"Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives. - John Adams"

"If you get down about the state of American culture, just remember there are still more public libraries in this country than there are McDonalds."

"Nothing ever invented provides such sustenance, such infinite reward for time spent, as a good book."

"History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are."

"Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That's why it's so hard." (Interview with NEH chairman Bruce Cole, Humanities, July/Aug. 2002, Vol. 23/No. 4)"

"There is no going back in life. There is no return. No second chance."

"Wrestling has been a way of life with me day in and day out. I won't get too far away from it. I might walk through the wrestling room once a week. I could go every day if I wanted. But just walk through, make sure it's still there."

"Wrestling is the only sport I've ever competed in that puts you totally in a situation of constant motion without breaks. I could play football or baseball, swim -- but there's always some kind of situation that would break my thoughts, break my concentration."

"The obvious goals were there- State Champion, NCAA Champion, Olympic Champion. To get there I had to set an everyday goal which was to push myself to exhaustion or, in other words, to work so hard in practice that someone would have to carry me off the mat."

"You can't ever work too much because there's no such thing as being in too good condition. You can't ever lift too many weights because you can't ever get too strong. You can't ever wrestle too much because you can always do better."

"If you want to train and work hard 3 months out of the year, well, then, UNI is a great place to go. If you want to bust your tail 6 months out of the year, you should be very happy at ISU. But if you want to train and develop into a champion 12 months out of the year, then Iowa is the place for you."

"When I lifted weights, I didn't lift just to maintain my muscle tone. I lifted to increase what I already had, to push to a new limit. Every time I worked, I was getting a little better. I kept moving that limit back and back. Every time I walked out of the gym, I was a little better than when I walked in."

"A clean, hard-fought wrestling match is the most honest of athletic contests. There is no technological interventions, no teammates to blame, no panel of judges to bias the score. In wrestling, you compete or you quit. No alibis. I like that"

"Wrestlers are a little more dedicated than, and are different from, the other people, which may be strange."

"There's nothing like success."

"I don't think college wrestling is in danger of extinction by any means. But I am concerned if one program drops."

"I've never changed my life since I was 4 and went to the YMCA with a gym bag. I still have that philosophy. In fact, I still have that gym bag."

"I've been a fanatic about working out all my life."

"Pain is nothing compared to what it feels like to quit. Give everything you got today for tomorrow may never come."

"Determination is the strength needed to succeed."

"Talent is everywhere, winning attitude is not."

"There is no mat space for malcontents or dissenters. One must neither celebrate insanely when he wins, nor sulk when he loses. He accepts victory professionally, humbly; he hates defeat, but makes no poor display of it."

"Always remember the pain of defeat, and never let it happen again."

"Great wrestlers make other wrestlers great"