Jean-Claude Van Damme Quotes

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.

All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.

When you're in your 20s, your 30s, even, you have - at least, I had - vast ambitions, and you sit around mooning about these things, and you're depressed, because you haven't done them. And it takes you a long time to come to the realization that if you can't be John Updike, well, then, you can't.

There are some famous people, and I've met them, who you might think are great, and then you meet them, and you discover that they not only have feet but heads of clay.

I can't advise any of the young ones, because I don't know what their background was, but I would suggest that anyone who wants to be famous more than anything - there's a real problem.

Sometimes I wake up and think, 'How did I get here?'

There were a few years there when I was just so enamored with the idea of living some sort of famous person's lifestyle that really isn't suited to me.

Fame is the thirst of youth.

Everyone wants to be famous; so do I. But I cannot lose sleep over it.

I was in college that first semester, and I was like, 'Wow, this isn't who I am. This isn't what I want to do.' I was like, 'Oh God, I'm going to have to go out and make something of myself, and I have no clue what that is.'

I'm 19. I'm in the process of growing up and figuring out where I'm supposed to be in my life. But it is kind of weird when I realize that other people look to me as inspiration.

You have a deeper purpose that drives you. You have to talk to yourself about what that purpose is. If you run through like a hamster to chase fame or money, you might end up wasting your life away. You find what drives you and gives you energy.

Listen - by the time I'm 40, I'm either gonna be super famous or dead.

I never had time to dream about being anyone else.

The simplest questions are the most profound. Where were you born? Where is your home? Where are you going? What are you doing? Think about these once in a while and watch your answers change.

I definitely wanted to be famous as a kid, but as I've gotten older, I feel less comfortable with it.

These days there are a lot of people who just want to be famous. I think that comes from a naive place, because those people generally don't know what it's like.

It took me a long time to find out that I was born to be an actor. It was the last thing on my list, although my list was very small. I didn't know what to do. But kids weren't supposed to know what to do back then; we were all cute and we'd find out what we'd do later in life.

I had an early taste of fame. I was 20, going out with TV presenter Dani Behr and we'd have paparazzi chasing us. I'm not comfortable being photographed, though I accept it is part of the job. I had to ask myself, 'What comes first, being a celebrity or footballer?'

I don't think that I want to meet any of the icons. I don't think that anybody can quite live up to your expectations.

There are people who fly to the height of stardom in a single day, and then there are people like me. I used to have this ridiculous idea that I absolutely had to be a big, big movie star. Now all I'm after is happiness.

I didn't become a footballer to be famous, I became a footballer to be successful. I didn't want to be famous. Now people want to be famous. Why? Why would you want people following you about all day? I couldn't think of anything worse.

I didn't want to be an actress. It wasn't a dream. I didn't have any dreams at all.

We all want to be famous people, and the moment we want to be something we are no longer free.

Right after 'Raymond' I had a world-is-my-oyster attitude, but I found out I don't like oysters. I had this existential emptiness. 'What is my purpose? Who am I?' I had a big identity crisis.