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Daily Inspiration Quote by Paul Begala

"I used to go in at 5:30 or 6:00 so I could run"

About this Quote

The most revealing part of Paul Begala's line is what he leaves out. "I used to go in at 5:30 or 6:00 so I could run" sounds like a harmless scheduling detail, but it quietly signals a whole ideology of professional life: discipline as virtue, efficiency as identity, and the moral sheen we give to being busy. Begala, a journalist and veteran of political media, is speaking from a culture where credibility often comes packaged as stamina. Early hours aren't just time on the clock; they're a kind of proof.

The phrasing is almost aggressively plain. No lyrical talk about self-care, no confession of obsession, no complaint. That flatness is the point: the routine is presented as reasonable, even inevitable. "So I could run" does double duty. It's literal exercise, but it also nods to the constant motion of political journalism: chasing leads, staying ahead of the cycle, outrunning competitors. In that world, calm looks like complacency.

There's subtext, too, about the bargain professionals make with themselves. You don't "find time" to run; you buy it by paying with sleep and silence. The line carries a faint nostalgia ("used to"), hinting that the pace has changed or that the body eventually collects its debts. It's less a humblebrag than an unvarnished glimpse of a media ecosystem that rewards those who can turn dawn into a competitive advantage.

Quote Details

TopicFitness
SourceHelp us find the source
CiteCite this Quote

Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Begala, Paul. (2026, January 17). I used to go in at 5:30 or 6:00 so I could run. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-used-to-go-in-at-530-or-600-so-i-could-run-58598/

Chicago Style
Begala, Paul. "I used to go in at 5:30 or 6:00 so I could run." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-used-to-go-in-at-530-or-600-so-i-could-run-58598/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I used to go in at 5:30 or 6:00 so I could run." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-used-to-go-in-at-530-or-600-so-i-could-run-58598/. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

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Paul Begala on early runs and political endurance
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About the Author

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Paul Begala (born May 12, 1961) is a Journalist from USA.

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