Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
The biggest problem with dyslexic kids is not the perceptual problem, it is their perception of themselves. That was my biggest problem.
I'm so happy after such a long struggle to be living my true self. Welcome to the world, Caitlyn. Can't wait for you to get to know her/me.
I spent twelve years training for a career that was over in a week. Joe Namath spent one week training for a career that lasted twelve years.
'Esquire Magazine' just gave me 'Father of the Year'. I'll put it right up there with my gold medal. I survived; that's why they gave it to me.
It hurts every day when you practice hard, but when this decathlon is over, I got the rest of my life to recuperate. Who cares how bad it hurts?
My greatest gift in life was being dyslexic. It made me special. It made me different. If I had not been dyslexic, I wouldn't have needed sports.
Everybody wants to have a partner; everybody would love to have a family, and for trans people, sometimes that can be extraordinarily difficult to do.
Sometimes I feel so separated, you know? The Kardashians over here, the Jenners over here, little me in the middle. We've got to keep the family going.
There's nothing more, nothing better in life to wake up in the morning, look at yourself in the mirror, and feel comfortable with yourself and who you are.
The next great decathlete is going to be a runner. I still feel that a Dan O'Brien, if he was a runner and not a sprinter, could have gone over 9,000 points.
I don't have anything Olympic in our house - no pictures, none of that stuff. Consciously I do that. With 10 children, I don't want to hold that over their heads.
COPD includes chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or both. Over time, it makes it harder and harder to breathe because less air is able to flow in and out of the lungs.
It's important for people to recognize that they shouldn't ignore symptoms like shortness of breath or a cough that won't go away, because these may be signs of COPD.
I have found that women have so much unleashed power that they don't really utilize because they don't have confidence in themselves about who they are and what they can do.
Honestly, since the Diane Sawyer piece, every day it's like, it's exciting to go to the mailbox... Because I get letters every day from all of these people from all over the world.
If I win the gold medal, I will be set for the rest of my life. The medal itself doesn't give you anything, but it makes you a marketable item. You take it and see what you can do.
Living by myself out in Malibu has been really good. I kind of have my freedom; I've got a whole house to myself. The tough part comes when sometimes, you know, you get pretty lonely.
The 'Vanity Fair' article was interesting to do because it was the first time I ever really had the opportunity to be absolutely truthful with a reporter about every aspect of my life.
If you are dyslexic, your eyes work fine, your brain works fine, but there is a little short circuit in the wire that goes between the eye and the brain. Reading is not a fluid process.
You still think we can go out there, and we can all run the mile in four minutes, you know, your mind still thinks that, but then you go out and actually try to do it, it's kind of scary.
That's the most important thing you do in your life - raise children and try to do the best job as a parent and give your kids the best shot in life to go out there into the big, bad world.
I didn't only have a perceptual problem, I was also so nervous and so upset. The process just didn't work. I lost enthusiasm for school and I flunked second grade. The teachers said I was lazy.
Waving the flag at the 1976 Olympics wasn't my idea. It was too much apple pie and ice cream. Not that I don't love my country, but I felt it was my victory up there, I put all the time into it.
I spent 12 years of my life, the last six years training six to eight hours a day, every day of my life. At the time, when I was 20 to 26, I could do things like that, and you're not going to notice it.
I am not a spokesperson for the trans community, I am not. The media kind of projects me as being the spokesperson, but from my standpoint, I am not. I am a spokesperson for my story, and that's all I can tell.
It caused more problems as a young kid, because the simple process of perceiving words on a piece of paper was hard for me. Many people think dyslexic people see things backwards. They don't see things backwards.
When the time comes for your brain to process the information, the second word comes up faster than the first one. So when it's in your head, all of a sudden, it comes out backwards and you think of the word backwards.
I called Daley Thompson after the Games of '84, when he won. He'd had this phenomenal decathlon for nine events - and then he went out there and jogged the 1,500 meters and missed the world record by, like, three points.
I used to play a lot of tennis and then, next thing you know, same thing with tennis. That banging on the knees, the jarring, twisting motion - I couldn't do it. All of a sudden, every time I played, my knee would swell up.
We have a rich tradition here in the United States of great decathletes, which is amazing 'cause we have absolutely no program to develop these guys. Zero. There's nothing. They do it on their own, just like I did back in '76.
If I had not been dyslexic, I wouldn't have needed sports. I would have been like every other kid. Instead, I found my one thing, and I was never going to let go of it. That little dyslexic kid is always in the back of your head.
I learned that the only way you are going to get anywhere in life is to work hard at it. Whether you're a musician, a writer, an athlete or a businessman, there is no getting around it. If you do, you'll win - if you don't, you won't.
Gamble, cheat, lie, and steal. Let me explain: Gamble for your best shot in life - dare to take risks. Cheat those who would have you be less than you are. Lie in the arms of those you love. And finally, steal every moment of happiness.
In the fifth grade I discovered something I could do better than the other kids. One day, the teacher set up a bunch of chairs, and she had everyone run to the chairs and back while she timed us. I had the fastest time in the whole school!
If I wasn't dyslexic, I probably wouldn't have won the Games. If I had been a better reader, then that would have come easily, sports would have come easily... and I never would have realized that the way you get ahead in life is hard work.
The truth is everybody does it from time to time. People dial telephone numbers and they get a wrong number only to find that they've read the last two digits backwards. Everybody does it, but dyslexics have this tendency to a higher degree.
Decathletes have to train for every event: sprints one day, field events the next. You pump up to make yourself strong enough to throw? Try pole vaulting at 250 pounds. There are 32 guys in most decathlons, and they're in 32 little track meets.
Life wasn't easy growing up; it was frustrating. If I had been a better reader, then that would have come easily, sports would have come easily, everything would have come easily, and I never would have realized that the way you get ahead in life is hard work.
So many people go through life, and they never deal with their own issues, no matter what the issues are - ours happen to be gender identity. But, how many people go through life and just waste an entire life 'cause they'd never deal with themselves to be who they are.
What I went through in 1976, it's the same today: It's about all the pressure that you feel, the anxiety, the family, and everything that surrounds the Games, and then getting there knowing this is your big chance, and you're able to come through. It's such a satisfying thing.
My wife Kris and I enjoy keeping an active lifestyle, so it's hard to imagine what it would be like if breathing problems kept me from participating in the activities I love to do. But that's exactly what happens to many people who develop COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
I had a lot of conversations with my family, my close friends, with my pastor, with God, and kind of came to a revelation that maybe I should be honest with myself about who I am and let that person - this woman who has lived inside me for my entire life - finally have an opportunity to live.