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Motivation Quote by Bruce Jenner

"I always felt that my greatest asset was not my physical ability, it was my mental ability"

About this Quote

Jenner’s line is a quiet rebuttal to the lazy mythology of the “natural” athlete. On the surface, it’s a humble-brag about mindset, but the real move is strategic: it relocates greatness from the body (the most visible, most judged part of an athlete) to the invisible machinery of discipline, focus, and self-command. That shift matters in a sports culture that sells us highlight reels and genetic lottery tickets, as if excellence is something you’re born with rather than something you build.

As an Olympic decathlete, Jenner’s resume already certifies physical talent. Saying the “greatest asset” was mental reframes the narrative from giftedness to authorship. It’s also a way of taking ownership over achievement in a field that can reduce people to measurements: times, distances, leanness, power. Mental ability is the unmeasurable edge; it implies preparation no camera captures, the capacity to suffer on purpose, to keep training when motivation dies, to compete against your own panic as much as your rivals.

There’s subtext, too, about survival in a public arena that commodifies bodies. For an athlete whose life has been heavily mediated and scrutinized, emphasizing the mind reads like an insistence on interiority: you are not just what the world sees. The quote lands because it’s both aspirational and defensive, a reminder that the real battleground in elite performance isn’t the stadium - it’s the self.

Quote Details

TopicMotivational
SourceHelp us find the source
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Jenner, Bruce. (2026, January 16). I always felt that my greatest asset was not my physical ability, it was my mental ability. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-always-felt-that-my-greatest-asset-was-not-my-109559/

Chicago Style
Jenner, Bruce. "I always felt that my greatest asset was not my physical ability, it was my mental ability." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-always-felt-that-my-greatest-asset-was-not-my-109559/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I always felt that my greatest asset was not my physical ability, it was my mental ability." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-always-felt-that-my-greatest-asset-was-not-my-109559/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.

More Quotes by Bruce Add to List
Greatest Asset: Mental Ability Over Physical Prowess
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About the Author

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Bruce Jenner (born October 28, 1949) is a Athlete from USA.

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