Quotes by John Bingham

“Frustration is the first step towards improvement. I have no incentive to improve if I’m content with what I can do and if I’m completely satisfied with my pace, distance and form as a runner. It’s only when I face frustration and use it to fuel my dedication that I feel myself moving forwards.”

“The third-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the majority. The second-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the minority. The first-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking.”

“No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets.”

“If you want to become the best runner you can be, start now. Dont spend the rest of your life wondering if you can do it.”

“Faith must have adequate evidence, else it is mere superstition.”

“Great people and great athletes realize early in their lives their destiny, and accept it. Even if they do not consciously realize the how, the where, the what.”

“I begin to think, that a calm is not desirable in any situation in life ... Man was made for action and for bustle too, I believe.”

“I think it sounds like a good, positive move.”

“The miracle isnt that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.”

“Were getting to drastic options. We dont have any easy ones left.”

“Weve been [carving up space] for so long, there isnt any space left.”

“First get the report to the members of the City Council, let them have time to read and digest it, and then talk about a meeting date.”

“When the city asks a question, we need prompt answers from NDEQ,”

The miracle isnt that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.

It was being a runner that mattered, not how fast or how far I could run. The joy was in the act of running and in the journey, not in the destination. We have a better chance of seeing where we are when we stop trying to get somewhere else. We can enjoy every moment of movement, as long as where we are is as good as where wed like to be. Thats not to say that you need to be satisfied forever with where you are today. But you need to honor what youve accomplished, rather than thinking of whats left to be done (p. 159).

What you learn is often determined by what you need to know. If you think youre weak, you will learn that you are strong. If you think you are indestructible, you will learn that you are fragile. In the end though, you will learn that you are human. You are no more and no less than all those who are learning their lessons as you learn yours.

Im not sure who invented dodgeball, but I can almost guarantee you that it wasnt the shortest kid in the class.

Crossing the starting line may be an act of courage, but crossing the finish line is an act of faith. Faith is what kepes us going when nothing else will. Faith is the emotion that will give you victory over your past, the demons in your soul, & all of those voices that tell you what you can & cannot do & can & cannot be.

Long Distance training can be a positive & constructive form of selfishness. After all, once youre at the starting line, youre there by yourself. No one can run a single step for you. No one can jump in & help you. No one but you can make the decisions about what to do to keep going. Its all up to you.

As a runner, you have to face the truth about yourself on a regular basis, and it makes you more honest. You cant pretend to be faster than you are. You cant pretend that you are better prepared than you are. You cannot pretend to be a runner, you actually have to run.