Looking for awesome Arnold Schwarzenegger quotes about success and mental strength? You got em! These wise words from one of the best bodybuilders of all time will inspire you to focus on your goals and dreams, regardless of circumstance.

Who is Arnold Schwarzenegger?

Arnold Schwarzenegger was born on July 30, 1947, near Graz, Austria.

As a kid, Arnold’s favorite movies were the B-level Hercules movies that Reg Parker, a bodybuilder, starred in. These movies fueled Arnold’s love and obsession with bodybuilding and America.

To get to America, Arnold wooed Joe Weider, the man behind the International Federation of Body Building, an organization that sponsored contests such Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia, with his bravado, potential, and sense of humor.

Arnold would go on to win five Mr. Universe titles and six Mr. Olympia crowns during his bodybuilding career, which was unprecedented. After his bodybuilding career ended, Arnold set his sights on Hollywood fame. After winning a Golden Globe Award for Best Newcomer for his performance in Stay Hungry (1976), he became an action hero in movies like Conan the Barbarian (1982), The Terminator (1984), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003). He became California’s governor in 2003, and after his time as governor came to an end, he returned to Hollywood.

Inspirational Arnold Schwarzenegger Quotes

1. “Failure is not an option. Everyone has to succeed.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

2. “The worst thing I can be is the same as everybody else. I hate that.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

3. “The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it, as long as you really believe 100 percent.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

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4. “I like the color red because it’s a fire. And I see myself as always being on fire.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

5. “I was always dreaming about very powerful people – dictators and things like that. I was just always impressed by people who could be remembered for hundreds of years, or even, like Jesus, be for thousands of years remembered.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

6. “For me, life is about 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

7. “Start wide, expand further, and never look back.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

8. “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

9. “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

10. “In our society, the women who break down barriers are those who ignore limits.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

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

12. “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

Arnold Schwarzenegger quotes on motivation

13. “I knew I was a winner back in the late sixties. I knew I was destined for great things. People will say that kind of thinking is totally immodest. I agree. Modesty is not a word that applies to me in any way. I hope it never will.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

14. “I welcome and seek your ideas, but do not bring me small ideas; bring me big ideas to match our future.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

15. “You can scream at me, call me for a shoot at midnight, keep me waiting for hours – as long as what ends up on the screen is perfect.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

16. “Learned helplessness is the giving-up reaction, the quitting response that follows from the belief that whatever you do doesn’t matter.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

17. “I never listened to anyone who said I can’t do something.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

18. “None of my rules of success will work unless you do.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

19. “My fellow Americans, this is an amazing moment for me. To think that a once scrawny boy from Austria could grow up to become Governor of California and stand in Madison Square Garden to speak on behalf of the President of the United States that is an immigrant’s dream. It is the American dream.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

20. “We made, actually, history, because it was the first time ever that doctors could prove that a lifelong Republican has a heart.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger quotes about life

21. “You have to remember something: Everybody pities the weak; jealousy you have to earn.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

22. “Marijuana… That’s not a drug, that’s a plant.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

23. “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

24. “What is the point of being on this Earth if you are going to be like everyone else?” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

25. “Money doesn’t make you happy. I now have $50 million but I was just as happy when I had $48 million.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

26. “Everybody pities the weak; jealousy you have to earn.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

27. “Just like in bodybuilding, failure is also a necessary experience for growth in our own lives, for if we’re never tested to our limits, how will we know how strong we really are? How will we ever grow? ” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

28. “Stop whining.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

29. “Positive thinking can be contagious. Being surrounded by winners helps you develop into a winner.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

30. “I was also going to give a graduation speech in Arizona this weekend. But with my accent, I was afraid they would try to deport me.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

31. “I’ll be back.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

32. If it can bleed, we can kill it.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger quotes about success

33. “There are no shortcuts—everything is reps, reps, reps.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

34. “I have a love interest in every one of my films – a gun.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

35. “The better you get, the less you run around showing off as a muscle guy. You know, you wear regular shirts – not always trying to show off what you have. You talk less about it. It’s like you have a little BMW – you want to race the hell out of this car because you know it’s just going 110. But if you see guys driving a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, they slide around at 60 on the freeway because they know if they press on that accelerator they are going to go 170. These things are the same in every field.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

36. “You’ll get more from being a peacemaker than a warrior.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

37. “it’s not what you get out of life that counts. Break your mirrors! In our society that is so self-absorbed, begin to look less at yourself and more at each other. you’ll get more satisfaction from having improved your neighborhood, your town, your state, your country, and your fellow human beings than you’ll ever get from your muscles, your figure, your automobile, your house, or your credit rating” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger quotes to elevate your mind

38. “All I know is that the first step is to create a vision, because when you see the vision – the beautiful vision – that creates the want power.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

39. “The difference between those who adapted and those who didn’t, Gorton said, was a willingness to totally commit.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

40. “Your clothes. Give them to me. Now.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

41. “You must have a sincere and burning desire to achieve what you dream, dedicate yourself to making progress, and take control of your circumstances to change your body.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

42. “If you don’t find the time, if you don’t do the work, you don’t get the results.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

43. “Be hungry for success, hungry to make your mark, hungry to be seen and to be heard and to have an effect. And as you move up and become successful, make sure also to be hungry for helping others.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

44. “Rest, let your body relax and grow. Work up gradually and don’t blow it. Sometimes you can do so much your mind gets sick of it. Remember what I said earlier: Keep your mind hungry. People have a tendency to overdo things at first and then sluff off.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

45. “Whenever I finished filming a movie, I felt my job was only half done. Every film had to be nurtured in the marketplace. You can have the greatest movie in the world, but if you don’t get it out there, if people don’t know about it, you have nothing.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

46. “When the boys come, instead of buying Barbie dolls, all of a sudden you’re into trucks and remote controls, cars and tanks. You buy building blocks and build castles and locomotives. You get into knives and later take them shooting with pistols, shotguns, and rifles. All of which made me very happy.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

47. “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

More Arnold Schwarzenegger quotes and sayings

48. “If I can see it and believe it, then I can achieve it.”― Arnold Schwarzenegger

49. “My definition of living is to have excitement always; that’s the difference between living and existing.”― Arnold Schwarzenegger

50. “If you want to turn a vision into reality, you have to give 100% and never stop believing in your dream.”― Arnold Schwarzenegger

51. “Forget plan B. To test yourself and grow, you have to operate without a safety net.”― Arnold Schwarzenegger

52. “The more knowledge you have, the more you’re free to rely on your instincts.”― Arnold Schwarzenegger

53. “I’m a big believer in hard work, grinding it out, and not stopping until it’s done.”― Arnold Schwarzenegger

54. “I didn’t mind basic training. It taught me that something that seems impossible at the start can be achieved.”― Arnold Schwarzenegger

55. “You have to build the ultimate physical machine, but also the ultimate mind.”― Arnold Schwarzenegger

56. “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

57. “I always believed in shooting for the top, and to become an American is like becoming a member of the winning team.”― Arnold Schwarzenegger

58. “Dreams are for the dreamers. Goals are for achievers.”― Arnold Schwarzenegger

59. “I do the same exercises I did 50 years ago and they still work. I eat the same food I ate 50 years ago and it still works.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

60. “If my life was a movie, no one would believe it.”― Arnold Schwarzenegger

Which of these Arnold Schwarzenegger quotes resonated with you best?

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