It was bad enough to have toppled from the Olympic heights to make my living competing with animals. But the competition wasn't even fair. No man could beat a race horse, not even for 100 yards. ... The secret is, first, get a thoroughbred horse because they are the most nervous animals on earth. Then get the biggest gun you can find and make sure the starter fires that big gun right by the nervous thoroughbred's ear.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Owens contrasts his Olympic fame with the absurdity of racing animals, using sarcasm to highlight unfair comparisons.
- In plain terms
- Beating horses is impossible, so I used a loud gun to scare them.
- What can you take from it?
- Use wit to expose when comparisons or expectations are unreasonable.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why do people compare athletes to animals?
- How do you handle unfair comparisons?
Another view
The story relies on a joke and not a serious historical account.
More from Jesse Owens
After I came home from the 1936 Olympics with my four medals, it became increasingly apparent that everyone was going to slap me on the back, want to shake my …
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Permalink to quote #19 It dawned on me with blinding brightness. I realized: I had jumped into another rare kind of stratosphere - one that only a handful of people in every generati…
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