Nadia Comaneci Quotes

"Enjoy the journey and try to get better every day. And don't lose the passion and the love for what you do."

"I don't run away from a challenge because I am afraid. Instead, I run toward it because the only way to escape fear is to trample it beneath your feet."

"Life is not easy for anyone. You have to have ups and downs. You can make mistakes. You learn and try not to make them again. That's pretty much my principle."

"I believe that you should gravitate to people who are doing productive and positive things with their lives."

"You should also appreciate the goodness around you, and surround yourself with positive people."

"You can't jump from little things to big things. It just takes time and patience."

"My marriage to my husband, Bart Conner in 1996 is my proudest personal moment."

"Maybe that's why I like gymnastics - because I like to fly."

"I come from a communist country. We learned nothing of lawyers, nothing about rights."

"I wasn't allowed to leave Romania. That made me mad. You just want your freedom. You want your space. You want opportunity."

"I'm the kind of person, I leave a little space for better."

"Nellie Kim, an Olympic champion from the former Soviet Union, got a 10 right after me in '76, but nobody talks about that."

"Now, I have a kid, I have businesses to take care of, I have to travel. I have to sit down... and find a little time for me."

"My message to the ladies would be, you can do all of the things, but not all of them at the same time."

"Of course, most people remember that I received the first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics competition."

"I like to tell young people to work hard for your goals and live in the moment."

"Of course I used to smile and laugh in 1976, but not when I was competing. Please show me somebody who laughs when they are concentrating; I always smiled."

"I made the cover of 'Sports Illustrated,' 'Newsweek' and 'Time' all in one week, and I didn't even know what that meant."

"If I have a feeling of not trusting, I don't get too close."

"We are not coaching on a daily basis because we often travel with our charity and commercial interests."

"Two gold medals and two silver, I don't think is that bad... I think I still did a pretty good job."

"What makes me happy is the appreciation of people around me."

"I have had a few turning points, the first day I entered a gymnastics school at age 6."

"My parents were very loving, but disciplinarians."

"I ended up in the US for a month or so, before moving to Montreal with some Romanian friends."

"One of the most difficult times in my life was when I escaped from Romania in November of 1989."

"I worked hard in gymnastics since the time I was six years old until I retired at 23 years of age."

"Of course, I grew up in Communist Romania, but I am happy to say that now our country is democratic, and prospering, since the revolution in 1989."

"As an Olympic champion gymnast, I have always stayed involved in my sport."

"Hard work has made it easy. That is my secret. That is why I win."