Quotes by Bear Grylls

“I never wanted to do TV. I just did what I was trained to do through the Special Forces, and I've been doing that from a very young age.”

“Americans are cool if you show just a chink of vulnerability, they respond so much. They'll pat you on the arm and say, 'Hey kid, you're all right.' Brits will respond but they are much more cynical.”

“Some of the greatest survivors have been women. Look at the courage so many women have shown after surviving earthquakes in the rubble for days on end.”

“I loved climbing because of the freedom, and having time and space. I remember coming off Everest for the last time, thinking of Dad and wishing that he could have seen what I saw. He would have loved it.”

“The line between life or death is determined by what we are willing to do.”

“My faith isn't very churchy, it's a pretty personal, intimate thing and has been a huge source of strength in moments of life and death.”

“As for my diet, I try to eat lean, clean and healthy - nothing too surprising. And I avoid too much meat or dairy because they slow you down.”

“I always had a really natural faith as a kid. Where I knew God existed and it felt very free and pretty wild and natural, and it wasn't religious.”

“Faith is personal if it's to be real.”

“Christianity is not about religion. It's about faith, about being held, about being forgiven. It's about finding joy and finding home.”

“And Jesus, the heart of the Christian faith is the wildest, most radical guy you'd ever come across.”

“My faith is an important part of my life and over the years I've learnt that it takes a proud man to say he doesn't need anything. It has been a quiet strength and a backbone through a lot of difficult times.”

“Nobody wants to end up super rich and famous - but divorced. I'm always clear on that and try to stay on the right side of the line.”

“Being brave isn't the absence of fear. Being brave is having that fear but finding a way through it.”

“You're not human if you don't feel fear. But I've learnt to treat fear as an emotion that sharpens me. It's there to give me that edge for what I have to do.”

“In the British Special Air Service, combat fitness is all about running.”

“I love home cooking, and I'm not a great one for fast food.”

“When I'm filming, survival requires movement. You need your energy, and you've got to eat the bad stuff, and survival food is rarely pretty, but you kind of do it. I get in that zone, and I eat the nasty stuff, but I'm not like that when I'm back home.”

“I try and eat really healthy when I'm home, but I certainly don't eat worms and snakes.”

“I exercise about 40 minutes a day, and I'll run one day and do circuit training the next day. I live in an area where there are brilliant hills and mountains, so I get a good hill run with my dog. At home, I'll do the circuit training with old weights, along with pull-ups in the trees and that sort of stuff.”

“Survival requires us to leave our prejudices at home. It's about doing whatever it takes - and ultimately those with the biggest heart will win.”

“I come from a line of self-motivated, determined folk - not grand, not high society, but no-nonsense, family-minded go-getters.”

“One killer exercise that's really great is pull-ups with your legs out level. That's my favourite. It's such functional core strength, and that's why I can climb up trees and down vines.”

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