“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968). Humanitarian, Activist, Baptist Minister, Civil Rights Leader. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (1964), Presidential Medal of Freedom (1977) and the Congressional Gold Medal (2004).
“Nobody ever took time out in a boat race. There’s no place to stop and get a satisfying drink of water or a lungful of cool, invigorating air. You just keep your eyes glued on the red, perspiring neck of the fellow ahead of you and row until they tell you it’s over…Neighbor, it’s no game for a softy.”
–Royal Brougham (September 17, 1894 – October 30, 1978), Sports journalist.
“The hippos, irritated but unafraid, snorted at the men in their small, fragile boat. The huge riverine animals, which might charge at any moment or simply surface, easily upending their boat, were a genuine danger, even more so than the crocodiles, which, Burton wrote, “terrified by the splash of oars, waddled down with their horrid claws, dinting the slimy bank, and lay like yellow logs, measuring us with small, malignant, green eyes, deep set under warty brows.””
— River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile by Candice Millard
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“So, the best thing for you is to try to become better every day. For instance, you should try to become a better person each day. In this way, you will witness your progression. So never stop yourself from giving efforts.”
– Sidney Poitier KBE (February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022), Actor, director, ambassador, civil rights activist, Presidential Medal of Freedom (2009), Kennedy Center Honors (1995), AFI Life Achievement Award (1992), Academy Award (1963, 2001), British Academy Award (1959, BAFTA Fellowship 2016), Grammy Award (2001), Golden Globe Award (1963, 1968, 1981), Screen Actors Guild Award (2000).
“You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can.”
– James Earl Carter, Jr., a.k.a. Jimmy Carter (1924-), politician, businessman, philanthropist, 39th president of the United States (1977 – 1981), Georgia State Senator (1963 – 1967), 76th governor of Georgia (1971 – 1975), awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (2002).
“Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.”
-Phil Knight, Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike. (2016).
“We all have worked so hard with 2020 as the goal; however, we want to do our part in helping the global community overcome the current situation. We will have to wait another year, but that means another year of training, improvement, and opportunities to get faster for 2021.”
Julian Venonsky, USRowing National Team, Men’s 8+, Coxswain.
“You can train for years, and at the end of four years, you might not make the team and there’s nothing you can do about it. COVID-19 added another level of uncertainty, but we’re used to taking things one day at a time.”
– Nick Mead, USRowing National Team, Men’s 8+.
R2R Ready to Row 