"It's the most difficult [decision] I've made in my entire life, except the one I made in 1978 when I decided to get a bikini wax."
"I think that the only way that you really keep it a secret is by not telling anyone."
"And this is a process that was a very long and very difficult process, because you have to put all of those things on a scale. You have to put on a scale, you know, that you're stopping with the movie career, you're stopping some of the business relationships that make you a lot of money."
- On Multi-Culturalism -
"It doesn't matter if you are a Democrat or Republican, if you're young or old, what the racial thing is, nothing matters to me."
"After watching mulattas shake it, I can totally understand why Brazil is devoted to my favorite body part, the ass."
- On the Environment -
"Don't worry about that!"
- On Gay Marriage -
"I don't want to get into that right now."
- On Balancing the State Budget -
"The only way we can deal with those issues is by bringing business back to California, because businesses, when you bring them back to California, it brings revenue back to
California. And when you have more revenue, you then can afford to take care of all those programs that need to be taken care of."
"We have to make sure everyone in California has a great job. A fantastic job!"
"The public doesn't care about figures" [asked if he would provide details on budget cuts]
"Like I told Warren, if he mentions Prop 13 one more time, he has to do 500 situps."
"Needless, to say the elephant in the room in California's economy is the irresponsible operating deficit and the massive debt"
- On Political Independence -
"As you know, I don't need to take any money from anybody. I have plenty of money myself. I will make the decisions for the people."
"I was always dreaming about very powerful people, dictators and things like that. I was always impressed by people who could be remembered for hundreds of years or like Jesus for thousands of years." (from "Pumping Iron")
"I am trained to get along with Democrats"
- On Gun Control -
"I don't run around every day with a gun in my hand. So I want kids to understand the difference; one is make believe, like we do in the movies. But in reality, I'm for gun control. I'm a peace-loving guy."
- On Past Indiscretions -
"Nothing will haunt me"
"I have inhaled, exhaled everything."
- On Family Values -
"I -- I will have to get into that. I mean, because, as you know, I'm very much for families, I'm very much for children and children's issues and all that stuff. I think that the children should have the first call in our treasury. This is the -- the most precious resource that we have. We have to think about the future of the state. Children are the most important thing, and we have to help the families." [response to whether he would repeal the family leave act]
[asked what is the most pressing problem in the inner city] "The parenting problem."
"My mother would spend time with me, saying read out loud. When I stopped, with a yardstick, she would hit me over de head. Do you know how fast I read again? I was reading so fast, let me tell you."
"There are two things at work here. Since the '60s, many more women have gone to work outside the home. The husband is at work, the mother is at work. Now the kids are always alone. As a country, we have to supplement where there is a vacuum."
"My mother called me on the phone and she said, you know, "Your dad died." And this was exactly two months before a contest. She said, "Are you coming home to the funeral?" I said, "No, it's too late. You know, he's dead, there's nothing to be done. And I'm sorry and I can't come, you know?" (from "Pumping Iron")
- On the Status of Women -
"But no one that has been around me would believe that a woman would be complaining about me holding her."
"It was a handful. I never know if my wife’s watching. I’ll tell her it was a stuntman." [after touching British TV host's breast on air]
"The women should have the choice. The women should decide what they want to do with their bodies. I'm all for that." [on abortion]
"Now, I would just like to say thank you very much to my wonderful wife, who is the greatest wife in the world and the greatest friend that I have -- I want to thank her for being here with me, for being such a great partner, and Maria if you don’t mind to say a few words also, big hand for my wife Maria!" [announcing his candidacy]
"Your daughter has a great butt" [to Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Arnold's future mother-in-law, shortly after meeting Maria]
"Any woman who thinks, 'My biological clock is ticking and I want a baby and it doesn't matter if I have a husband or not' -- well, without running anyone down, that is a mistake."
[discussing a scene in T3, in which he pushes the female cyborg's face into a toilet bowl] "I saw this toilet bowl. How many times do you get away with this -- to take a woman, grab her upside down, and bury her face in a toilet bowl? I wanted to have something floating there ... The thing is, you can do it, because in the end, I didn't do it to a woman -- she's a machine! We could get away with it without being crucified by who-knows-what group."
[after Sylvester Stallone invited him to join an all-male club]"I told him it was the worst thing he could do. That we're living in a very sensitive time period, when women were struggling for equality. I said I didn't agree with half the stuff they were talking about, but a club like that would offend every smart woman in the country."
"As much as when you see a blonde with great tits and a great ass, you say to yourself, 'Hey, she must be stupid or must have nothing else to offer', which maybe is the case many times. But then again there is the one that is as smart as her breasts look, great as her face looks, beautiful as her whole body looks gorgeous, you know, so people are shocked."
- On Taxes -
"From the time they get up in the morning and flush the toilet, they're taxed. Then they go and get the cup of coffee, they're taxed.... This goes on all day long. Tax, tax, tax."
- On the Current Administration -
"We have such a great state, there's no reason why we are in the state we are in today"
"This is really embarrassing. I just forgot our state governor's name, but I know that you will help me *recall* him." [laughs]
"They fiddle, they fumble, and they fail."
"I will go to Sacramento, and I will clean house"
- On Ambition -
"You have to do everything possible to win no matter what."
"I was born to be a leader. I love the fact that millions of people look up to me."
"I will not change. Because if you are successful and you change, you are an idiot."
- On If He Wins -
"I will be governor for the people for a change because, because I want to represent the people because the only thing that counts for me is the people."
"You have to unite people. There are bright people in Sacramento, we need to reunite the parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, not to divide them. Let them both make decisions, and really work to a positive end rather than always fighting."
"A governor has to bring people together. A governor has to have vision, the governor has to go after that vision and those goals, and then solve the problems."
"I promise you, I promise you that if I get elected to be governor of this great state I will continue on my crusade for this state and across the country to make sure that ... after-school programs will be made available in every public school in the whole United States."
- On the Republican Party -
"Humphrey stood for the government will solve all your problems. Nixon said no, free to choose, let the people decide. So I said to my friend, which party is Nixon? He said, Republican. OK, I said, I'm a Republican."
"That was another thing I will never forgive the Republican Party for. I was ashamed to call myself a Republican during that period" [on the Clinton impeachment]
- On the Importance of Exercise-
"Pumping iron is a great feeling...like coming, but coming continuously."
- On His Finances -
[on Today show, interviewed by Matt Lauer, end of interview]
Matt: "Will you be releasing your tax records publicly for the citizens of CA to examine?"
Arnold (in a remote studio), holding hand up to ear: "What was that?"
Matt: "I asked if you would release your tax records to the public?"
Arnold, still holding hand up to ear, now looking around his remote studio: "I can’t hear, I’ve lost the connection....."
