Lewis Pugh: Trending quotes

Lewis Pugh trending quotes. Read the latest quotes in collection
Lewis Pugh: 138 quotes1 like

“Going against the tide has never been difficult for me. It wasn’t even a conscious decision but the natural consequence of following my own instinct.”

Lewis Pugh

p 37
Achieving The Impossible (2010)

“A massive turquoise glacier feeds into Magdalenefjord, with chunks of ice as big as buildings breaking off and landing in the water to float away as icebergs. As I swam past them, with my head in the water, I heard a tantalising sound: a snap-crackle-pop, just like Rice Krispies in milk. It was the sound of tiny air bubbles being released from the ice – air that had been trapped there as much as 3,000 years ago. To swim through this sound, I thought, is to swim in history.”

Lewis Pugh

p 61, describing his swim in the Svalbard archipelago (2005)
21 Yaks And A Speedo (2013)

“Sometimes the moments that challenge us the most, define us.”

Lewis Pugh

24 Nov 2011, Twitter
Speaking & Features

“Nothing excited me more than opening up the atlas and seeing places and seas, imagining what they looked like and what kind of life the people had.”

Lewis Pugh

p 8
Achieving The Impossible (2010)

“…when you swim from England to France you’ve got to leave your doubt on the beach at Dover.”

Lewis Pugh

p 11
21 Yaks And A Speedo (2013)

“My mind has to be ready. My body also has to be ready. But even more important, my heart has to be ready. What I mean by that is for the swims I do, I must have a burning reason.”

Lewis Pugh

Website

“My own feeling was that witnessing the explosion of an atomic bomb, and having to examine all the dead animals, had a profound effect on my father.”

Lewis Pugh

p 12
Achieving The Impossible (2010)

“I look for swims where I can carry a powerful message. No message, no swim. I don’t get wet now unless it’s for a reason.”

Lewis Pugh

Website

“The essence of any great achievement is to believe in your purpose.”

Lewis Pugh

p 75
21 Yaks And A Speedo (2013)

“I could not believe what I was seeing: everywhere there were whale bones. Thousands of them stacked on top of each other. They rose from the seabed almost to the surface of the water. There were big bones. I could make out many of them: rib bones, jaw bones, vertebrae. In some places they were piled so high that, when I took a stroke, my hands touched them. I thought of all the beautiful whales I’d seen around the coast of South Africa and Norway that add so much to the area. How many whales were hunted and brought to this island before having their carcasses burned for oil and their bones dumped in this way? It disgusted me to such an extent that I considered stopping the swim to move it elsewhere, but I decided I had to press on.”

Lewis Pugh

p 233, describing his swim at Deception Island, Antarctica (2005)
Achieving The Impossible (2010)

“Four-point-two kilometres is a long way for a frozen body to sink.”

Lewis Pugh

p 1, describing his North Pole swim (2007)
Achieving The Impossible (2010)

“We cannot afford the luxury of cynicism or even pessimism in our reaction to climate change. The situation is too serious. We must tackle it head on – and immediately.”

Lewis Pugh

Speaking & Features, My African Dream: Faith Rally Address, COP17

“I think it foolhardy to predict the absolute limits of human endurance.”

Lewis Pugh

Website

“I don’t know of any sport where the goalposts can shift the way they do with endurance swimming.”

Lewis Pugh

p 17
21 Yaks And A Speedo (2013)

“I always tell young swimmers: 'Practice things until you can't get them wrong. Not until you get them right.”

Lewis Pugh

There's a big difference.
Website

“It took me over three years to get the beret and the most enriching part of the experience was getting to know men for whom you would have given your life on the battlefield. It is a big thing to say there are people who are not your family for whom you would give up your life. But that is how close we became.”

Lewis Pugh

p 150-1, describing his time in the British SAS
Achieving The Impossible (2010)

“When you have hope in the future, you have power in the present. And when you lose that hope, your dream goes with it.”

Lewis Pugh

p 156
21 Yaks And A Speedo (2013)

“[…] it’s much easier to achieve big dreams than it is small ones. Big dreams require big passion. And when you’ve got passion it’s easier to inspire others to come along and help you.”

Lewis Pugh

p 261
21 Yaks And A Speedo (2013)

“Don’t look for other people to validate your dreams. If it feels right, just go for it.”

Lewis Pugh

p 262
21 Yaks And A Speedo (2013)