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(After 2nd Tour de France Win):
1. “Things take place, there is
a confluence of events and circumstances, and we can’t
always know their purpose, or even if there is one. But
we can take responsibility for ourselves and be brave.”
2. “It’s a fact that children
with cancer have higher cure rates than adults with cancer,
and I wonder if the reason is their natural, unthinking
bravery. If children have the ability to ignore odds and
percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them.”
3. “Pain is temporary. It may
last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually
it will subside and something else will take its place.
If I quit, however, it lasts forever. So when I feel like
quitting, I ask myself, which would I rather live with?
Facing up to that question, and finding a way to go on,
is the real reward, better than any trophy.”
4. “Every year that I get back
on to the bike and try to win another Tour de France is
another year that I’ve survived the illness. I no
longer view my cycling career as a comeback; I view it
as a confirmation and a continuation of what I’ve
done as a cancer survivor. To devote myself to anything
less than a repeat at the Tour would have felt like giving
up.”
5. “Given a choice between cancer
and winning the Tour de France, I’d choose the cancer.
What I mean is that I wouldn’t have learned all
I did if I hadn’t had to contend with the cancer.
I couldn’t have won even one Tour without my fight,
because of what it taught me. For instance, now I understand
the importance of nourishing my body as an athlete. Cancer
forced me to develop a plan for living. It also taught
me how to cope with losing. It taught me the experience
of losing things has its own value in the scheme of life.” |
