Did eric liddell actually say when i run i feel His pmeasure?

1. Where the famous line appears in modern culture

The exact sentence appears on numerous quote websites and devotionals presented as Liddell’s words—Goodreads, BrainyQuote, AZQuotes and others reproduce the line verbatim and attribute it to Eric Liddell, helping cement it in popular memory ^{[1] [7] [2] [3] [8]}. Devotional blogs and school sites repeat the phrase as an inspirational encapsulation of Liddell’s faith and athleticism, and it is often used to illustrate Christian conviction connected to vocation and joy ^{[9] [10] [11]}.

2. The film origin: Chariots of Fire supplies the wording

The line in question is a prominent moment in Chariots of Fire , where the character Eric Liddell, played by an actor, says, "I believe God made me for a purpose — but He also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure," a scripted exchange preserved in film transcripts and quote compilations such as IMDb ^[4]. Multiple commentators and movie-focused write-ups point to that cinematic scene as the source of the exact phrasing that most people today associate with Liddell ^{[12] [13]}.

3. The pushback: historians and some commentators say Liddell never said it

At least one retrospective article explicitly warns that the celebrated line is a movie line and that "Liddell never said it" as a verbatim historical quotation, urging readers to distinguish between cinematic dramatization and primary-source evidence ^[5]. That source frames the quote as part of character construction in the biopic rather than a documented utterance from Liddell’s lifetime ^[5].

4. Conflicting claims about journals and later attributions

Some Christian organizations and commentators assert that similar words were found in Liddell’s personal journal or reported by family and friends, suggesting authenticity beyond the film; for example, a ministry post refers to words "found in his personal journal" resembling the phrasing ^[6]. However, the provided reporting that makes this claim does not link to or reproduce the primary journal entry, and the most explicit debunking source included here still maintains the movie-origin claim ^{[6] [5]}. The result is a split between devotional retellings that treat the phrase as Liddell’s and critical accounts that identify it as cinematic dialogue.

5. How and why the misattribution spread

Biographical films habitually blend documented fact with dramatized dialogue, and when a film supplies a tightly packaged, memorable line it frequently displaces harder-to-find originals in public memory; quote aggregators and devotional reprints then amplify the line without always checking archival sources ^{[4] [1]}. The combination of an emotionally resonant sentence, repeated citations on popular quote sites, and use in Christian teaching created a self-reinforcing chain that presented the film line as historical quotation ^{[2] [10]}.

6. Conclusion — direct answer

Based on the reporting provided, the safest, evidence-based conclusion is that the exact wording "And when I run, I feel His pleasure" is best documented as a line from the film Chariots of Fire ^[4], and reputable commentary included here explicitly states that Liddell did not utter that precise sentence in the historical record ^[5]. Some devotional sources and secondary reports claim similar words were in Liddell’s journals or recalled by family ^[6], but the provided material does not include a primary-source citation to confirm Liddell actually wrote or said the line himself; therefore the claim that he "actually said" it remains unproven in the reporting at hand ^{[5] [6]}.