The ads all call me fearless, but that's just publicity. Anyone who thinks I'm not scared out of my mind whenever I do one of my stunts is crazier than I am.
Interpretation
Fearlessness is often a facade; true bravery involves acknowledging and facing one's fears.
In this quote, Jackie Chan expresses the reality behind his daring stunts. Despite being labeled as fearless by advertisements, he reveals that he experiences fear as well, showing that true courage is not the absence of fear, but the willingness to confront it head-on, acknowledging that even heroes have their moments of vulnerability.
In practice
During a motivational speech about courage and overcoming fear.
American stuntmen are smart - they think about safety. When they do a jump in a car, they calculate everything: the speed, the distance... But in Hong Kong, we don't know how to count. Everything we do is a guess. If you've got the guts, you do it. All of my stuntmen have gotten hurt.
One thing I did pick up from Cannonball Run was the use of bloopers and outtakes under the final credits, which I've done in all my movies since.
Martial arts is not for hurting people, it's for protecting people.
Martial arts is for defense. It's not for attacking. So when people are fighting, always, always, defend.
We learn martial arts as helping weakness. You never fight for people to get hurt. You're always helping people.
In the past when I was in Hollywood, I was like a dog. I felt humiliated. My English was not good. People would even ask me 'Jackie Who?'.
I am the voice of the voiceless; Through me the dumb shall speak. Till the deaf world's ears be made to hear. The wrongs of the wordless weak. And I am my brothers keeper, And I will fight his fights; And speak the words for beast and bird. Till the world shall set things right.
There is something magical about running; after a certain distance, it transcends the body. Then a bit further, it transcends the mind. A bit further yet, and what you have before you, laid bare, is the soul.
What hurts me most is poverty, and that's what led me to become a rebel.
They can't hurt me. Sure, they can crush you and kill you. They can lay you out on 42nd and Broadway and put hoses on you and flush you in the sewers and put you on the subway and carry you out to Coney island and bury you on the Ferris wheel. But I refuse to sit here and worry about dying.
Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe.
I do a lot of lectures on survival. I always say you can't change what happened, so have a little wallow, feel very sorry for yourself, and then get up and move forward. You can't change what happened.
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