122 Quotes by Bear Grylls
Bear Grylls, the renowned explorer and television personality, has captured the imagination of audiences worldwide with his daring adventures and survival skills. Born in 1974, Grylls gained fame as the host of shows like "Man vs. Wild" and "Running Wild with Bear Grylls," where he fearlessly demonstrates survival techniques in the most extreme environments.
With his boundless energy and unwavering determination, Grylls pushes the limits of human endurance and inspires viewers to embrace their own sense of adventure. Through his television work and advocacy for outdoor exploration, Grylls has become a symbol of resilience, adaptability, and the human spirit's innate capacity to overcome challenges.
Bear Grylls Quotes
The rules of survival never change, whether you're in a desert or in an arena.
Yes, the Boy Scouts of America should definitely allow gay adult leaders and I think it's really going to hold them back if they don't.
If you risk nothing you gain nothing
Is your ego small enough, and your backbone strong enough, to raise others up high on your shoulders? (Meaning)
Sometimes an ember is all we need.
I've seen extreme bravery from the least likely of people. Life is about the moments when it's all gone wrong. That's when we define ourselves.
You don't need to go to the ends of the earth, you don't need to climb Everest to have a great adventure, it's invariably on our doorstep.
Live a wild, generous full, exciting life – blessing those around you and seeing the good in all.
A wise man knows; learn from others, never get complacent and know where the classic old dangers come from.
There is no feeling like coming home after danger.
You can't become a decent horseman until you fall off and get up again, a good number of times. There's life in a nutshell.
Why is it that the finish line always tends to appear just after the point at which we most want to give up? is it the universe's way of reserving the best for those who can give the most? What I do know, from nature, is that the dawn only appears after the darkest hour.
There's no magic to running far or climbing Everest. Endurance is mental strength. It's all about heart.
Never depend on those luck moments – they are gifts – but instead always build your own back-up plan.
A man's pride can be his downfall, and he needs to learn when to turn to others for support and guidance.
Our dreams are just wishes, if we never follow them through with action. And in life, you have got to be able to light your own fire.
The line between life or death is determined by what we are willing to do.
Survival is not about being fearless. It's about making a decision, getting on and doing it, because I want to see my kids again, or whatever the reason might be.
Make a little time to be quiet by yourself every day and just be.
Dreams, though, are cheap, and the real task comes when you start putting in place the steps needed to make those dreams a reality.
Time and experience have taught me that fame and money very rarely go to the worthy, by the way - hence we shouldn't ever be too impressed by either of those impostors. Value folk for who they are, how they live and what they give - that's a much better benchmark.
My faith isn't very churchy, it's a pretty personal, intimate thing and has been a huge source of strength in moments of life and death.
Without risk, there can be no growth.
Both faith and fear may sail into your harbor, but only allow faith to drop anchor.
I learnt another valuable lesson that night: listen to the quiet voice inside. Intuition is the noise of the mind.
Survival requires us to leave our prejudices at home. It's about doing whatever it takes - and ultimately those with the biggest heart will win.
Weather can kill you so fast. The first priority of survival is getting protection from the extreme weather.
My best life lessons and education didn't come from a classroom - they've come from the wild. How you act in the big moments, the ones that challenge you, scare you, tempt you, and force you to make the right decisions, is what defines you.
As a young boy, scouting gave me a confidence and camaraderie that is hard to find in modern life.
How you speak about others speaks loudest about yourself.
Survival can be summed up in three words - never give up. That's the heart of it really. Just keep trying.
But the wild is unpredictable, stuff does happen, and it's always when you're least expecting it.
Are you the sort of person who can turn around when you have nothing left, and find that little bit extra inside you to keep going, or do you sag and wilt with exhaustion? It is a mental game, and it is hard to tell how people will react until they are squeezed.
The difference between ordinary and extra-ordinary is so often just simply that little word - extra. And for me, I had always grown up with the belief that if someone succeeds it is because they are brilliant or talented or just better than me... and the more of these words I heard the smaller I always felt! But the truth is often very different... and for me to learn that ordinary me can achieve something extra-ordinary by giving that little bit extra, when everyone else gives up, meant the world to me and I really clung to it.
When you find yourself thinking about someone or something in the same old negative way, just stop yourself. Think. Check. Change. Refresh. Job done. Smile. Move on. Do this enough times and you will change. For the better; for the stronger.
What Scouting says to people is: Every child has a right to have an adventure. Life is about grabbing opportunities
The SAS Reserve tends to be made up of former paratroopers and commandos who still want a challenge, but it is open to civilians.
Textbook survival tells you to stay put. Stop. Wait for rescue. Don't take any risks. But there'd been a whole host of survival shows like that and I didn't really want to do that.
That feeling when you're so cold you'd give anything to be warm - I've had it before, literally huddled around a candle flame on an ice sheet.
Change the way you use your time, and you change your life.
It is only when You really STEP OUT of Your comfort zone that You GROW.
You only get one chance at life and you have to grab it boldly.
Don't be scared to dream big, and don't be afraid to be close to people. And never give up! It's the tenacious not the talented that win.
As a society, we've become terrified of failure, but you can't grow without risking it.
Accidents on big mountains happen when people's ambitions cloud their good judgment. Good climbing is about climbing with heart and with instinct, not ambition and pride.
The appeal of the wild for me is its unpredictability. You have to develop an awareness, react fast, be resourceful and come up with a plan and act on it.
Our achievements are generally limited only by the beliefs we impose on ourselves.
To get ready to climb Everest, I did a lot of hill running with a daypack on and a lot of underwater swimming. I would swim a couple of lengths underwater and then a couple above. It gets your body going with limited oxygen.
Adventure should be 80 percent 'I think this is manageable,' but it's good to have that last 20 percent where you're right outside your comfort zone. Still safe, but outside your comfort zone.
The hardest thing about my job isn't the snake bites or the crocodiles, it's being away from my children. I have a really religious satellite phone call every day back to the boys, wherever we are, whatever time zone, to say goodnight.
All my life the only thing I've been good at has been climbing and throwing myself off big things.
Sometimes it's hard for us to believe, really believe, that God cares and wants good things for us and doesn't just want us to go off and give everything up and become missionaries in Burundi.
Life is an adventure that is best lived boldly
Being brave isn't the absence of fear. Being brave is having that fear but finding a way through it.
Above all, I feel a quiet pride that for the rest of my days I can look at myself in the mirror and know that once upon a time I was good enough. Good enough to call myself a member of the SAS. Some things don’t have a price tag.
Many people find it hard to understand what it is about a mountain that draws men and women to risk their lives on her freezing, icy faces - all for a chance at that single, solitary moment on the top. It can be hard to explain. But I also relate to the quote that says, Iif you have to ask, you will never understand.
You're not human if you don't feel fear. But I've learnt to treat fear as an emotion that sharpens me. It's there to give me that edge for what I have to do.
Our fate is determined by how far we are prepared to push ourselves to stay alive - the decisions we make to survive. We must do whatever it takes to endure and make it through alive.
My work is all about adventure and teamwork in some of the most inhospitable jungles, mountains and deserts on the planet. If you aren't able to look after yourself and each other, then people die.
The truth is, I need 10 lifetimes to scratch the surface of the things I'd love to do.
I am not fearless. I get scared plenty. But I have also learned how to channel that emotion to sharpen me.
The lesson is, the rewards in life don't always go to the biggest, or the bravest, or the smartest. The rewards go to the dogged; and when your going though hell, to the person who just keeps going.
There is little faith involved in setting out on a journey where the destination is certain and every step in between has been mapped in detail. Bravery, trust, is about leaving camp in the dark, when we do not know the route ahead and cannot be certain we will ever return.
In the British Special Air Service, combat fitness is all about running.
You can't live someone else's expectations in life. It's a recipe for disaster.
When I take kids into the woods, I tell them, "What we're going to do today is going to be incredibly dangerous." And you just see 20 smiles go up. "But, we're also going to learn to look after each other, who to work together and who to understand and manage that risk." That's what it's about, you don't empower kids if you don't expose them to risk.
Always keep the big picture in mind- you are greatly loved by Jesus and your job is to love Him and others in return. The rest is detail.
My favorite moments? Where it's all going swimmingly, the sun's out and I've got a fire going and a nice snake on the barbecue.
Eating any of these things, goat testicles or what have you, isn't going to be nice, but you get into that zone, you become focussed and you do what you need to do. It's all about one thing: coming home in one piece.
I was super skeptical about doing TV. I said no three times, part of which was confidence because I didn't really understand that world. I know how to climb mountains and do all that, but I wasn't a TV person.
The extremes of jungles, mountains, and deserts are inherently dangerous places.
Textbook survival says stay still, don't take any chances, wait for rescue. That's a boring TV show. My thing was always, "Listen, shoelace, dead squirrel and no other way down this rock face. You can do this!"
What I've learned over the years is that the path less traveled always makes for a more interesting journey. If you simply do what everyone else is doing, how can you ever expect to excel and create something wonderful and unique in your life?
And if you give your heart to a goal, it will repay you. It's the law of the universe.
My faith is an important part of my life and over the years I've learnt that it takes a proud man to say he doesn't need anything. It has been a quiet strength and a backbone through a lot of difficult times.
The special forces gave me the self-confidence to do some extraordinary things in my life. Climbing Everest then cemented my belief in myself.
When I'm filming, survival requires movement. You need your energy, and you've got to eat the bad stuff, and survival food is rarely pretty, but you kind of do it. I get in that zone, and I eat the nasty stuff, but I'm not like that when I'm back home.
The only difference between 'try' and 'triumph' is varying degrees of 'umph'
The greatest journeys all start with a single step.
Life's full of lots of dream-stealers always telling you you need to do something more sensible. I think it doesn't matter what your dream is, just fight the dream-stealers and hold onto it.
Life doesn't reward the naturally clever or strong but those who can learn to fight and work hard and never quit.
Life has taught me to be very cautious of a man with a dream, especially a man who has teetered on the edge of life. It gives a fire and recklessness inside that is hard to quantify.
I always wanted to be Robin Hood or John the Baptist when I was growing up.
Nothing inspires people more than reckless acts of courage.
One thing I know for sure: it is only by doing what we fear that we can ever truly learn to be brave.
Once a job it has begun, do not stop until it's done. Whether it is big or small, do it well or not all.
Faith is personal if it's to be real.
I come from a line of self-motivated, determined folk - not grand, not high society, but no-nonsense, family-minded go-getters.
All worthwhile journeys have big obstacles. It's the way of the world. The rewards go to those who can push through those trying moments and still manage to keep a smile on their face.
Success almost always follows great attitude. The two attract each other!
Well, wolves will pretty rarely hunt. You're vulnerable if you're on your own or injured. But for lone wolves, get up high, show them that you're not injured, face 'em off, be authoritarian with it, and look 'em in the eye.
I had many opportunities to get behind products in the past, and I was always careful to evaluate all of them. I will not put my name to shoddy items.
Exercise helps my back. If I don't exercise, that's when it starts to hurt. The pain is a good motivator to run and exercise.
And Jesus, the heart of the Christian faith is the wildest, most radical guy you'd ever come across.
Juice Plus+ is great stuff that I have used through all of my expeditions. What I like about it is that the research behind it is so strong. It is 100% natural, is whole food based, and I love the fact that it provides raw, anti-oxidant fruit and veg in a capsule form. For me it fulfills a key part of my nutrition, training and recovery needs.
I think fire is so critical in the wild. You can cook with it, you can make tools, you can deter a predator, you can dry your clothes and you get that element of morale that matters so much when you're stuck in the middle of nowhere.
People ask me, "How do I succeed?" Whatever it is they do, I say, "Go and find 20 ways of messing it up. By 21, you'll be getting there." Life is an adventure, go back with cuts, scars and bruises.
Unless you have shelter, fire is going to be very hard and if you have fire, but no water, you're going to die. They're all super important.
I love Ray Mears. He's brilliant. He's so rude about me in the press, it's outrageous!
Americans are cool, if you show just a chink of vulnerability, they respond so much. They'll pat you on the arm and say, 'Hey kid, you're all right'. Brits will respond but they are much more cynical.
One killer exercise that's really great is pull-ups with your legs out level. That's my favourite. It's such functional core strength, and that's why I can climb up trees and down vines.
I joined the Army at 19 as a soldier and spent about four and a half years with them. Then I broke my back in a freefall parachuting accident and spent a year in rehabilitation back in the U.K.
I train five days a week hard - but it is short and sharp - 30 to 40 minutes of functional and pretty dynamic body-strength circuits, then I do a good yoga session on the sixth day, then I rest.
To me, adventure has always been to me the connections and bounds you create with people when you're there. And you can have that anywhere.
Alpha was the best thing I ever did. It helped answer some huge questions and to find a simple empowering faith in my life.
I do see a lot of the hard end of ecology, and my feeling is that we live on a super-exciting planet but a super-fragile one.
When I'm in 'Man vs. Wild' mode, it's not pleasure. Every sensor is firing and I'm on reserve power all the time and I'm digging deep - and that's the magic of it as well, and that's raw and it's great.
Look, sometimes, no matter how hard you try, sometimes you need a bit of luck.
Many great people over the centuries have depended on their faith- it is a sign of great strength to need Jesus in your life.
A friend once asked me what qualities were needed for SAS. I would say to be self-motivated and resilient; to be calm, yet have the ability to smile when it is grim; to be unflappable, be able to react fast and to have an ‘improvise, adapt and overcome’ mentality.
As for my diet, I try to eat lean, clean and healthy - nothing too surprising. And I avoid too much meat or dairy because they slow you down.
Some of the greatest survivors have been women. Look at the courage so many women have shown after surviving earthquakes in the rubble for days on end.
Christianity is not about religion. It's about faith, about being held, about being forgiven. It's about finding joy and finding home.
The difference between ordinary and extra-ordinary is so often just simply that little word - extra.
My Christian faith is my backbone
The rewards of the wild and the rewards of the survivor go to those who can dig deep, and, ultimately, to the guy who can stay alive.
It breaks my heart that my father never knew my children. He should have been around for another 25 years.
For me, my training is a key part of my work as so often my life has depended on being able to move fast and haul myself up and out of something fast!
I think viewers quite like it when I'm suffering or eating or drinking something horrible or really up against it in some quicksand or whatever.
Nobody else is stupid enough to get themselves into the straits that I get into.
Nobody wants to end up super rich and famous - but divorced. I'm always clear on that and try to stay on the right side of the line.
Scouts should be progressive and should be adapting. If you're gay or not it's irrelevant, Scouting values respect.
― Bear Grylls Quotes
Bear Grylls (Explorer) Life Highlights
- Bear Grylls was born on June 7, 1974, in Donaghadee, Northern Ireland.
- He is a British adventurer, television presenter, and author.
- Grylls is best known for his survival skills and adventurous exploits in the wilderness.
- He became famous for his television show "Man vs. Wild," also known as "Born Survivor" in the UK and other countries.
- In the show, Grylls demonstrated survival techniques in extreme environments, showcasing his ability to find food, build shelter, and navigate through challenging terrains.
- Bear Grylls served in the British Special Air Service (SAS) and was one of the youngest members to achieve this feat.
- He has led numerous expeditions and adventure challenges around the world.
- Grylls has authored several books on survival and adventure, many of which have become bestsellers.
- He has been involved in various charitable and philanthropic endeavors, supporting causes related to children, education, and the environment.
- Bear Grylls has hosted multiple television shows and series, including "Running Wild with Bear Grylls" and "The Island with Bear Grylls."
- He is recognized for his positive and motivational approach to overcoming challenges and pushing oneself to the limits.
- Grylls has been an inspiration to many outdoor enthusiasts and aspiring adventurers.
- He continues to promote outdoor activities and the importance of respecting and preserving the natural world.
* The editor of this curated page made every effort to maintain information accuracy, including any sayings, quotes, facts, dates, or key life events.
Chief Editor
Tal Gur is an author, founder, and impact-driven entrepreneur at heart. After trading his daily grind for a life of his own daring design, he spent a decade pursuing 100 major life goals around the globe. His journey and most recent book, The Art of Fully Living, has led him to found Elevate Society.
