Ski jumping is just 10 per cent physical, 90 per cent mental. Some people can't do that. It's not just to do with the fear at the top. It takes a lot of guts to go off the top, but it takes 100 times more courage to jump off the end.Collection: Courage
After my ski jumping career finished, I went back to school to study law, and now I travel between five to 20 times a year doing after-dinner speaking, motivational talks, appearances, openings, TV and radio shows.Collection: Motivational
Some people thought I wasn't taking the sport seriously because I was always laughing and having fun, but I loved my skiing, I loved my jumping, and I thought, 'Well, why not have a smile on my face when I'm doing something that I really, really love doing,' and that's how I was.Collection: Smile
I have never, ever considered myself a failure.Collection: Failure
I receive kindness every day. I love to smile when I'm out and about, and if someone smiles back, which happens about half the time, I think that's an act of kindness every couple of minutes in my day.Collection: Smile
I'm the Eagle: I can fly.
No matter how many people say you can't do something, use that as inspiration to prove them wrong.
I made my dream come true despite all the obstacles - no money, no training, no skis, no snow.
We were not rich by any means. My dad was a plasterer and worked long hours - I hardly ever saw him when I was growing up. He had always gone to work before I woke up, and usually, I would be in bed before he came home.
I had no money, no training facilities, no snow, no ski jumps, no trainer, but I still managed to ski jump for my country - and getting there was my gold medal.
My dentist said my teeth were wearing away at the back because I couldn't bite. My top jaw was broken and brought forward, and my bottom jaw was broken and put back.
I was a true amateur and embodied what the Olympic spirit is all about. To me, competing was all that mattered.
It was while I was in the mental hospital that I got my letter from the British Olympic Association saying, 'Congratulations. You've been picked to go to the Olympic Games.' I kept stressing I wasn't a patient.
Both parents were hard-working and made me work for my pocket money by doing household chores. That taught me the value of money and gave me a strong work ethic.
I'm a positive person who likes to have fun and get the best out of every day.
Resilience can go an awful long way.
If you have got a dream and you've got ambition, then go for it. You know, unless you try, you'll never know.
I can't explain my popularity. I suppose I'm just an ordinary bloke, and a lot of people see a little bit of Eddie in themselves.
You have to take the rough with the smooth - that's what ski-jumping is all about. You always expect the worst.
Where is it written that the Olympics are only for winners?
The failures are the people who never get off their bums.
On the street, I'll hear, 'You made the Olympics for me,' or 'I love what you represented.' Only occasionally is it, 'You were a flop, an also-ran, a loser.'
When I started competing, I was so broke that I had to tie my helmet with a piece of string. On one jump, the string snapped, and my helmet carried on farther than I did. I may have been the first ski jumper ever beaten by his gear.
I want my life to move on. On the other hand, I can't say no to offers, not when I'm getting £50,000 a year to be Eddie the Eagle.
I did a tandem parachute jump when I opened a golf course in Atlanta, Georgia. I jumped out of a plane at 15,000 feet to land on the first tee, and then I played a couple of holes with golfer Arnold Palmer. That was brilliant.
I wish they'd build a ski jump at the Grand Canyon; it'd be fantastic.
The only airline I avoid like the plague is Ryanair. I don't like that, when you book, there are then all of these little extras to pay for, and you end up paying more than just flying with British Airways.
Americans are very much 'Win! Win! Win!' In England, we don't give a fig whether you win. It's great if you do, but we appreciate those who don't.
In my case, there are only two kinds of hope - Bob Hope and no hope.
I've had an operation on my jaw - I don't have the big jaw anymore - and I've also had an operation on my eyes.
You can't have Alan Partridge as Eddie the Eagle!
I would never think of asking a girl out on the High Street or the disco or at school. But on the ski slope, I would chat to all the girls.
Getting to the Olympic Games was my gold medal.
I want to prove to the skeptics that I'm not a clown. I'm very serious about what I do. I want to be a good ski jumper who has a sense of humor.
Most people should be given a chance to compete in the Olympic Games.
I have a big chin. Thick glasses.
People really aren't interested in the way I look. It's my personality they like.
I don't want to look like Michael Jackson.
Some people thought I was bringing the sport down. I don't think so. I was the best and only jumper my country had.
I actually had huge problems with my glasses steaming up all the time. I had to train very carefully around the limitations caused by wearing them.
If you are in your sport for your country, you should be able to go to the Olympic Games and represent your sport for your country bringing people together in the interests of sport. It's a fantastic Olympic ideal, and I uphold it as much as I can.
I travelled the world because of the way people saw me at the Olympics.
I was exemplifying the Olympian who took up a challenge as a sportsman, without a trainer, in a country without mountains and without snow. And, inside of two years, I was representing my country.
Life is good, and I'm happy, and I don't know that it would be as good if I'd been the winner in Calgary.
It takes a lot of guts to jump. If people criticise, I would give them a set of skis and say, 'Do it yourself then.'
I want to be recognised as exemplifying the Olympic spirit - one of the last true Olympians.
I broke my jaw jumping, and I broke my back and my neck in the downhill. This is normal for me.
There are so many world-class athletes who are great at their sport, but they're so boring. They don't talk, and they can't be interviewed very well.
It had been a dream of mine to go to an Olympic Games since I was about seven years old. I didn't know I'd do it ski jumping, but that's how it turned out.
My mother looked after me full-time when I was young, but as soon as I started school, she got a job in an office.