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Running teaches us to live well. For such a simple and basic movement, the act of running has been uplifting our spirits and inspiring our minds for generations. These great running quotes are filled with timeless truths.

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“ Act like a horse. Be dumb. Just run. - Jumbo Elliot

“ If you can fill the unforgiving minute with 60 seconds worth of distance, run, yours is the earth and everything that’s in it, and — which is more — you’ll be a man, my son - Rudyard Kipling

“ Running is a road to self-awareness and reliance-you can push yourself to extremes and learn the harsh reality of your physical and mental limitations or coast quietly down a solitary path watching the earth spin beneath your feet. - Doris Brown Heritage

“ Most people run a race to see who is fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts. - Steve Prefontaine

“ Your body will argue that there is no justifiable reason to continue. Your only recourse is to call on your spirit, which fortunately functions independently of logic. - Tim Noakes

“ Remember, the feeling you get from a good run is far better than the feeling you get from sitting around wishing you were running. - Sarah Condor

“ A runner must run with dreams in his heart. - Emil Zatopek

“ The biggest mistake an athlete can make is to be afraid of making one. - L. Ron Hubbard

“ Out on the roads there is fitness and self-discovery and the persons we were destined to be. - Dr. George Sheehan

“ If you want to become the best runner you can be, start now. Don’t spend the rest of your life wondering if you can do it. - Priscilla Welch

“ I always loved running…it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs. - Jesse Owens

“ Believe that you can run farther or faster. Believe that you’re young enough, old enough, strong enough, and so on to accomplish everything you want to do. Don’t let worn-out beliefs stop you from moving beyond yourself. - John Bingham

“ We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves…The more restricted our society and work become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving for freedom. No one can say, ‘You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.’ The human spirit is indomitable. - Roger Bannister

“ Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. - Haruki Murakami

“ 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. - Maurice Greene

“ Go fast enough to get there, but slow enough to see. - Jimmy Buffett

“ Running isn’t a sport for pretty boys…It’s about the sweat in your hair and the blisters on your feet. Its the frozen spit on your chin and the nausea in your gut. It’s about throbbing calves and cramps at midnight that are strong enough to wake the dead. It’s about getting out the door and running when the rest of the world is only dreaming about having the passion that you need to live each and every day with. - Paul Maurer

“ In my case, I thoroughly enjoy running 100-odd miles a week. If I didn’t I wouldn’t do it. Who can define happiness? To some, happiness is a warm puppy or a glass of cold beer. To me, happiness is running in the hills with my mates around me. - Ron Clarke

“ If one could run without getting tired I don’t think one would often want to do anything else. - C.S. Lewis

“ I run because long after my footprints fade away, maybe I will have inspired a few to reject the easy path, hit the trails, put one foot in front of the other, and come to the same conclusion I did: I run because it always takes me where I want to go. - Dean Karnazes

“ I have met my hero, and he is me. - George Sheehan

“ People sometimes sneer at those who run every day, claiming they’ll go to any length to live longer. But don’t think that’s the reason most people run. Most runners run not because they want to live longer, but because they want to live life to the fullest. - Haruki Murakami

“ The body is given out on loan – don’t waste it and expect to use it tomorrow. - Shapiro

“ Nothing is more certain than the defeat of a man who gives up. - George Sheehan

“ Running strips life back to the bare essentials. When we challenge ourselves, it breaks down barriers. It brings us back to our essence and peels away the layers of ego we surround ourselves with. Many a grown man or woman will cry during or when finishing a marathon: long regarded as the ultimate achievement in the running world. Emotions flow freely, the struggle is obvious and most of the competition is with yourself. - Grahak Cunningham

“ Now bid me run, and I will strive with things impossible. - Shakespeare

“ Run often. Run long. But never outrun your joy of running. - Julie Isphording

“ As we run, we become. - Amby Burfoot

“ I always thought of running as just dancing forward. - Tom Hiddleston