Top 50 Dean Karnazes Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up.”

— Dean Karnazes

Featured in: Inspirational Quotes, Courage Quotes, Persistence Quotes, Effort Quotes, Commitment Quotes

2. “Don’t run with your legs, run with your heart.”

— Dean Karnazes

Featured in: Athlete Quotes, Monday Motivation Quotes, Fitness Quotes, Running Quotes, Quotes About Heart

3. “If you keep chasing your dreams, one day you’ll catch them.”

— Dean Karnazes

Featured in: Athlete Quotes, Quotes About Dreams, Running Quotes, Desire Quotes, Moving Quotes

4. “Regardless of how distant your dreams may seem, every second counts.”

— Dean Karnazes

5. “The only one who can tell you “You can’t” is you. And you don’t have to listen.”

— Dean Karnazes

Featured in: Willpower Quotes, Obstacles Quotes, Giving Up Quotes, Impossible Quotes, Workout Quotes

6. “Running is about finding your inner peace, and so is a life well lived.”

— Dean Karnazes

Featured in: Peace of Mind Quotes, Fitness Quotes, Running Quotes

7. “Sometimes you’ve got to go through hell to get to heaven.”

— Dean Karnazes

Featured in: Life is Hard Quotes, Running Quotes, Suffering Quotes

8. “Listen to everyone, follow no one.”

— Dean Karnazes

9. “If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon. If you want to talk to God, run an ultra.”

— Dean Karnazes

Featured in: Fitness Quotes

10. “There is magic in misery. Just ask any runner.”

— Dean Karnazes

Featured in: Running Quotes, Exercise Quotes

11. “Don’t confuse comfort with happiness.”

— Dean Karnazes

12. “If it felt good, you didn’t push hard enough. It’s supposed to hurt like hell.”

— Dean Karnazes

Featured in: Hard Hitting Quotes, Grit Quotes, Exercise Quotes

13. “Struggling and suffering are the essence of a life worth living. If you’re not pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, if you’re not demanding more from yourself – expanding and learning as you go – you’re choosing a numb existence. You’re denying yourself an extraordinary trip.”

— Dean Karnazes

14. “The human body has limitations. The human spirit is boundless.”

— Dean Karnazes

Featured in: Running Quotes

15. “When all else fails, start running!”

— Dean Karnazes

16. “Any goal worth achieving involves an element of risk.”

— Dean Karnazes

Featured in: Running Quotes, Risk-Taking Quotes

17. “The human body is capable of amazing physical deeds. If we could just free ourselves from our perceived limitations and tap into our internal fire, the possibilities are endless.”

— Dean Karnazes

Featured in: Quotes About Fire

18. “Pain is the body’s way of ridding itself of weakness.”

— Dean Karnazes

Featured in: Running Quotes

19. “I run to breathe the fresh air. I run to explore. I run to escape the ordinary.”

— Dean Karnazes

20. “Want a strong, solid relationship that is willing to go the distance? Get to know your running shoes.”

— Dean Karnazes

Featured in: Strong Quotes, Running Quotes

21. “The marathon is an opportunity for redemption. Opportunity, because the outcome is uncertain. Opportunity, because it is up to you, and only you, to make it happen.”

— Dean Karnazes

22. “I never feel more alive than when I’m in great pain, struggling against insurmountable odds and untold adversity. Hardship? Suffering? Bring it!”

— Dean Karnazes

Featured in: Adversity Quotes

23. “Go out hard and finish harder.”

— Dean Karnazes

24. “If you can’t run, then walk. And if you can’t walk, then crawl. Do what you have to do. Just keep moving forward and never, ever give up.”

— Dean Karnazes

25. “I love surfing, rock climbing, cycling – all that stuff. But it’s just amazing that I can inspire people with my running. It’s humbling, really.”

— Dean Karnazes

26. “I run because it always takes me where I want to go.”

— Dean Karnazes

Featured in: Running Quotes

27. “For me, as for so many runners, there really are no finish lines. Runs end; running doesn’t.”

— Dean Karnazes

28. “Once you permit yourself to compromise, you fail yourself.”

— Dean Karnazes

29. “We have killed our souls with comfort instead of seeking fulfillment and achievement.”

— Dean Karnazes

Featured in: Achievement Quotes

30. “If you just go out there and run 100 miles, it breaks down a lot of barriers in terms of self-imposed limitations.”

— Dean Karnazes

31. “You cannot grow and expand your capabilities without running the risk of failure.”

— Dean Karnazes

32. “Now you wouldn’t believe me if I told you, but I could run like the wind blows. From that day on, if I was ever going somewhere, I was running!” – FORREST GUMP.”

— Dean Karnazes

33. “Running is a simple, primitive act, and therein lays its power. For it is one of the few commonalities left between us as a human race.”

— Dean Karnazes

Featured in: Running Quotes

34. “I love to run and I have some tips to keep it fresh and novel. I rarely use the same route twice. That keeps things new.”

— Dean Karnazes

Featured in: Running Quotes

35. “Toeing the starting line of a marathon, regardless of the language you speak, the God you worship or the color of your skin, we all stand as equal. Perhaps the world would be a better place if more people ran.”

— Dean Karnazes

36. “A lot of ultramarathoners are soloists. They’re single and live lives off the grid.”

— Dean Karnazes

37. “Most dreams die a slow death. They’re conceived in a moment of passion, with the prospect of endless possibility, but often languish and are not pursued with the same heartfelt intensity as when first born. Slowly, subtly, a dream becomes elusive and ephemeral. People who’ve lost their own dreams become pessimists and cynics. They feel like the time and devotion spent on chasing their dreams were wasted. The emotional scars last forever.”

— Dean Karnazes

38. “Some seek the comfort of their therapist’s office, other head to the corner pub and dive into a pint, but I chose running as my therapy.”

— Dean Karnazes

39. “Even if you’re inches away from the finish, never take success for granted.”

— Dean Karnazes

40. “Most people never get there. They’re afraid or unwilling to demand enough of themselves and take the easy road, the path of least resistance. But struggling and suffering, as I now saw it, were the essence of a life worth living. If you’re not pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, if you’re not constantly demanding more from yourself – expanding and learning as you go – your choosing a numb existence. Your denying yourself an extraordinary trip.”

— Dean Karnazes

41. “I didn’t go up there to die, I went up there to live.”

— Dean Karnazes

42. “Endurance running was my passion, my ride. So here, I was in the driver’s seat, running for two days straight pushing the mental and physical limits striving to be better, to go farther, to give more.”

— Dean Karnazes

43. “Runners are competitive folks. I think some might feel slighted they haven’t got more recognition. I think they have a point. In running, you won’t necessarily get noticed just for turning in good performances.”

— Dean Karnazes

44. “I have my whole office set-up at waist level; I don’t sit at all during the day. Sitting, to me, is the devil.”

— Dean Karnazes

45. “I’m not trying to take more of the pie for myself. I’m trying to make the pie larger for everyone.”

— Dean Karnazes

46. “I’ve raced on all seven continents at least twice. I’ve probably run thousands of races. But the single race that I’m most proud is a 10K. Yes, a 10K. I ran it with my daughter on her 10th birthday.”

— Dean Karnazes

47. “I run because long after my footprints fade away, maybe I will have inspired a few to reject the easy path, hit the trails, put one foot in front of the other, and come to the same conclusion I did: I run because it always takes me where I want to go.”

— Dean Karnazes

48. “I started running to escape the memories that drinking couldn’t cover up.”

— Dean Karnazes

49. “I wasn’t born with any innate talent. I’ve never been naturally gifted at anything. I always had to work at it. The only way I knew how to succeed was to try harder than anyone else. Dogged persistence is what got me through life. But here was something I was half-decent at. Being able to run great distances was the one thing I could offer the world. Others might be faster, but I could go longer. My strongest quality is that I never give up.”

— Dean Karnazes

50. “You cannot grow and expand your capabilities to their limits without running the risk of failure. And failure can provide invaluable lessons.”

— Dean Karnazes