153 Quotes by Shawn Johnson

Were taught at such a young age that you can always be better and that youre never perfect and that youre never good enough.

My coach, Liang Chow, had one rule while I was training for the 2008 Olympics: no skiing. I could do anything I wanted outside the gym, he said, except ski.

Of course, when you're training your whole life to get to the Olympics, you train for gold.

Gymnastics has made me strong. I feel like it broke me down to my lowest point, but at the same time, it has given me the greatest strength anyone could ask for.

I know how much more I need to do to be where I want.

Gymnastics is so complex.

I had a constant fear, a constant little doubt in my mind: 'OK, I'm getting ready to do my standing back full on beam and I might re-tear my ACL.'

I set my phone with motivational quotes to go off on random days and times. Like, 'You're stronger than you think you are.' I'll forget about it, then one will pop up and it'll give me a little boost.

Something my mom taught me when I was little is that everything happens for a reason. Retiring was scary and it was tough to give up gymnastics, but so many great opportunities have come from it that I never expected. And those wouldn't have happened had I not accepted my injury as a way to try something new.