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

When I was playing soccer at the age of 14, the first thing we'd do before going out onto the field would be to climb up on one another's thighs and massage the legs; it was a regular thing. None of us had a thought of being gay, absolutely not, and it's the same with most bodybuilders.

My own dreams fortunately came true in this great state. I became Mr. Universe; I became a successful businessman. And even though some people say I still speak with a slight accent, I have reached the top of the acting profession.

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.

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

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.

For me, life is about continuously being hungry. It's meaning is not simply to just exist or to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer. Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength. We all have great power. That power is self-faith. There's really an attitude to winning. You have to see yourself winning before you win. And you have to be hungry. You have to want to conquer.