Arnold Schwarzenegger Quotes & Sayings

The competition physique should be as much pure lean mass as possible, with any excess body fat stripped away. As the saying goes, "You can't flex fat." But fat on your body makes you feel bigger than you actually are, and this sense of being bigger is psychologically satisfying to most bodybuilders. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

The body that isn't used to. maybe the ninth, tenth ... eleventh, and twelfth rep with a certain weight. So that makes the body grow, then. Going through this pain barrier. Experiencing pain in your muscles and aching ... and just go on and go on. And this last two or three or four repetitions ... that's what makes the muscle then grow. And that divides one from a champion and one from not being a champion. lf you can go through this pain barrier, you may get to be a champion. lf you can't go through, forget it. And that's what most people lack, is having the guts. The guts to go in and just say, 'l'll go through and l don't care what happens.' lt aches, and if l fall down ... l have no fear of fainting in a gym ... because l know it could happen. l threw up many times while l was working out. But it doesn't matter, because it's all worth it. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I have inhaled, exhaled everything. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I never listen that you can't. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I have plenty of money, unlike other Hollywood celebrities or athletes that have not invested well. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

There is nothing like chess to keep the brain smart, and give it a workout. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

It is impossible to be a maverick or a true original if you're too well behaved and don't want to break the rules. You have to think outside the box. That's what I believe. After all, what is the point of being on this earth if all you want to do is be liked by everyone and avoid trouble? — Arnold Schwarzenegger

You have to think outside the box. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I have to say that the judges and our judiciary system makes better decisions than the politicians. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

For me life is continuously being hungry. The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

We are always stronger than we know. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I'm addicted to exercising and I have to do something every day. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Training was all I could think about. One Sunday when I found the stadium locked, I broke in and worked out in the freezing cold. Every painful set, every extra rep, was a step toward my goal of winning. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I never go on a movie set as the star. I always go as the guy who just does his job, like the electrician does his job and the hairdresser does her job. Let's all work together and make this happen, rather than have the star treatment. I don't do that. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

My body is like breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I don't think about it, I just have it. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Teachers and nurses get the best seats in Heaven. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Many women seem to have hang-ups about going out with me because they feel they have to be in the same shape that I am. If they're overweight, they're insecure, because they don't understand that I don't look at women the same way I look at myself. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

The general definition of being muscle-bound is that you have so many muscles that you can't move freely. I don't know of any bodybuilder in that category; in fact, many of them are quite active in other sports. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I was very glad I could afford to say no. With the income from my businesses, I didn't need money from acting. I never wanted to be in a financially vulnerable position, where I had to take a part I didn't like. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I can promise you that when I go to Sacramento, I will pump up Sacramento. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

If you work hard and play by the rules, this country is truly open to you. You can achieve anything. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Experiencing pain in your muscles and aching, that's what makes the muscle grow. and that divides one from being a champion and one from not being a champion. If you can go through this pain barrier, you may get to be a champion. If You can't go through it, forget it. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Failure is not an option. Everyone has to succeed. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

It took many months in court, but the tabloid eventually published a total retraction and paid substantial damages in an out-of-court settlement. The money went to the Special Olympics in Great Britain. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Your clothes. Give them to me. Now. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Someday the world is going to know who I am-just be hearing my first name. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

In acting class they tell you that you have to be real, connect with the people, connect with your partner. The same as politics, you have to connect to the people. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Try to keep your rest periods between sets down to a minute or less. In the first minute after a weight-training exercise you recover 72 percent of your strength, and by 3 minutes you have recovered all you are going to recover without extended rest. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I think that one-liners are very important and sometimes you don't even know when you're making the movie that it's going to be a great line. I remember when we did The Terminator and I came to the line "I'll be back" I had no idea that it was going to be an important line. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Concentrate on your goals. Do not allow other thoughts to enter your mind. If you allow them to, other things could take your concentration away from your ultimate aim. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

The last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone else who is not a champion. That's what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they'll go through the pain no matter what happens. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

When you campaign and have to participate in so many debates just to the win the nomination of your party, you've had a lot of practice. You get to figure out as you go from one debate to another where you made your mistakes. By the time you get to the big debate you're pretty polished. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Within five years, he had learned English and become the greatest bodybuilder in the world. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

For 20 years, Simon & Schuster asked me, 'Why don't you write your autobiography?' — Arnold Schwarzenegger

You don't really see a muscle as a part of you, in a way. You see it as a thing. You look at it as a thing and you say well this thing has to be built a little longer, the bicep has to be longer; or the tricep has to be thicker here in the elbow area. And you look at it and it doesn't even seem to belong to you. Like a sculpture. Then after looking at it a sculptor goes in with his thing and works a little bit, and you do maybe then some extra forced reps to get this lower part out. You form it. Just like a sculpture. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Everything has style, everything's a little bit larger than life and done with mischief — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I think that we have to do everything we can to work together, Democrats and Republicans, and then if we go the initiative route like we have done in the past, go together, — Arnold Schwarzenegger

If I can sell tickets to my movies like Red Sonja or Last Action Hero, you know I can sell just about anything. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

The biggest problem that we have is that California is being run now by special interests. All of the politicians are not anymore making the moves for the people, but for special interests and we have to stop that. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

When I was on my way to the podium a gentleman stopped me and said I was as good a politician as I was an actor. What a cheap shot. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I came to Hollywood and within a decade I was one of the biggest action stars of all time. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Experiencing this pain in my muscles and aching and going on and on is my challenge. The last three or four reps is what makes the muscles grow. This area of pain divides a champion from someone who is not a champion. That's what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they'll go through the pain no matter what happens. I have no fear of fainting. I do squats until I fall over and pass out. So what? It's not going to kill me. I wake up five minutes later and I'm OK. A lot of other athletes are afraid of this. So they don't pass out. They don't go on. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

What we face may look insurmountable. But I learned something from all those years of training and competing. I learned something from all those sets and reps when I didn't think I could lift another ounce of weight. What I learned is that we are always stronger than we know. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

As a kid I always idolized the winning athletes. It is one thing to idolize heroes. It is quite another to visualize yourself in their place. When I saw great people, I said to myself: I can be there. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I regularly buy and sell cars, but I do not buy and sell fleets. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Having chicks around is the kind of thing that breaks up the intense training. It gives you relief, and then afterward you go back to the serious stuff. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

My friend James Cameron and I made three films together - True Lies, The Terminator and Terminator 2. Of course, that was during his early, low-budget, art-house period. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I can multitask very well. But I know exactly when to block off anything coming in from the outside and just stay focused on the film. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Injuries happen when your mind is beyond your body, largely when you think you're King Kong and lift weights heavier than the body can handle. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Money doesn't make you happy. I now have $50 million but I was just as happy when I had $48 million. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Even with my divorce and with everything, I don't need money. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

No matter the nationality, no matter the religion, no matter the ethnic background, America brings out the best in people. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Never follow the crowd, go where it's empty — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Maria is the best reason to come home. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

If you have the attitude of a young person and you work like a young person and you keep your body in shape, and if you believe that you can do it, then you can actually make other people also believe that you can do it. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Bodybuilders' cocks are the same size as everyone else's. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

You have to remember something: Everybody pities the weak; jealousy you have to earn. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

California will not wait for our federal government to take strong action on global warming. We won't wait for the federal government. We will move forward because we know it's the right thing to do. We will lead on this issue and we will get other western states involved. I think there's not great leadership from the federal government when it comes to protecting the environment. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Not many people understand what a pump is. It must be experienced to be understood. It is the greatest feeling that I get. I search for this pump because it means that that my muscles will grow when I get it. I get a pump when the blood is running into my muscles. They become really tight with blood. Like the skin is going to explode any minute. It's like someone putting air in my muscles. It blows up. It feels fantastic. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

On the airplane, Sly and I were smoking stogies and constantly trading jokes. We never talked about the feud. We were typical guys, totally in denial, as if there had never been any problem and nothing had ever happened. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

The writing is important, but the way you say the line and the pause you give it, the facial expression - all of that is very important. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

More often than not, a lack of progress in your muscle-building efforts can be linked to nutritional shortcomings in your diet. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I love it when people say that something can't be done. That's when I really get motivated; I like to prove them wrong. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

When I was 15 years old I felt totally confident I would become a world champion and the greatest bodybuilder in the world. The same was true of show business - I knew that one day I would make more money than anyone else in the industry and I did. For that you need the willingness to work and do everything it takes to make the vision turn into reality. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

For the hundreds of thousands of Californians in gay and lesbian households who are managing their day-to-day lives, this decision affirms the full legal protections and safeguards I believe everyone deserves. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

And now, of course this is another thing I didn't count on, that now as the governor of the state of California, I am selling California worldwide. You see that? Selling. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I don't suffer of anything that I lost. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

The resistance that you fight physically in the gym and the resistance that you fight in life can only build a strong character. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

'I'll be back' always sounded a little girly to me. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

With strength and determination you can do anything you want in life, as long as you believe in yourself, because if you don't, no one else will. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I really like Thanksgiving turkey ... it does not take only time in Houston that you look at natural breasts. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I'm telling you, if you want to have good advice, never pay any attention to the camera guys because they will tell you over and over something is wrong and let's reshoot it, let's do this and let's do that. Hey, just do it. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

People should make up their own mind about what they think of me. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Between your faith and my Glock nine millimeter, I'll take the Glock. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

We want to make sure children aren't left without any books. We want to make sure our children have the books, that they have a place in the castle. We want to make sure that their mothers have affordable day care. We want to make sure we give the older people the care that they need. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Politically there were failures. And also on the personal level, there were tremendous failures. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I'm not looking for sympathy at all. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

My fellow Republicans acted like they'd been punched in the stomach. "You have them on the ropes, go in for the kill!" they said. This was my first real taste of the new Republican ideology that any compromise is a sign of weakness. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I was striving to be the most muscular man, and it got me into the movies. It got me everything that I have. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I just use my muscles as a conversation piece, like someone walking a cheetah down 42nd Street. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I'm a big believer in hard work, grinding it out, and not stopping until it's done, — Arnold Schwarzenegger

As governor I have seen the tremendous changes over the last few years; the amount of land that we have lost, the trees that we have lost, the homes that we have lost, lives that have been lost, and it is due to a large extent to global warming. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

To be successful, however, you must be brutal with yourself and focus on the flaws. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I was always dreaming about very powerful people. Dictators and things like that. I was always impressed by people who could be remembered for hundreds of years. Even like Jesus, being remembered for thousands of years. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I feel good because I believe I have made progress in rebuilding the people's trust in their government. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I believe in "love it, or change it" rather than "love it, or leave it." — Arnold Schwarzenegger

You know, nothing is more important than education, because nowhere are our stakes higher; our future depends on the quality of education of our children today. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Look for small victories and build on that. Each small victory, even if it is just getting up five minutes earlier, gives you confidence. You realize that these little victories make you feel great, and you keep going. You realize that being paralyzed by fear of failure is worse than failure. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I can zero in on a vision of where I want to be in the future. I can see it so clearly in front of me, when I daydream, it's almost a reality. Then I get this easy feeling, and I don't have to be uptight to get there because I already feel like I'm there, that it's just a matter of time. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I would never exchange my life with anybody else's. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

It doesn't really matter what party you come from. I think the people appreciate that and they know that you're working together, that you can provide the kind of leadership to bring both of the parties together, and do the kind of things that need to be done for the state. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

I set out to be the best and I am. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

As you know, I'm an immigrant. I came over here as an immigrant, and what gave me the opportunities, what made me to be here today, is the open arms of Americans. I have been received. I have been adopted by America. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

My only rule is to keep moving, for a pump and cardio at the same time. Rest as little as possible. After an hour, you will feel fantastic and your muscles won't know what hit them — Arnold Schwarzenegger

The success I have achieved in bodybuilding, motion pictures, and business would not have been possible without the generosity of the American people and the freedom here to pursue your dreams. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

Don't go where it's crowded. Go where it's empty. Even though it's harder to get there, that's where you belong and where there's less competition. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

If I train the hardest, run the longest, go beyond what anyone else has the mental determination to do, I will be the winner. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

It all comes from the mind. I've seen the most incredible success stories because a person had a dream and it was so powerful no one could touch it. He'd feel it, believe it, think about it all day and night. That would inspire him to do things necessary to get the results he wanted. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

My kids just brought home a beautiful pumpkin, but you know what? I'm going to return it because it's a Democratic pumpkin. It has the orange color of John Kerry's tan, and the roundness of Teddy Kennedy. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

The percentage of gays is the same, probably, as anywhere. Most bodybuilders are straight, regular street guys, though a lot aren't serious. Many in California are punks, beach bums just lying around in the sun and maybe collecting unemployment. — Arnold Schwarzenegger