Top 103 Quotes & Sayings by Alex Zanardi - Page 2

The U.S. is where I was given the greatest opportunity to turn my life from a very nice one to an exceptional one.

In para-cycling I am a veteran with Olympic medals now.

It warms my heart, no doubt, to inspire people. In reality, people see in others what they want to see in themselves.

The first time the doctors put on my prosthetic legs they made me much taller than I'd ever been. I then remember the doctor saying 'we need to shorten this man' and we all were in hysterics.

It would be completely wrong and arrogant of me to say that this is what I am, an inspiration to others. During the course of my recovery, I bumped into people with amazing stories, far more amazing than mine.

The important thing in life, not just in sports, is to be able to set a new target in front of you, which is very much related to the deck of cards you've got available.

When I returned to the Touring Car championship, I got the team to create a special brake pedal that I could use with my prosthetic leg.

Everything you do tends to make you accomplish another step on the road to complete yourself.

The fact that I'm racing, yes, is important, it's my passion, but, it's not my life, racing.

I lost my legs in a big crash and, of course, after that, there were times, not so much of darkness, but certainly times where it was very uncertain of what my future would hold.

It's always good to let people know your emotions for them because love is what drives everything.

When you're young, not only do you not have any money, you don't think something can happen to you. I raced some races without insurance in the early days of my career. I didn't think about it at all.

I will do something, time to time, with motor racing. But I'll never go back, I think, to drive full-time because I've lost that anger, that desire.

I certainly enjoy quite a few times the taste of the snow as I slam my face a few times in the snow trying to ski and trying impress people.

I have to give this comment about the American people - they are very good fans. But they are very protective. I think they would prefer it if their great stars are born in America. They are the ones that only stay in the hearts of the fans. And that's understandable.

I said I preferred Daytona to LeMans if I were to race. LeMans is a great event, don't get me wrong, but here in the U.S. is where I turned my life around, where I have a lot of friends, where I feel have my greatest following - not in terms of quantity but of quality - of racing fans.

I don't think of myself as Superman, but if a genie came up to me now and granted me a wish to take my legs back, for sure I would take them - but it would take some time to accept.

I enjoy being in the middle of my journey much more than being close to the end.

After I finished racing in the United States, I received a lot of criticism for being dangerous, a little bit stupid, insane, you name it.

I know that I am a lucky guy. I know that after an accident like the one I had, you know, only one guy out of a thousand can really go back home and still live. And I am that one. So I am totally aware of that.

Portland is a permanent road course built in a beautiful state, which is for me a fantastic area for many reasons. The downside is that the weather is so unpredictable that it's not uncommon to start the race on the dry and end with the rain as it happened to me in 1996 when I won my first Champ Car race.

Obviously my feelings for Portland are quite special because that's where I obtained one of my greatest career satisfactions; like the first love, you never forget the first win!

There are times I'm approaching turns with my right hand on the brake lever, I'm downshifting with my fingers, I'm controlling the throttle with my left hand and steering into the corner with only one hand on the wheel. I feel a bit like Jimi Hendrix: I play with both my hands.

Obviously, my wife is very important, very important because in all this time she never watched me with that look that means 'I am sorry,' or that means 'poor you.'

The best thing I can do is keep advertising myself by winning races.

I shouldn't have survived that accident. Science didn't give me a single chance. I basically survived for about 50 minutes with less than one liter of blood. Science says that's simply impossible.

As far as talking, I'm a pretty competitive dude.

As you approach the finish line, you go through a tunnel of people, all of them cheering and encouraging you. Then I heard the speaker say, 'Alessandro Zanardi, you are an Ironman!' It was something phenomenal, something amazing... I got very emotional at that point.

When you are in your twenties you just think the races are what matter the most. When you are in your forties you really appreciate what you do every day.

Everything I do through the course of my life, every day I do it with my arms, and it means that by using this muscle so much I have changed gradually the state of my muscle, turning my muscle into red fibers.

The first thought that will go through my mind in the morning when I open my eyes will be very much related to my current dreams, rather than to my past nightmares.

I've certainly had many more opportunities than I deserved, but luckily enough I ended up making the right choices.

I think you can learn from other people's mistakes and other people's strengths, and that is why I have always been watching, with particular attention, other drivers - and not only drivers at the top.

If I ever won the Indy 500, I can tell you that I wouldn't worry about my engine, that's for sure.

Vancouver has always been a place of mixed results for me. I've always been fast there, but I've never been able to collect the kind of result I could have.

I haven't wasted many opportunities that fate gave me.

The memories are vague of the accident. I remember coming out of the pitlane with cruise control, letting it go and then losing control of the car. I remember my hands frantically operating the steering wheel trying to recover control of the car, then this big, big noise and nothing more.

I'm just a very curious guy who has a lot of possibility.

We all are limited in that none of us can fly and none of us can run faster than some animals, but we figure out a way to go to Tokyo if we have to, right? Or we run faster than an animal with a race car.

When you accomplish something that is very special, it will stay forever.

It's almost worth retiring just so I can speak to you.

I see the human being is an incredible machine, totally undiscovered in many ways. Every one of us has a hidden tank of energy that comes out when it is needed.

You want to climb the mountain because it’s there and you know you can do it.