Georges St-Pierre quotes:

For me, personally, when I'm afraid of something - when you're afraid of something, normally you try to go away, you try to avoid it. Instead of avoiding it, to overcome your fear, I believe you need to embrace it.

I was a big fan of Jean-Claude Van-Damme growing up, and I always wanted to be a martial artist 'cause of him.

When you pay attention to detail, the big picture will take care of itself.

The more knowledge you get, the more questions you ask. The smarter you get, the more you realize that everything can be possible.

Train smart at all times and do your best to avoid injury. Training smart is more important than training hard.

Fear can be a natural ally, a homemade power source... Staying in the present, fear can only help you.

I think it makes your stronger to admit that you're scared, because you're not scared to say that you're scared.

I am a public person and I have my private life. It's important for me that my private life stay private, that what I share with the people is my public personality.

I'm a martial artist, and I don't train because I have a fight; I train because it's my lifestyle, and I'll train every day if I'm not hurt.

Growth is a long term game, and the crappy days are more important.

There is no luck in life, everything happens for a reason. Every little thing that you do... leads up to a bigger thing. And that's the story of my life.

A cockroach can't defeat a dinosaur. But the cockroach is better at one thing, and it has ensured its survival through the ages: Adaptation. One could adapt to the environment and the other one couldn't.

A guy that has more knowledge has the advantage.

A system that works for one person won't be perfect for another... Individuality is a major part of expanding knowledge.

There is a difference between a fighter and a martial artist. A fighter is training for a purpose: He has a fight. I'm a martial artist. I don't train for a fight. I train for myself. I'm training all the time. My goal is perfection. But I will never reach perfection.

Seeking knowledge is like opening doors. And I know the doors are everywhere.

A fight is 10% physical and 90% mental.

One of my favorite Japanese proverbs is "Fall down 7 times, stand up 8".

Using your imagination to create mental images stimulates your mind, helps organize your life and keeps your focus in a particular direction. It allows your unconscious mind to work toward the image you have created, the goal. It's about understand the life you want to live, and seeing it unfold before you.

People think athleticism is just physical, but it's not. It's connected to the brain and how the brain can learn to execute and see a movement or not. Especially at high speed. Being athletic is not just jumping and running and being powerful. It's the nervous system that guides the body. The muscles don't decide anything. The brain decides and makes things happen.

Think about climbing a mountain. If you decide you're going up Everest, you don't start with a sprint. You'll never make it out of base camp if you do that. The secret is two fold: make sure your approach is consistent and steady so that you can maintain the progress you're making as your journey continues.

I've come up with my own cure for a closed mind: try it once, and see.

I try to protect my loved ones, the people I share my life with, because they don't have a public life like me. I want to keep their lives private out of respect for them.

People often say, 'Ah, ultimate fighting is so violent,' but it's rooted in martial arts. Martial arts incarnate respect. You can't walk into a dojo and say to your sensei, 'Hey, salut tabarnac!' After every one of my fights I go and shake the hand of my opponent. I don't need to hate the other fighter to fight him well. It's a sport.

It's not always the strong that survive. It takes brains, guts, tolerance and forward thinking.

If I'm disrespectful to my opponent, how can I respect myself?

Always pursue your dreams and work hard at it.

A true master gives all his knowledge. But only when the student is ready.

As Aristotle wrote a long, long time ago, and I'm paraphrasing here, the goal is to avoid mediocrity by being prepared to try something and either failing miserably or triumphing grandly. Mediocrity is not about failing, and it's the opposite of doing. Mediocrity, in other words, is about not trying. The reason is achingly simple, and I know you've heard it a thousand times before: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Because Conor McGregor is so confident - he goes there 'I'll beat this, I will do that' - If I would be his coach I will tell him all the time, behind closed doors, how dangerous [Nate] Diaz is and how much of a war this fight will be and how painful, and long, and uncomfortable it would be, and to get prepared for the worst day of his life.

Dana White came out very often in public saying I'm this and that; I'm sure it's also to play with my ego, to make me, for example, come out of retirement and say 'Oh ok, I'll fight for peanuts.' No, I'm not like that. I know the game.

Dinosaurs were huge and powerful; they could not adapt and they died out. And so the big difference between dinosaurs and cockroaches is adaptability: one is able to adjust, while the other, apparently, couldn't... The same analogy applies to fighting, and probably any other sport. It's not always the strong that survive. It takes brains, guts, tolerance and forward thinking. We've seen this since the beginning of mixed martial arts.

Don't be afraid to spend money to make money. That's one thing I've never been afraid of... to invest in myself.

Efficiency for me is an obsession..It not only helps me get stronger but makes things simpler.

Every little thing you do leads up to a bigger thing.

Everyone in life faces obstacles. That's what made me who I am. I don't regret to have been bullied because probably if I would not have faced those obstacles I would not have been the man that I am. It make my stronger in a way and it helped me to forge the person that I am right now.

Everyone is a threat, and anyone can be beat at any given moment. No one is invincible.

Fear is the genesis of most of the good things that have occurred in my life. Fear is the beginning of every success I've lived.

Fighting is about knowledge, knowledge is a very important part of it.

For me there is no reason why to go up in weight class, because when you go up in weight class you have to fight bigger guys - then you have to train against bigger guys. The guys are not better, they're heavier, but it means you have more chance to get hurt.

Humility is the first rule of martial arts. Either you learn humility quickly, or you leave because your ego can't handle losing repeatedly.

I am very honored and excited to be part of UFC 100; it's going to be the hardest challenge of my career so far and it's going to be pretty tough - I can't wait.

I bow to my opponent in praise and thanks. After the fight is a time for humility, acceptance and analysis, no matter the result.

I can choose whoever I want, in MMA things change very rapidly, sometimes you don't know what'll happen and there's a guy that upsets everybody. I could fight who the fans would like me to fight the most. For me that's important.

I don't want things that I regret in life, and things that I have not done - and I don't want to at 80 years wake up, and tell myself: 'Oh I was on top of my shape and skills and I didn't do it.'

I don't want to be an exception, because I was very outspoken about Performance Enhancing Drugs. It would be bad for my reputation if I would have an exemption [for doping test] - I don't want to have a free pass, I want to be like everybody else.

I fight with emotion, but I don't fight with anger. I could be angry, but I'm not going to fight with anger because when you fight with anger you can make mistakes.

I had two ACL injuries in my life, and both of them happened when I was training with bigger guys; a heavyweight and a light heavyweight. Sometimes it's not even because the guy is good, you just get hurt.

I like to think I'm like water that adapts to its surroundings and eventually finds a way in.

I see the world as a knowledge hardware story, and every day I'm just walking through the aisles.

I used my Karate footwork to control the distance, and I use is as a penetration drill that I do, this is my speciality, the way I penetrate on people, the explosiveness and the timing. It all started with Kyokoshin and Sports Karate.

I want to use every second of my life, every time that I have in my life, to make me a better fighter. That's why I'm a martial artist. For me, it's more than a job - it's a way of living

I went to Jerusalem, the dead sea, it was just amazing. Because what we see in the TV, I'm sorry to say it, I don't want to insult nobody, but a lot of the image that we see from the middle east in Canada - It's sad to say but it's always bad stuff. I was thinking coming here it would be a lot of military, security, everybody would be a little more on the edge, but I see it's amazing. It feels a little bit similar to Miami.

I will never blame a fighter if he doesn't fight me because he takes care of his own interest first, and prioritize the interests of his family first, that's completely normal.

I will never take the fact that I am Welterweight Champion for granted. I learnt my mistake in the past. No matter how great, no matter how people tell me how great I am, I'm always one mistake away from losing everything.

I will repeat a technique until it is mastered, no matter when that will be. One certainty though: it will be.

If I come back and I lose, at least I know I did everything I should have done, I have no regrets, I'll be happy. I can die happy.

If you look good, you feel good, and if you feel good, you do good.

If you prepare your subconscious for highly stressful situations, you can create harmony with your fears. You can tame fear like a wild animal and use it to your advantage.

If you want to be a proud person, then you want to avenge your loss. For me it was If you want to be a proud person, then you want to avenge your loss. For me it was [Josean] Serra and [Joe] Hughes, and for Michael Bisping, Henderson is one of his losses - one of his most painful losses. So I understand why he wants to avenge it. As an athlete I understand.

I'm a shy guy... I don't enjoy being bothered but I never say no to a fan. I say yes to everybody... even though sometimes you have some days where you don't feel like it, but it's your duty as athlete to do it. Because the fans that pay it's going to make you live, so you have to do it. So I force myself to do it all the time.

I'm always at my best when I'm fighting a guy who insults me..questions my integrity; it lights more fire in me.

I'm always scared when I fight. But that fear is what keeps me more alert and more focused. It's good to have fear.

I'm an athlete, my job is not negotiating, it's not my field of expertise. I'm an emotional guy - it's normal, a lot of athletes are, and we're very susceptible to get our ego cut because of that.

I'm not impressed by your performance.

I'm so busy during my everyday, when I go on vacation I need to pull the plug like they say, and to do nothing.

I'm the kind of guy who only makes a mistake once, never twice.

I'm training all the time. My goal is perfection. But I will never reach perfection.

In fighting, in evolution, in life, efficiency is the key,

Innovation is a discipline not a lottery... It comes from the combination of two elements within my control: hard work and openmindedness.

Innovation is very important to me, especially professionally. The alternative, standing pat, leads to complacency, rigidity and eventually failure.

Innovation keeps me ahead of my competition. It means that my foes must adapt to me, not the other way around.

Innovation, born from true creativity, depends on movement.

It all comes down to confidence: your body can do great things only if it believes it can accomplish them.

It's like life. The more knowledge you get, the more questions you ask. The smarter you get, the more you realize that everything can be possible.

It's OK to get butterfly in your stomach; the key is to learn how to make them fly in formation.

It's bizarre, a punch in the face hurts less when you win than when you lose.

It's easy to talk, it's harder to fight.

It's not about how you are when things go well, what defines you is how you are when you fail from an obstacle.

It's not always the best team that wins the game it's the team that plays better.

It's not the most powerful animal that survives. It's the most efficient.

I've started late, I was 19 years old. I've trained with Victor Zilberman - he's a Russian-Jewish from Moldova. His son David who is coaching me represented Canada in the Olympic games. There were a lot of very good wrestlers there and they took me underneath their wing when I was young.

I've trained myself to fight an army, so one guy will not defeat me.

Kyokoshin I've done most, but I competed in Sports Karate also, that's my style that I come from, and mixed with the wrestling that's how I got the takedowns.

Make sure your approach is consistent and steady so that you can maintain the progress you're making as your journey continues.

My fear delivered one of the great lessons of my life: That someone without fear can't push himself. He can't get better. He can't transform negatives into positives. He can't open his world to creativity and invention, or even progress.

My goal is to share all my learning, all of my knowledge, so that other generations of martial arts will benefit.

My mentality is like a samurai they used to train every day, work on their technique to make themselves better, almost perfect, perfection is impossible but every day you get closer and that's what I want . Every day I want to get better than I was the day before. I want to use every second of my life, every time I have in my life to make me a better fighter. It's more than a job it's a way of living.

My mentality is like a Samurai: They used to every day work on their technique to make themselves almost perfect. Because perfection is impossible, but every day, you get closer to perfection.

My mentality is that when I go to sleep at night, I'm a better martial artist than when I woke up in the morning.

Nervous and scared is a good thing, it's your friend. You feel more on the edge, you feel like you're about to fall down the river, it's a good thing for me. I like that feeling.

Nick Diaz is a champion so he's got the spirit that comes with it. So he's not going to give up mentally. You see a lot of guys give up mentally and that's why they get knocked out or submitted. They give up mentally before they lose.

No two journeys are alike. Nobody can pretend to know the journey another person takes to achieve his dreams.

Nothing really frustrates me to the point of hatred. It's not the worth the energy.

Once fear enters your life - it will take you in one of two directions: empowerment or panic.

Once I got over my anger and rage from childhood, once I stopped feeling like a victim, I was able to open myself to great sources of learning.

One of the important lessons I learned from my parents is always to respect authority figures like teachers.

One of the keys to learning for me has been to not get so hung up on the past. It's important to remember the past, but that doesn't mean you have to torture yourself with it by reliving it every single day.

One of the lessons I learned in all those years practicing karate is that progress only comes in small incremental portions.

Only way to eliminate the element of surprise is to know yourself and now your adversary.

People don't understand, yeah I'm alright as a wrestler, but I beat people in the takedown because of my distance control - because of my Karate. This is something I learned since I'm 7 years old.

People have mistaken my break, I took a break from competition, it was because of mental problems, and because I was not agreeing with Performance Enhancing Drugs. I put the things on pause for a while, but I didn't retire.

People who believe in themselves can accomplish almost anything... all begins with attitude.

Pick a goal, make a realistic plan to reach that goal, work through each step of the plan, and repeat.

Power is different when you combined it with wisdom. Wisdom allows you to use less power to accomplish more tasks.

Respect is the most important thing. Be respectful toward others and have respect for yourself.

Respect your opponent, just make them respect you more.

Set your goal and keep moving forward.

Some people learn to lose. Others lose and learn.

Sometimes I'm under the impression some of the fights happen that they shouldn't happen because a guy's cheating. Also, I think when something like this happen they should have not only a suspension but also monetary wise enforce a penalty. Maybe take the purse of the fighter to the other fighter.

Standing still is never a good option. Not in the ring, and not in life... When you stop moving, you're done.

Thanks to his willingness to face me, my life takes shape, my path evolves.

That's the way to go. People say: 'Oh, he doesn't want to come back, he's scared,' and it's to play with your brain, to play with your mind. I'm not scared of nobody. I'm not scared of no human being. I'm scared to fight, every time I fight I'm scared, but I'll bite into my mouthpiece and I'll walk the walk.

The beach in Tel-Aviv I went to, it even looks and feels a little bit like Rio de Janeiro. Some other places are very European and I just like it. I thought it would be fun but it's a lot better than that. It's a lot more relaxed and a lot of fun, and I feel very secure, and I would tell my friends they should come here when they plan a vacation. Not only the history.

The danger is not to set your goal too high and fail to reach it. It's to set your goal too low and reach it

The goal is to avoid mediocrity by being prepared to try something and either failing miserably or triumphing grandly.

The key to effective visualization is to create the most detailed, clear and vivid a picture to focus on as possible. The more vivid the visualization, the more likely, and quickly, you are to begin attracting the things that help you achieve what you want to get done.

The only way to ever truly get your confidence and swagger back, I've learned, is to fight for them.

The real test is this one: When you're alone in a room, when you're in a private place and nobody else can see you, what do you choose to do? Eat well, or eat poorly? Exercise, or watch television? Practice something, or do nothing? The best version of the truth appears to you and you alone, when nobody else can see. This is the test of discipline, and it's what makes the difference in your life. It's what regulates your own system and guides it. The individual alone comprehends it.

The truth is that I didn't start as a winner. When I was a kid, I was just another reject. I started at the bottom. I think all winners do.