Eddie the Eagle

“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 broke my jaw jumping, and I broke my back and my neck in the downhill. This is normal for me.”

“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'm the Eagle: I can fly.”

“For all my 'Eddie the Eagle' goofing around before the camera while in training for the Calgary Olympics in 1988, I was never less than 100 per cent serious on every single jump.”

“I was a true amateur and embodied what the Olympic spirit is all about. To me, competing was all that mattered.”

“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.”

“I always say my first job is my building trade. The rest comes and goes.”

“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.'”

“I've fractured my skull twice, damaged a kidney, snapped a cruciate ligament in my knee, and broken all manner of bones, including my jaw. And I count myself very lucky it hasn't been worse!”

“I don't like bullies or selfishness or people who are grumpy.”

“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...”

“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...”

“When I plummeted into infamy in the Calgary Olympics, I never thought that a film would be made about my life.”

“The FIS, BSF, and British Olympic Association have been trying to stop me competing internationally. They don't like the fact that I laugh and have fun and entertain the crowd.”

“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.”

“I try to keep fit, as it's better for both skiing and plastering. I cycle and jog and I dance a lot - Ceroc, a form of modern jive.”

“You've got to think life can give you some bad knocks; no matter how hard you're knocked, you've got to get up.”

“I was living on a loaf of bread a week.”

“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 b...”