Quotes from Milkha Singh

These days kids are not passionate. They lack will power to go all the way. They want to take the easy route.

I lost in my first ever 400m race, the event I almost ruled later.

I have been on the deathbed so many times and had to be given oxygen while training. I did not know if I would survive, but the roar of applause would lift me up.

It's painful to see that after Independence, India hasn't won a single Olympic medal in athletics.

If Milkha Singh is known as the Flying Sikh in the whole world today, the credit goes to General Ayub and to Pakistan.

Life is not decided by lines on a palm but by the power of the will, hard work and discipline.

I don't hanker after awards.

If I contest elections in a federation, I will not get even four votes. It's all politics and money.

When I used to go to Bombay to run, I would often meet Raj Kapoor and he would take me to RK Studio.

Don't sell your country's pride for a few bucks.

If you want to make your children a successful doctor, engineer or a sportsperson then you will have to put in double the hard work than that of your children.

No one should suffer what I suffered. I still dread those scenes when man killed man. I lost my parents, most of my family, by running away.

I am not against cricket, but it is dominating this country. All other games are finished, because the media shows cricket 24 hours a day, the papers are full of cricketers' photographs.

I loved Farhan's look in the 'Toofaan' teaser. He has made a wonderful physique for the role of a boxer.

I will surely watch 'Toofaan.'

I didn't know what off-season meant. I could sprint barefoot, anywhere, anytime and on any surface.

Not every school in India has athletics as a compulsory sport. They should make it compulsory.

No matter what the weather was, I would practice for five hours every morning and evening, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-five days a year. It was this disciplined routine that moulded me into the athlete I became.

I wanted Jeev to become doctor or an engineer, but after seeing his talent and interest in golf, I dropped that idea.

I too have daughters, and it saddens me that people think of daughters as a burden.

Kids in the city can play cricket, badminton, tennis or football. Athletics is not their cup of tea.

When I started running in 1951, running shoes weren't even produced in India.

I didn't watch a film after the 1960s. I have no idea who all were the good heroes, directors or producers in the '80s. The only film I watched after all those years was my own film.

There is dirty politics in sports federations.