai Baby

“Sugar Beth detected the movement and shot him a look that challenged not only his manhood but also his very right to exist on the planet.”
― Susan Elizabeth Phillips, quote from Ain't She Sweet

“He slid his hand onto Riley's bare abdomen. "I got to thinkin' that a few years down the line, when yer older, what if that was our baby and I could feel it right here under my hand. Feel the life we'd created."
Riley's eyes moistened. "Girl or boy?"
"Doesn't matter. If it's a girl, we can name her after my gran. Her name was Emily Rose."
"Hmm...I like that. Maybe the boy could be Paul Arthur, like my dad."
"Yeah, that works. But that's all the way down the line, isn't it?" It might never come to pass.”
― Jana Oliver, quote from Foretold

“The easy way is not always the right way.”
― Darren Shan, quote from The Thin Executioner

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