Jean-Claude Van Damme is a Belgian actor, filmmaker and retired martial artist that is best known for his action-packed martial arts action film.s He was born Jean-Claude Camille Francois Van Varenberg on October 18, 1960. His most famous action projects are: Bloodsport (1988), Timecop (1994), Maximum Risk (1996) and his most recent Amazon show, Jean-Claude Van Johnson (2016-2017).
Jean-Claude is well known for his karate moves in his martial arts films. But he is less well known for his quotes. Which is unfortunate because he has said a lot of things that are either very wacky, very funny, just plain crazy or somethings LOL funny!
Here are our favorite quotes from Jean-Claude Van Damme (aka “The Muscles from Brussels.”)
Our Favorite Jean-Claude Van Damme Quotes:
- “I love challenges. If you don’t have any and can do whatever you want, then it’s probably time to die.” –Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “••If you phone a psychic and she doesn’t answer the phone before it rings, hang up.” –Jean-Claude Van Damme
- ”Obviously I’ve taken drugs.” –Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “••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.” –Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “I am the Fred Astaire of karate.” –Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “According to statistics, one person out of five is disturbed. If there are four people around you who seem normal, that’s not good.” –Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “Showing myself nude from behind doesn’t pose any problems, but from the front that’s another story. I don’t want to lose all my fans!” –Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “••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!” –Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “God gave me a great body and it’s my duty to take care of my physical temple.” –Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “You have to believe what you say, and if you believe what you are saying, then acting is easy.” —Jean-Claude Van Damme
- ••”Air is beautiful, yet you cannot see it. It’s soft, yet you cannot touch it. Air is a little like my brain.” –Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “My body looks like 30 but my face looks like 50. But I cannot walk bare-chested in the streets.” –Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “In the year 3,000, people are going to speak with sound waves. Don’t think I’m crazy, the whales do it. Dolphins too.” –Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “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.”
- “I’m one of the most sensitive human beings on Earth—and I know it.”
- “I train, for me, very smartly. I don’t train heavy, I do a lot of isometrics.” –Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “You can create the perfect triceps by just pushing yourself off your wall.” –Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “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.” – Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “I’ve become 40, my audience is partly the same age.” –Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “Believe me – I’ve done very good stuff and very crazy stuff, and I don’t regret the crazy stuff.” –Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “I’m a big traveler these days. I was in Hong Kong. I live there. I was just in Belgium with my parents and now I’m on my way to North America. You will find me all over.” Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “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?” Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “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.” –Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “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.” –Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “I’m one of the most sensitive human beings on Earth – and I know it.” –Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “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.” –Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “You need at least six or seven years to understand the philosophy and concentration of karate to know to clean your spirit of everything and dedicate your mind and body to the sport.” –Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “I don’t have a bad relationship. I’m 48 years old. I think life is too short for that. To me, life is… you open the shutters, you see the dogs outside, you look left, you look right, in, what, a second and a half? And that’s a life.” –Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “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.” –Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “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.” — Jean-Claude Van Damme
- “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.”–Jean-Claude Van Damme
Also see our Martial Arts Quotes
Video: Jean Claude Van Damme Vs. Bolo Yeung in Bloodsport
This is one of JCVD’s best fight scenes ever! Give it a watch and it will remind you of how much fun his movies are, especially the martial arts scenes.
Summary
Jean-Claude Van Damme remains a legend in martial arts movies, especially for his spinning kicks.
More recently he had his own show on Amazon Prime, called Jean-Claude Van Johnson. It’s quite silly. If you are a fan of his you should check it out because it is free on Amazon.
Here’s the official trailer. Trust me, you will love this show. It’s quite funny and really showcases his humor. And it’s not a super violent martial arts action film like his others so it is more family friendly.
Image Credit: “jean claude van damme” by zuchero is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
I’m Alice Judy and AnQuotes is a fun hobby for me. We know that everyone loves a great quote and our mission here is simple – to be the best and most interesting quote site in the world! If you have quotes you would like us to cover, please contact us.
