Maybe it’s simply that things have meaning because we decide they have meaning. We stick with something because we believe it will be meaningful, and sometimes it becomes meaningful for no other reason than the fact that we stuck with it.

As kids, we’re taught to play. And we’re never given a reason why we should play. It’s just acceptable that play is a good thing. … I think, as adults, we need to learn that there’s no right or wrong way to play.

“If you feel good, slow down. If you feel bad, eat something.” So I ate something.

If you want to run and you have a nagging injury or pain, you essentially become an addict who has a problem that is obviously caused by the thing they’re addicted to, and will search tirelessly for a solution, any solution, that will make their problem go away—except quitting the thing they’re addicted to. Or maybe that’s just me.

when they plotted the energy expenditure of carrying a baby to full term, something that had been measured in earlier studies, they found that pregnancy requires about the same level of energy as the endurance activities that we find to be so impressive.

Another beauty of endurance is that it is happening at all times. It is everywhere we look. To see someone, anyone, in this world is to witness someone engaged in a feat of endurance. That’s what struck me, each time I went out to Queens. How ordinary it felt to be there. How un-crazy the whole thing was. One tragedy of living in this world is the

“You know what I like about mountaineering? It feels so good when you stop.”

When you’ve lived in a cage, you can’t bear not to run, even if what you’re running toward is an illusion.