Inspiration comes from the sheer terror of having to get it done.
"When she had gone upstairs, he walked to a window and stood looking up at the sky. His head thrown back, he felt the pull of his throat muscles and he wondered whether the peculiar solemnity of looking at the sky comes, not from what one contemplates, but from that uplift of one's head." --The Fountainhead
[on hearing from Phelps that he spends most of his time in the pool training]
Nora: Wow, it would suck to be his girlfriend.
Me: No, you could spend time in the pool.
Nora: No! It'd be awful!
Me: No, I'd just compete against him. It'd be really motivational.
[on my plan to move out of CA]
Margaret: My mom has