I know black women in Tennessee who have worked all their lives, from the time they were twelve years old to the day they died. These women don't listen to the women's liberation rhetoric because they know that it's nothing but a bunch of white women who had certain life-styles and who want to change those life-styles.

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I can't' are two words that have never been in my vocabulary. I believe in me more than anything in this world.

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The triumph can't be had without the struggle. And I know what struggle is. I have spent a lifetime trying to share what it has meant to be a woman first in the world of sports so that other young women have a chance to reach their dreams.

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I don't know why I run so fast. I just run.

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I don't consciously try to be a role model, so I don't know if I am or not. That's for other people to decide.

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When I was going through my transition of being famous, I tried to ask God, why was I here? What was my purpose? Surely, it wasn't just to win three gold medals. There has to be more to this life than that.

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Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us.

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The potential for greatness lives within us all.

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The triumph can't be had without the struggle.

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By the time I was 12 I was challenging every boy in our neighborhood at running, jumping, everything.

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