"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."

Motivation

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Thematic Reflection

This quotation examines the core nature of Motivation as articulated by Michael Phelps. Within historical and literary traditions, reflections on Motivation provide actionable mental models, challenging individuals to evaluate personal ethics, self-discipline, and daily actions.

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About Michael Phelps

Michael Fred Phelps II is an American former competitive swimmer. He won more Olympic medals than any other athlete, a total of 28 medals across four Olympic Games. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals (23), Olympic gold medals in individual events (13), and Olympic medals in individual events (16). At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Phelps tied the record of eight medals of any color at a single Games, held by gymnast Alexander Dityatin, by winning six gold and two bronze medals. Four years later, when he won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, he broke fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven first-place finishes at any single Olympic Games. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Phelps won four gold and two silver medals, and at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, he won five gold medals and one silver. This made him the most successful athlete of the Games for the fourth Olympics in a row.

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More by Michael Phelps

"There is a one woman in China that claimed she paid $50 to get my e-mail address. It was pretty shocking. I got one this morning from Scotland. A girl's requesting a signed photo of me."

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

— Michael Phelps
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"I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and you put the work and time into it. I think your mind really controls everything."

— Michael Phelps
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"I want to be able to look back and say, 'I've done everything I can, and I was successful.' I don't want to look back and say I should have done this or that. I'd like to change things for the younger generation of swimmers coming along."

— Michael Phelps
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More about Motivation

"Sometimes, there's a preconceived notion of how a scene or how a work should be delivered. And I see young performers sometimes try and deliver that, and it's not really true to their voice or who they are."

— Christian Camargo
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"My father, who was from a wealthy family and highly educated, a lawyer, Yale and Columbia, walked out with the benefit of a healthy push from my mother, a seventh grade graduate, who took a typing course and got a secretarial job as fast as she could."

— George Weinberg
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"I don't need to hang out in a posse and try to act cool."

— Jeremy London
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"If there is dissatisfaction with the status quo, good. If there is ferment, so much the better. If there is restlessness, I am pleased. Then let there be ideas, and hard thought, and hard work. If man feels small, let man make himself bigger."

— Hubert H. Humphrey
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