“One thing I know for sure: it is only by doing what we fear that we can ever truly learn to be brave.”

Time and experience have taught me that fame and money very rarely go to the worthy, by the way – hence we shouldn’t ever be too impressed by either of those impostors. Value folk for who they are, how they live and what they give – that’s a much better benchmark.

Our achievements are generally limited only by the beliefs we impose on ourselves.

Nobody else is stupid enough to get themselves into the straits that I get into.

If you risk nothing you gain nothing

All my life the only thing I’ve been good at has been climbing and throwing myself off big things.

Always keep the big picture in mind- you are greatly loved by Jesus and your job is to love Him and others in return. The rest is detail.

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

My work is all about adventure and teamwork in some of the most inhospitable jungles, mountains and deserts on the planet. If you aren’t able to look after yourself and each other, then people die.

You can’t live someone else’s expectations in life. It’s a recipe for disaster.

I think viewers quite like it when I’m suffering or eating or drinking something horrible or really up against it in some quicksand or whatever.

When I take kids into the woods, I tell them, “What we’re going to do today is going to be incredibly dangerous.” And you just see 20 smiles go up.

I’m probably going to be the scruffiest Chief Scout you’ve ever had and my health and safety policy is non-existent.

You only get one chance at life and you have to grab it boldly.

Change the way you use your time, and you change your life.

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.

Faith is personal if it’s to be real.

I greatly enjoyed the Hawaiian Islands. They are a real little paradise in spite of the influx of Americans who have made it one of their most pleasant ‘centers of resort’.

As a coach, one thing that used to frustrate me was one player would make a bad decision, and that’s all you would read about in the papers all over the country.

I’ve owned 41 airplanes. A few of them would talk with me. This little seaplane, though, we’ve had long conversations in flight.

From day one, I got addicted to being on stage and getting the applause and laughter.

Notre Dame is the one school that has a national recruiting base, from Florida to Texas to California.

Been in this game one-hundred years, but I see new ways to lose ’em I never knew existed before.

Deep down, no one really believes they have a right to live. But this death sentence generally stays tucked away, hidden beneath the difficulty of living. If that difficulty is removed from time to time, death is suddenly there, unintelligibly.

You don’t want to be the best at what you do, you want to be the only one.