A biography for Bear Gryllshasn’t been written yet.
“When I'm in 'Man vs. Wild' mode, it's not pleasure. Every sensor is firing and I'm on reserve power all the time and I'm digging deep - and that's the magic of it as well, and that's raw and it's great.”
“Being brave isn't the absence of fear. Being brave is having that fear but finding a way through it.”
“It's unresolved conflict in my life that I have a lovely family and a risky job.”
“I exercise about 40 minutes a day, and I'll run one day and do circuit training the next day. I live in an area where there are brilliant hills and mountains, so I get a good hill run with my dog. At home, I'll do the circuit training with old weights, along with pull-ups in the trees and that sort of stuff.”
“Our fate is determined by how far we are prepared to push ourselves to stay alive - the decisions we make to survive. We must do whatever it takes to endure and make it through alive.”
“One killer exercise that's really great is pull-ups with your legs out level. That's my favourite. It's such functional core strength, and that's why I can climb up trees and down vines.”
“In the British Special Air Service, combat fitness is all about running.”
“I've had so many injuries in my life that it's ridiculous.”
“You only get one chance at life and you have to grab it boldly.”
“But the wild is unpredictable, stuff does happen, and it's always when you're least expecting it.”
“I come from a line of self-motivated, determined folk - not grand, not high society, but no-nonsense, family-minded go-getters.”
“I'm terrified of walking into a room full of people. Sitting down at a dinner table with 15 strangers brings me out in a sweat.”
“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.”
“The line between life or death is determined by what we are willing to do.”
“The appeal of the wild for me is its unpredictability. You have to develop an awareness, react fast, be resourceful and come up with a plan and act on it.”
“That feeling when you're so cold you'd give anything to be warm - I've had it before, literally huddled around a candle flame on an ice sheet.”
“When I'm filming, survival requires movement. You need your energy, and you've got to eat the bad stuff, and survival food is rarely pretty, but you kind of do it. I get in that zone, and I eat the nasty stuff, but I'm not like that when I'm back home.”
“I love Ray Mears. He's brilliant. He's so rude about me in the press, it's outrageous!”
“As a young boy, scouting gave me a confidence and camaraderie that is hard to find in modern life.”
“Weather can kill you so fast. The first priority of survival is getting protection from the extreme weather.”