Lewis Pugh Quotes

There’s a fine line between bravery and stupidity, which should never be crossed.

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

When we set aside MPAs we protect the marine habitat. When we do that, fish stocks recover. Which supports food security. When we create MPAs, we protect the coral, which protects the shoreline and provides shelter for fish. Marine Protected Areas are places people want to visit for ecotourism, so it's good for the economy. It has, if you'll pardon the pun, a ripple effect. Marine Protected Areas are good for the world economy, for the health of the oceans, for every person living on this planet.

I tolerate cold water. Anyone who says they love swimming in freezing water is either lying or has never done it.

Never, ever did I think that there would be a debate in this arid country about which was more important – gas or water. We can survive without gas. We cannot live without water.

Law taught me how to argue passionately and rationally. That’s key to being a successful environmental campaigner. If you are too emotional you run the risk of turning off policy makers. And if you can’t present your arguments rationally, no one will listen to you.

Most Channel crossings are won or lost before the first stroke is even taken.

You don't know pain until you've had a stalactite in your cock.

Ultimately I wanted to be a pioneer swimmer, a distant descendant of Scott, Amundsen and Hillary, except that I would be an explorer of the water.

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.

My father taught me to understand that not much was impossible, if you had a mind to go after it. What seems beyond you is only unreachable if that’s what you believe.

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

You must not dither - swim like you're running through a minefield.

No matter how tough my day has been, when I dive into the sea, the world seems perfect.

I resolved to follow my dream. I wanted to push every boundary. I wanted to swim further than anyone else. I wanted to cross seas and round capes that no one had dreamed of swimming before. And I wanted to swim in waters that were so cold no one thought it was possible to survive in them. And though it promised to make me poor and would take away the security provided by a career in law, that didn’t worry me.