A biography for Bikram Choudhuryhasn’t been written yet.
“I guarantee you, yoga will compete with computers, music, sports, automobiles, the drug industry. Yoga will take over the world!”
“So many people are stealing Bikram Yoga. It's like you're practicing medicine, but you're not a doctor.”
“My friend said to me, 'You don't look good,' - because all the time I have to think about law and justice and courts.”
“I didn't come here without a visa, like everyone from China and Vietnam and Cuba. I came here by special plane... received by the ambassador, by the president of the United States. I should be the most honored man in your country.”
“I have so many choices in America; it's home to so many good things. I'm smart enough to enjoy all the good things that are offered.”
“Most researchers sit at a table and read books. My research, since three years old, has been to use my own body.”
“You go to Starbucks, and you know what you're going to get. It's the same with my yoga.”
“Why must everyone need a doctorate to teach? You can be a graduate from my institute in two months and for $11,000.”
“You treat an idiot like an idiot.”
“When President Ronald Reagan asked me a stupid question once, I called him an idiot in public! I thought I was going to be arrested, but he laughed and appreciated me.”
“For months, I slept at work, even though I had an apartment. I'd fall asleep on the floor at 4:30 A.M. By 7 A.M., I was up and ready to start teaching every class.”
“If you can, you must.”
“I am tough, and sometimes I tell it like it is. Tough love can work wonders.”
“I fix the human chassis, I tune up human engines, I recharge human batteries, and I adjust human transmissions.”
“I started with nothing. Zero.”
“If you want to live a hundred years, how do you want to live your life? At the age of 100, you should go shopping with your great-grandchildren, but not in a wheelchair.”
“When actress Shirley Maclaine arrived 30 minutes late for a class, I asked her to leave.”
“If you do Bikram Yoga, you exercise your body 100 percent.”
“I don't chase money, money chase me!”
“Negative attitude is nine times more powerful than positive attitude.”