Bodybuilders

"God is my mentor. He has given me all that I have … the passion, perseverance and patience to endure the challenges set before me. I know as long as I keep the faith, He will look out for my best interests."

"Anything can happen. I've been the underdog throughout my whole career, even in the amateurs. I still go in with my eyes open and know that any given day I can be the winner or a loser. I don't take the Olympia for granted. I'm very levelheaded and know that I'm not unbeatable, but there aren't many people who are close to my kind of physique."

"I think the organization, need to take a step outside the box, allowing the public to get more involved, the more the main media are aware of us women athletes, the easier it becomes for the regular old Joe's and Jane's to accurately get custom too us. Just like everything else that being accepted in society, if you can remember, not so long ago, the gay community had the hardest time being accepted, kudos to them for holding their ground, by not being afraid of the aftermath... BAM!!!!! So what happen to the gay community for holding their ground? Well, after it was all said and done, the public look upon the gay community, as another part of society."

"No one can describe the disappointment, I had after losing to Lenda Murray in 2003 Ms Olympia when I clearly know and others knew I beat her by a land slide... Ok Lenda has great delts maybe the best in the business... A wonderful shape to her physique nice round bellies to her muscles "BUT" let the story be told she didn't have all the HARMONY the lines not to mention the definition I display that year.."

"The icing on the cake is where I had to take second fiddle to Yaxeni Oriquen Garcia 2005 Ms Olympia that was a big stab in the back at the time we were instructed to reduce 20% in the muscularity round.. I normally compete at 160-162 that year being the embassador of the sport I must lead by example, which I did. I competed at 155lbs still same conditioning, shape etc.... Lord behold second fiddle to Yaxeni.. It looked as if Yaxeni had did the opposite of what the current ruling stated and she was being rewarded.. Come on we have two different body types! I have a small tapered waist line, fine detail flowing through out my body, nice harmony and she's displaying nothing but BIG. When someone refers to Yaxeni body they say she's a big girl.. She has great confidence about herself on stage, which is an EXCELLENT tool and having that can always gain you a few points, but to flat out win is RIDICULOUS and not possible... Anyhow, Yaxeni was more surprised then I when hearing her name announced victoriously. And believe it or not annoucing the winner that year was Lenda Murray, so she was probably soaking up every second of me losing as a mild way of payback. I was always told when going after the champ you have to completely knock the champ "OUT". Anything close should not cause you a win."

"I voted for you for governor."

"Boybuilding is a gift, it is an honor, and it is a privilege, although I'm hanging up my belt, I still want to be an ambassador for the sport and health and fitness."

"Perennial national level amateurs Iris Kyle and Heather Foster were the other two who seemed to be the top four of the heavyweight class."

"There is no point to be alive if you can't do deadlift."

"I could've been a lawyer by now, I could've gone to uni. But I've taken the quickest and easiest route to making as much money as I can, and having as much fun as I can, and I don't regret that."

"I just think it's double standards the whole time. On the one hand people say, 'Oh, women have equal rights now, women can be as powerful as men and do the same jobs as men', but we're still not allowed to talk about sex, 'cos that's unladylike. It's like that old thing, if a man has slept with loads and loads of women, he's a stud. But if a woman has slept with loads of boys, she's a slag. Well, why? Why? What makes a man a stud 'cos he's pulled loads of women? And what makes me a slag 'cos I've slept with more than 10 men? It's ridiculous!"

"For quite a while I did feel like my brain wasn't being used at all. Obviously, when you're just modelling, you do feel a bit almost brain-dead, where you need something to stimulate you mentally and you're not getting it."

"Once you’ve been naked in a room full of 300 people, nothing scares you. I’m not saying everyone should become a stripper but forcing yourself to do something terrifying can change your life. You realise you can do anything."

"Most men – not just the men in Brentwood – are scared of powerful women with brains. There’s something in a man that makes him want to have power over a woman – whether it’s in the bedroom or because they earn more money. It boosts their egos."

"I am only known for my boobs and tats."

"I'd got to the end of my tether with the negative press. There's only so much you can take of every single day hearing yourself being called a slag or a bitch or a slapper or ugly or thick or whatever it is they're calling me. You kind of get to a point where you just don't want it any more."

"They build people up into this huge thing on the front pages that's talked about every day, like Sienna Miller, say, and then they just turn, they have had enough of you."

"For so long I hid behind the blonde hair and the blue eyes. Now I feel like I've done it, I've done what I set out to achieve, now I can just go back to being me."

"As you get old you have to train smarter. Every young guy goes through it; every young guy says I'm invincible, it will never happen to me. The body is like a car or machine, you work it so often that eventually it's going to break down."

"I just take it year by year. So much time is dedicated to doing this [winning championships] that I can't see having too much time for much else."

"It's so overwhelming. It's almost better than winning the lottery, because you worked for it. It's like something you want all your life, but you never thought it would happen, and all of a sudden it did."

"I wasn't given the genetics for football. This is my gift right here. I was always well-built. You can't do certain sports without the genetics, and talent, too, of course."

"I want to help the up-and-coming kids. A lot of times, kids don't have much to do in the summer time. When I was a kid I didn't do nothing. I want to get body building out there and it will start with the younger generation."

"Hard work and training. There's no secret formula. I lift heavy, work hard and aim to be the best."

"I used to think that my career was to be a police officer, and that is what I was put here to do. But I always kept the faith and always worked hard on my goals and I finally found out on Sept. 25, 1998, why I was put here - (God) called me here to be Mr. Olympia."

"You can't do this if you're not dedicated and determined, and have a strong faith. Because it's extremely hard, especially trying to work a job and do it."

"There is no fountain for youth. What you put in your body is what you get out of it. You would not feed your dog a coffee and doughnut for breakfast followed by a cigarette you will kill the damn dog."

"When he was 15, his distressed mother dragged him to a lecture on healthful living being given by nutritionist Paul Bragg."

"But Bragg offered salvation to LaLanne: He could be "born again" and be the healthful and strong person he wanted to be — if he changed his ways."

"At 21 years of age he opened North America’s first modern gym."

"At 21 years of age Jack developed the first models of exercise equipment, and these are standards in gyms today."

"He was the first to have women work out with weights - a radical idea."

"He also encouraged the disabled and elderly to exercise for health, a bizarre concept at the time."

"Jack from whom the term “Jumping jack” and description of a muscular person as “jacked” are both derived, is well known for his birthday feats."

"At age 70 the guy towed 70 boats carrying 70 people across the Long Beach harbor, with both arms and feet shackled."

"If men are from Mars and women from Venus, what planet did Jack come from? Jack insists he is from planet earth."

"My show was so personal, I made it feel like you and I were the only ones there. And I’d say: Boys and girls, come here. Uncle Jack wants to tell you something. You go get Mother or Daddy, Grandmother, Grandfather, whoever is in the house. You go get them, and you make sure they exercise with me."

"People thought I was a charlatan and a nut, [he remembered]. The doctors were against me — they said that working out with weights would give people heart attacks and they would lose their sex drive."

"When I first started out, I was considered a crackpot, [he said]. The doctors used to say, 'Don't go to that Jack LaLanne, you'll get hemorrhoids, you won't get an erection, you women will look like men, you athletes will get muscle-bound — this is what I had to go through."

"I was a whole new human being, he said of this transformation. I liked people, they liked me. It was like an exorcism, kicking the devil outta me!"

"That's what I wanted! I wanted to be an athlete, I wanted the girls to like me, and I wanted to be able to get good grades in school, and this man said I could do all that."

"I was the worst, most sickly kid of all – 30 pounds underweight. The girls used to beat me up. Actually I was a mean kid, early on because I had no self-esteem."

"God gives us the power to act for ourselves, but let me tell you something. At five in the morning I have never heard this [he says mimicking a knock on the door]. Hello Jack, this is Jesus. I will work out today."

"Well it is. It is a religion with me. It's a way of life. A religion is a way of life, isn't it?"

"The crusade is never off my mind — the exercise I do, the food I eat, the thought I think — all this and how I can help make my profession better-respected. To me, this one thing — physical culture and nutrition — is the salvation of America."

"I care more than — you cannot believe how much I care! I want to help somebody!"

"Jesus, when he was on Earth, he was out there helping people, right? Why did he perform those miracles? To call attention to his profession. Why do you think I do these incredible feats? To call attention to my profession!"

"Mr. LaLanne said he performed his exercises until he experienced “muscle fatigue,” lifting weights until it was impossible for him to continue. It produced results and, as he put it, “the ego in me” made the effort worthwhile."

"It tasted terrible, so I mixed it with prune juice and fruits. Nobody thought about it until then. We made the guy a millionaire."

"It would wreck my image."