Arnold Schwarzenegger: What I've learned

Winner of thirteen international bodybuilding titles. Ubiquitous star of action movies, including The Last Stand, in theaters soon. Leader for eight years in the battle to save California.

Interviewed November 8, 2012.

You can't learn charisma.

The power of influence is one of the most unique powers that you can have. It's not the power of controlling people. It's developing a certain skill of communicating what you want to accomplish so that people will follow you.

Be a public servant. Not a party servant.

I didn't get it at first. I'll be back. What the f--- is I'll? I will be back sounded much stronger in my mind. So I argued with Jim Cameron. And he said, "Look, Arnold, I don't tell you how to act. Please don't tell me how to write." After I saw it in the movie, I was so thankful to Cameron. That was a good lesson to learn. If someone is a good writer, stick to the script.

I would always write down my New Year's resolutions and mark them off the way I mark off sets and reps.

On New Year's Eve, you can just blabber out: I want to lose twenty pounds and I'm gonna read more. But what does that mean? There's too many variables there. If you're really serious about it, then write down when you're gonna lose the twenty pounds by. Is it March 1? Is it June 1? Make a commitment.

The day is twenty-four hours. I sleep six hours. That leaves eighteen hours to do something.

My father was a country police officer. All he knew was discipline, performance, and work — not wasting your time. He came from an era where everything was scarce, so everything had to be useful. That's why he was so against bodybuilding. He saw it as narcissistic. His belief was that you build your muscles by chopping wood or shoveling coal, doing something with your body that benefits someone else. But it was from him that I got my work ethic.

In the early days of immigration, they just shortened the foreign name. They did whatever they wanted with it. But in Hollywood, there was something else: It had to sound cool. You know, John Wayne. That sounded American, powerful. Charles Bronson. Those are great names. But Arnold Schwarzen...ag...ager? Ager? Acner? What is this? No one could pronounce it. So early on, they tried to convince me to turn it into Arnold Strong. But eventually the idea became: If someone has a difficult time remembering your name, they will also have a difficult time forgetting it.

Let me show you how far we've come with our fitness crusade: When I came to the United States in the sixties, no one ever thought that one day every hotel would have a gymnasium. Back then, people thought if you did weights you would get muscle-bound and die of a heart attack or become gay or an idiot. People thought weights would always be in dungeons. Now they're in hospitals. Now even golfers use weights.

When you get older, sex may change a bit. When you're sixty-five, it's not exactly the same as when you were twenty-five. But that doesn't mean it's over. It's never over.

It was one of my early goals to be a millionaire. In the beginning, I wanted to have a gold Rolex, a Rolls-Royce, a cheetah — just stupid things that you think of when you're a kid. Then time goes by. The Rolls-Royce thing went out the window, because when you get to the level where you can afford one, all of a sudden you say, "It's a little bit over the top." A cheetah? I think in California they got rid of the law that says you can have wild animals. Having a cheetah is a stupid idea.

In Europe, everyone is in your way. The government is in your way. The law is in your way. I mean, when my friend and I wanted to go start a bricklaying business here, we went down to city hall and got a business license. No one asked: What kind of school did you go to to learn bricklaying? Do you have any certificates that show you graduated from your trade school? Here, it's go out and make it. Just make sure you pay your taxes.

I always tell my accountant, If you're in doubt about taxes, pay more. No Cayman Island offshore investments. No gimmicks. I love paying my taxes!

Saving money on tips is nonsense. Give 20 or 25 percent. Wise investments are where the action is.

I remember when I went into politics, the legislature wanted to create a blueberry commission. Who's gonna say no to a blueberry commission? Well, I said no. I thought they should fix the budget before they do the f------ blueberry commission.

Politicians admire the military people who go to Iraq and risk their lives. Well, how about having just 10 percent of that courage?

We must teach the future leaders that political courage is not political suicide.

Peace would solve a lot of problems.

Published in the Esquire Magazine January 2013 issue, on sale any day now.

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