Shawn Johnson Quotations

Gymnastics taught me everything - life lessons, responsibility and discipline and respect.

It might have been easier to retire, to say my knee couldn't handle it and let that be that. At the same time, the prospect of not being able to compete in gymnastics anymore was heartbreaking.

I had surgery to repair the ACL in February 2010 and was back in the gym by June, but rushed things too quickly and ended up re-tearing my MCL in September.

I'm doing four hours of gymnastics training a day, six days a week and then an extra two to three hours in a fitness center as well.

I've never had a teammate competing with me my whole life.

I'm trying to stay as calm as possible and focus one day at a time, but when reality sets in, I feel everything: anxiety, excitement, nerves, pressure and joy.

Everything is about your movements and precision and timing, which is what gymnastics is about.

Injury taught me I need to learn how to face challenges.

After 13 years of hard landings in gymnastics, one ski run had delivered the biggest injury of my career.

Retiring was scary and it was tough to give up gymnastics, but so many great opportunities have come from it that I never expected.

I was at the Olympic Games winning medals and I still doubted my image. I doubted what I looked like. That's sad.

My knee is almost back to normal. I am back in training.

I started from zero and went back to the basics in gymnastics.

With literature, sometimes a book is presented in the media as being say, a Muslim story or an African story, when essentially it's a universal story which we can all relate to it, no matter what race or social background we come from

I live for Pilates reformer class. I go at least three times a week. It's a great way to lengthen your muscles, stretch, and kind of relax your mind.

I have a healthy lifestyle, but there's nothing you can really do to prevent from rolling an ankle or something like that.

The body is an amazing machine... If you eat the right things your body will perform incredibly well!

My parents- they've been my biggest influences and supporters since day one. They teach me every day that happiness comes from within and not from something outside of your heart.

A comeback in gymnastics is almost impossible in itself.

My approach to gymnastics in Beijing was heavily based on the amount of difficulty I could do.

When I was 3 my parents put me in gymnastics because I was a bundle of energy and they just didn't know what to do with me! They put me in a Tots class and I just fell in love with it.

I always have someone to look up to, and I think it helps me with motivating myself.

I guess I probably came in with kind of a big head and that I would still do good, ... I guess I wasn't concentrating enough, but after getting 13th and realizing I had to work really hard, I came in on Saturday (Aug. 13) knowing what I had to do. There were little things I could have done better (on Thursday). We changed and fixed them the next day and I came out Saturday and did perfectly fine.

I didn't make it a priority, and as a result my knee didn't heal to the extent it should have.

I don't feel like a star; I never have. I don't feel like a star; I never have. I always feel like I'm the young one, I'm the small one. I always have someone to look up to, and I think it helps me with motivating myself.

I don't know where I'm really going to cha cha, but hopefully I can find a place.

Historically, when you look at spikes in the natural gas price, this stock has been the most leverage to that phenomenon, ... So that's been our top pick for about the last two months or so now in the energy sector.

State Street Global Advisors is honored to be recognized among the elite financial institutions in the world. Our leadership in providing institutional investors worldwide with a wide variety of sophisticated strategies designed to meet their goals distinguishes us as a trusted partner for asset management.

I was able to do Classics, the U.S. national championships and the Pan American Games and feel like I improved with each meet, but I was still struggling with a lot of residual pain from the two surgeries.

Katrina knocked a lot of homes off their foundations, ... Now they're just falling apart.

It gives it more of a concert atmosphere because it's like a balcony.

That's the thing about Mill, you don't want to sound bad there.

The only way we could be closer is if we had the same parents.

We were able to kind of put a lid on what they wanted to do.

What about the residential areas? What about my home? What about other families who houses that are still underwater? What are you doing to meet immediately meet our needs,

Unless it's really, really outside of what is expected, the Fed probably won't move at all between now and the end of the year,

Even the whole second half, we dug ourselves out of a 13-point lead (at the half), strictly by playing defense.

We've been preaching (good passing) since the beginning, and today was our best performance this season.

We're taught at such a young age that you can always be better and that you're never perfect and that you're never good enough.

The test, as far as the intangibles go, was that we wanted to make sure that we came out with a lot of energy, and defensively we did that.

The storm took place on the 29th and to say as of today, that's a long time to say I'm going to meet your needs, immediate needs. My immediate needs should have been taken care of a long time ago, so that's a problem for me.

The short-term folks that are worried about earnings are providing us long-term investors some great buying opportunities,

Experience just took over. You can tell they're a very seasoned team. They knew what to do at the right time. We're still trying to learn how to play with each other, but I like the progress right before the playoffs.

Every year I just kept going back to gymnastics, but I didn't start out training 10 hours a day. When I turned 10 or 11, I got more serious and I focused a lot on making it to the elite level, and from there I just kept going.

A typical practice consists of practicing every event for about an hour. A lot of people assume I have private coaching, but I work out with 13 other girls at the gym!

I usually work out 4 hours a day during the week and 5 to 6 hours on Saturday, with Sundays off.

I need to learn how to face challenges.

I'm pleased to say my knee feels a lot better. It's still not back to normal, and I don't know if it ever will be, but I'm learning to deal with it instead of expecting it to be like it was before.

I want to go to college, obviously go to London and just kind of figure out the rest of my life.

It's pretty hard to separate what's really important from what's merely interesting. There's a lot going on.

It's probably a good time to pick it up. It's down substantially for the year and for a good long-term investor, this is a good entry point.

at the fallen angels in some of the less exciting areas.

They've got much more opportunity on the upside, as they continue to build their infrastructure, ... When you compare it to pure biotech companies, it tends to have more certainty about where it's headed.

This is my first year as an elite, so it's a big accomplishment to have come this far already. I just hope to keep doing more. I still have the hardest part to go.

It's been strange and weird watching the other girls at the U.S. Olympic trials just because I was training to be out there myself.

At halftime we talked about lack of focus. I thought we did a pretty good job the second half of staying focused.

Everybody always asks me, 'What tech stocks are you picking?' We try to look down the cap range a little bit. We certainly like all the large cap stock,

It is scarier now than ever. I need to work out as hard as possible now or I won't be able to achieve my goals. It is scary that any little slip could damage everything. I need to be careful with my health just to make sure I can push it that hard so I can make it.

It's about putting in the hours and going through the paces.

As long as you've done your best, making mistakes doesn't matter. You and I are human; we will mess up. What counts is learning from your mistakes and getting back up when life has knocked you down.

Stay strong. Stand up. Have a voice.

There's always a chance. Anything can happen.

To have any doubt in your body is the biggest weakness an athlete can have. There are times when I physically can't get myself to go for a skill because I'm thinking, 'My knee hurts really bad.'

To have any doubt in your body is the biggest weakness an athlete can have.

I was under pressure because of what people were saying about my physique.

Everything for me started with my love of the sport. In society we're losing the fun with kids and pushing success on them too hard. Success comes from fun.

I pay attention to my diet to be a healthier gymnast, but I'm not obsessive over it.

Image isn't everything, It's what comes from your heart, and what you learn and what you say and how you act that means more than anything.

I was always trying to be leaner and thinner to fit the standard and the mold.

I don't think I've ever not gotten nervous. When you work so hard for one special day or routine, you want to perform it better than you ever have. We always say at our gym, If you lose the nerves, you lose the sport.

I don't call them sacrifices. I call them exchanges.

Well-I don't know if anyone would really ask me to prom.

Everybody sacrifices something in an attempt to reach what they think society wants.

I think it's important for girls at a young age to be involved in as many things as possible. Especially safe communities of people that teach them great life lessons like self-confidence and courage. And getting girls to go to camp especially in the summer where they can meet new friends, learn new things, and not just sit at home and watch TV.

Gymnastics is not only a good thing to live by, but it is important to understand how it does help you in life.

I was always known as that stocky, muscular, powerful, short, athlete. People always wondered if I was on steroids, and it was because I wasn't that long and lean, flexible, artistic gymnast. It didn't affect me too much but it got to the point where I tried to be that long and lean gymnast, and it just wasn't possible.

I told myself after 2008 that I was done for good. But they say you can't keep a gymnast away from her sport.

I was able to do Classics, the U.S. national championships and the Pan American Games and feel like I improved with each meet, but I was still struggling with a lot of residual pain from the two surgeries.

In 2008 I didn't take it all in enough. I was so wrapped up in just the competition that I missed what was going on around me. If I am given that opportunity again to go to the Olympics and be an athlete I want to take it all in because I feel like this is my last shot and I want to feel the team spirit. I want to really live and breathe the USA.

I always feel like I'm the young one, I'm the small one.

Don't force anything. Find what you love and stick with it.

I fell in love with gymnastics. I love what I do now. I work with people that I love to be around. Success comes from that.

I feel like when there's so much conversation about women's athletics right now, we need to focus on their performance and their skill.

Hot yoga is the best. When you're in [class], there are no cell phones, no talking, no distractions. You're taking a leave from reality for an hour or so.

I get less and less sleep these days, so when I have any down time all I want to do is sleep!

I fell in love with running, and I finally have time to do it now.

Critique the performance, and respect the hard work put in.

When I was younger, my coach, Liang Chow, made all the decisions. I would go to the gym for practice, do exactly what Chow told me to do, go home, come back and start all over again. If Chow told me to do 50 squat jumps, I did 50 squat jumps.

I don't want to be all power and muscle.

I feel like if you compare the commentary, what's covered with female athletics, as with men. On any given day, if a guy competes, you're going to critique his technique and his performance, training. With a girl, you don't do the same thing. You might mention a little bit of that, but you're also going to get what she was wearing, how she performed, what she looked like. I feel like it should be the same.

It sounds funny, but the 2008 Olympics were something that just kind of happened, and I was lucky they came at a point when I was uninjured and well prepared. As a gymnast, you can't ask for much more.

I think about my goals. There were a lot of times in gymnastics when I really didn't want to go in and train, but you can't make it to the Olympics if you don't train!

It's nearly every country's tactic to keep their greatest competitors a secret.

My other life keeps me calm and grounded and normal.

I love lean meats like chicken, turkey. I'm obsessed with sushi and fish in general. I eat a lot of veggies and hummus.

That's the drama of our sport. Our margin of error is so small that anything can happen.

I still can't believe I'm an Olympic athlete.

It's been strange and weird watching the other girls at the U.S. Olympic trials just because I was training to be out there myself.

To finish off this whole Olympics by finally getting the gold medal, it's the best feeling in the world.

When it comes to gymnastics, you can be 30 points ahead going into that competition, but on that day, it's all about luck. It's about who has a good day, who stays healthy, it's how happy the judges are that day, there are so many different factors.