Jean-Claude Van Damme Quotes

A man may have the best of wealth, cars and fame. But there is nothing more precious in life that he will get than a woman's heart.

I am the Fred Astaire of karate.

The action films I will make in the future will be more believable and character-based. I am now on my second cycle of fame, and I want to make films that smell real and are truthful.

When I go on location, we have a schedule. And when you have a schedule, you know when you're not working, so I train very well on location. But I also train three or four times a week at home, but today I train differently than before.

You can create the perfect triceps by just pushing yourself off your wall.

When I was 24, I was full of life. I was that ham who wanted to be famous, a movie star, all that stuff. I think it's cool. But it was not what I was searching for, really. It was more a delusion.

But on average, I go to the gym about four or five times a week. Today, I'm so experienced in training - I'm actually listening to my body now. My body needs freedom. When I train I create serenity and I produce oxygen in my blood. It helps me to think better and relax. By training, you accentuate the problem.

I've had my ups and downs. My fair share of bumpy roads and heavy winds. That's what made me what I am today.

A cookie has no soul, it's just a cookie. But before it was milk and eggs. And in eggs there's the potential for life.

When you finish a film, if you believed in your character, you're empty.

You have to believe what you say, and if you believe what you are saying, then acting is easy.

I've become 40, my audience is partly the same age.

I came back to my original wife. I came back to her after I made a few boo-boos in my life. Coming back to her was good for me, good for her and good for the children.

Life is short. I'm 47 years old. I've got 10 years to go where I can be the best I can be. I want those 10 years to be precious, not like before, cranking two or three movies a year. I've made a ton of movies in my life, but so what?

Air is beautiful, yet you cannot see it. It's soft, yet you cannot touch it. Air is a little like my brain.

We are here to condemn the Palestinian occupation of the territories, but also to condemn the recent racist attack in France, against both Jews and Arabs.

A pair of legs engineered to defy the laws of physics and a mindset to master the most epic of splits.

..When I walk across my living room from my chimney to my window, it takes me 10 seconds, but for a bird it takes one second, and for oxygen zero seconds!

You know, I looked at my face in the mirror this morning, and I like being old. My face has more content and when I train in the gym now, I am not training to be strong or handsome - just better than I was yesterday. These days the race is just against myself.

Everybody understands a slap in the face. In Japan, Belgium, or America, a punch is a punch. Comedy will be different in Europe or America or Japan, so my movies are very international.

I train, for me, very smartly. I don't train heavy, I do a lot of isometrics.

What is a movie star? It is an illusion. It was everything I ever wanted to be, but it became a kind of shell, non? It was what made me famous and got me women. But it wasn't real.

I like structure - like driving: go past the school on the street, stay on the right side, no hitting the car, go in right, you'll see a big church, stop and take a left, and you'll have it. By doing this I'm giving a structure of life, a path of light, and showing what happens between me and me, which is something very beautiful.

What really helps a guy to become an action hero today is the directing of the movie. All those fast cuts.

I'm fast, why? Because I eat vegetables.

I don't want to be buried in the ground, rotting, with all those worms. What I would love is to have my body dropped where you have those big icebergs and the water is so cold and pure, to be eaten by a polar bear or a seal or an otter.

It looks good when you see someone kicking at the age of 51 with no double. It's kinda cool for people to know that past 50 we can keep flexible.

There are some movie stars in Hollywood that are so scared, they also tell the reporter that they are recording them, in case there is something wrong with what they wrote about them in the papers.

In an action film you act in the action. If it's a dramatic film you act in the drama.

Your body has enough weight for you to be in perfect condition just working against yourself.

..If you work with a jackhammer during an earthquake, stop, otherwise you are working for nothing.

I'm not a movie star. I'm a brand name. Van Damme is like Levi's. I go on vacation, and everywhere I go, people love me for my name, not for my movies.

In the past, I was working out too heavy.

Believe me - I've done very good stuff and very crazy stuff, and I don't regret the crazy stuff.

What I promise to my actors, and to my director, is to give them the salary and everything they need.

Karate's a very boring sport, but when you know the technique you can go further and further.

I am fascinated by air. If you remove the air from the sky, all the birds would fall to the ground. And all the planes, too.

My body looks like 30 but my face looks like 50. But I cannot walk bare-chested in the streets. I like to do these movies to challenge myself physically.

I'm one of the most sensitive human beings on Earth - and I know it.

Because no matter what you say in life, the truth will always be the truth. You know when someone is telling the truth, you look in the eyes. I have a tendency to believe people.