64 Quotes by Wilma Rudolph

Never Underestimate the Power of Dreams and the Influence of the Human Spirit.

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.

But when you come from a large, wonderful family, there’s always a way to achieve your goals.

It doesn’t matter what you’re trying to accomplish. It’s all a matter of discipline. I was determined to discover what life held for me beyond the inner-city streets.

When I ran, I felt like a butterfly that was free.

After the scarlet fever and the whooping cough, I remember I started to get mad about it all... I went through the stage of asking myself, 'Wilma, what is this existence all about? Is it about being sick all the time? It can't be.' So I started getting angry about things, fighting back in a new way with a vengeance.

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.

Down South, there was the old 'ladies-don't-do-such-things' way of thinking. You couldn't be a lady and a good athlete at the same time.

No one has a life where everything that happened was good. I think the thing that made life good for me is that I never looked back. I've always been positive, no matter what happened.