The only airline I avoid like the plague is Ryanair. I don't like that, when you book, there are then all of these little extras to pay for, and you end up paying more than just flying with British Airways.

When I was a kid, people kept saying, 'You can't do this, you can't do that,' and I wanted to prove them wrong.

I receive kindness every day. I love to smile when I'm out and about, and if someone smiles back, which happens about half the time, I think that's an act of kindness every couple of minutes in my day.

I actually had huge problems with my glasses steaming up all the time. I had to train very carefully around the limitations caused by wearing them.

Some people thought I wasn't taking the sport seriously because I was always laughing and having fun, but I loved my skiing, I loved my jumping, and I thought, 'Well, why not have a smile on my face when I'm doing something that I really, really love doing,' and that's how I was.

People still think I'm a bit of a buffoon - not really an athlete.

For all my 'Eddie the Eagle' goofing around before the camera while in training for the Calgary Olympics in 1988, I was never less than 100 per cent serious on every single jump.

When I plummeted into infamy in the Calgary Olympics, I never thought that a film would be made about my life.

No matter how many people say you can't do something, use that as inspiration to prove them wrong.

Most people should be given a chance to compete in the Olympic Games.

People seemed to appreciate how much I wanted to pursue something I loved. They seemed to understand how much ski jumping meant to me.

I like nothing more than walking down a country lane or along a mountain path - it's not proof that there is anything bigger than ourselves, but I feel very much at peace.

I have never, ever considered myself a failure.

On the street, I'll hear, 'You made the Olympics for me,' or 'I love what you represented.' Only occasionally is it, 'You were a flop, an also-ran, a loser.'

It takes a lot of guts to jump. If people criticise, I would give them a set of skis and say, 'Do it yourself then.'

I did a tandem parachute jump when I opened a golf course in Atlanta, Georgia. I jumped out of a plane at 15,000 feet to land on the first tee, and then I played a couple of holes with golfer Arnold Palmer. That was brilliant.

It's nice and restful, plastering.

I'm a positive person who likes to have fun and get the best out of every day.

The worst thing that happened to me as a child was seeing my brother get pushed into a cement mixer.

I always do the very best I can, and I should be given the opportunity and the right to represent my country.

I want my life to move on. On the other hand, I can't say no to offers, not when I'm getting £50,000 a year to be Eddie the Eagle.

My mother looked after me full-time when I was young, but as soon as I started school, she got a job in an office.

It was while I was in the mental hospital that I got my letter from the British Olympic Association saying, 'Congratulations. You've been picked to go to the Olympic Games.' I kept stressing I wasn't a patient.

Life is good, and I'm happy, and I don't know that it would be as good if I'd been the winner in Calgary.

When I started competing, I was so broke that I had to tie my helmet with a piece of string. On one jump, the string snapped, and my helmet carried on farther than I did. I may have been the first ski jumper ever beaten by his gear.

The failures are the people who never get off their bums.

I've had an operation on my jaw - I don't have the big jaw anymore - and I've also had an operation on my eyes.

You can't have Alan Partridge as Eddie the Eagle!

I would never think of asking a girl out on the High Street or the disco or at school. But on the ski slope, I would chat to all the girls.

I want to prove to the skeptics that I'm not a clown. I'm very serious about what I do. I want to be a good ski jumper who has a sense of humor.

I have a big chin. Thick glasses.

People really aren't interested in the way I look. It's my personality they like.

I don't want to look like Michael Jackson.

Some people thought I was bringing the sport down. I don't think so. I was the best and only jumper my country had.

If you are in your sport for your country, you should be able to go to the Olympic Games and represent your sport for your country bringing people together in the interests of sport. It's a fantastic Olympic ideal, and I uphold it as much as I can.

I travelled the world because of the way people saw me at the Olympics.

I was exemplifying the Olympian who took up a challenge as a sportsman, without a trainer, in a country without mountains and without snow. And, inside of two years, I was representing my country.

I want to be recognised as exemplifying the Olympic spirit - one of the last true Olympians.

You have to take the rough with the smooth - that's what ski-jumping is all about. You always expect the worst.

I broke my jaw jumping, and I broke my back and my neck in the downhill. This is normal for me.

I can't explain my popularity. I suppose I'm just an ordinary bloke, and a lot of people see a little bit of Eddie in themselves.

There are so many world-class athletes who are great at their sport, but they're so boring. They don't talk, and they can't be interviewed very well.

It had been a dream of mine to go to an Olympic Games since I was about seven years old. I didn't know I'd do it ski jumping, but that's how it turned out.

We were not rich by any means. My dad was a plasterer and worked long hours - I hardly ever saw him when I was growing up. He had always gone to work before I woke up, and usually, I would be in bed before he came home.

I was a latchkey kid. Every afternoon, I would walk home from school, let myself in, make myself a banana buttie, and watch telly until Mum came home.

My dentist said my teeth were wearing away at the back because I couldn't bite. My top jaw was broken and brought forward, and my bottom jaw was broken and put back.

A lot of people think I'm really outgoing and confident, but I'm not. I'd much rather sit in a corner and read my book and my paper. I'm quite happy with my own company.

I don't regard myself as an entertainer. I don't think that's where my talents lie. It always feels a bit uncomfortable.

For me, I was never someone who wanted to hold on to the celebrity image.

I liked being Eddie the Eagle, but I also like being Michael Edwards, plasterer and general builder.