Quotes By Michael Phelps

I think goals should never be easy, they should force you to work, even if they are uncomfortable at the time.

I like to just think of myself as a normal person who just has a passion, has a goal and a dream and goes out and does it. And that's really how I've always lived my life.

Swimming is normal for me. I'm relaxed. I'm comfortable, and I know my surroundings. It's my home.

I consider myself normal. I've spent 20 years in the pool. I consider that something that's normal.

I've been able to get an excitement back in the water.

There were times I wouldn't come to practice, because it didn't excite me. It wasn't interesting. I was kind of going through the motions.

I got the stamina. I can close.

I am 26 and, and I don't recover as fast as I have in the past.

I won't predict anything historic. But nothing is impossible.

I have reached a place in my life where I need to sit down and say, 'Well, what do I do? What's best for me?' I need to look into options for the future.

The more you dream the more you achieve.

I think sometimes I guess you see records, say you want to get there and use that as motivation. In a way, it's kind of cool if there is a possibility to rewrite history and be up there with the greats of Olympic history.

I know it won't be eight medals again. If you want to compare me to that, that's your decision, not mine. I'm going out there to try to accomplish the things that I have in my mind and in my heart.

I used to always go to church on holidays, but I don't go much any more.

I learned how fast you can go from being an international hero to being a reference in a joke on a late night talk show.

People say to me, 'You're so lucky. You get to see the world.' But I don't. I go to the hotel and to the pools and back again. That's it.

I feel most at home in the water. I disappear. That's where I belong.

This is my 20th year in the sport. I've known swimming and that's it. I don't want to swim past age 30; if I continue after this Olympics, and come back in 2016, I'll be 31. I'm looking forward to being able to see the other side of the fence.

I'm so sick of the water.

If I bring back only one gold people are going to say it's a disappointment. But not too many of them own an Olympic gold medal so if I get one I'm going to be happy.

Why is it such a big deal what I'm swimming?

Once I'm already in my room, I still have to open a door to get into my bed. It's like a giant box. It's like the boy in a bubble.

Once I retire, I'm retiring. I'm done.

You can't put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get.

I think to be - for me to be an American is - you know, it's one of the greatest things in the world for - you know, for me just because I've been able to grow up with everything. The freedom. You know, in my eyes this is the greatest country in the world.

I have the opportunity to be part of swimming history. To take the sport to a new level would be an honor for me. There's no better time to try this than now.

I want to go to the World Cup. I want to go to the Masters. I want to go... anywhere.

Every day after I wake up, I think, 'Wait... this can't be real; I'm still going to wake up.'

Being compared to Ian Thorpe, that could be one of the greatest compliments you could ever get in swimming - being compared to him and Mark Spitz.

I'm the same kind of guy before all this happened.