I'm not complaining about doing 20-hour days. It's a joy to be able to work on yet another film.

I'm not a movie star. I'm a brand name. Van Damme is like Levi's. I go on vacation, and everywhere I go, people love me for my name, not for my movies.

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.

Karate's a very boring sport, but when you know the technique you can go further and further.

All I wanted to do was to become famous, but then I found out that it was nothing special.

I am the Fred Astaire of karate.

I've become 40, my audience is partly the same age.

If a product is more expensive than another one and more sustainable in ecology, consumers will not buy it. We're in a very sharp competitive market.

I really am a guy who can be black and white. I don't understand, too much, the gray. And truly I can go from one type of character to another type of character.

Everybody understands a slap in the face. In Japan, Belgium, or America, a punch is a punch. Comedy will be different in Europe or America or Japan, so my movies are very international.

I'm one of the most sensitive human beings on Earth -- and I know it.

Obviously I've taken drugs.

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!

I'm fast, why? Because I eat vegetables.

••If you work with a jackhammer during an earthquake, stop, otherwise you are working for nothing.

••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!

My wife is not my best sexual partner, but she's good with the housework.

I love karate, it's like a bible to me. But deep inside I'm so I mean, I'm so sensitive.

A pair of legs engineered to defy the laws of physics and a mindset to master the most epic of splits.

I've had my ups and downs. My fair share of bumpy roads and heavy winds. That's what made me what I am today.

According to statistics, one person out of five is disturbed. If there are four people around you who seem normal, that's not good.

A man may have the best of wealth, cars and fame. But there is nothing more precious in life that he will get than a woman's heart.

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.

Air is beautiful, yet you cannot see it. It's soft, yet you cannot touch it. Air is a little like my brain.

If you phone a psychic and she doesn't answer the phone before it rings, hang up.

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 love challenges. If you don't have any and can do whatever you want, then it's probably time to die.

I came back to my original wife. I came back to her after I made a few boo-boos in my life. Coming back to her was good for me, good for her and good for the children.

In the past, I was working out too heavy.

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.

I train, for me, very smartly. I don't train heavy, I do a lot of isometrics.

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.

What I promise to my actors, and to my director, is to give them the salary and everything they need.

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.

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.

I'm not complaining about doing 20-hour days. It's a joy to be able to work on yet another film.

There are some movie stars in Hollywood that are so scared, they also tell the reporter that they are recording them, in case there is something wrong with what they wrote about them in the papers.

What really helps a guy to become an action hero today is the directing of the movie. All those fast cuts.

I've become 40, my audience is partly the same age.

In an action film you act in the action. If it's a dramatic film you act in the drama.

My time of martial arts was traditional.

I'm one of the most sensitive human beings on Earth - and I know it.

When I was 24, I was full of life. I was that ham who wanted to be famous, a movie star, all that stuff. I think it's cool. But it was not what I was searching for, really. It was more a delusion.

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.

You can create the perfect triceps by just pushing yourself off your wall.

When you finish a film, if you believed in your character, you're empty.

You have to believe what you say, and if you believe what you are saying, then acting is easy.

I came to America with a dream and I made it. The dream became reality. America is built for success.

What is a movie star? It is an illusion. It was everything I ever wanted to be, but it became a kind of shell, non? It was what made me famous and got me women. But it wasn't real.

Believe me - I've done very good stuff and very crazy stuff, and I don't regret the crazy stuff.