He always talks about how he arrived broke in a foreign land. Then weider gave him an apartment and a little pocket money. He then worked construction with Franco, did a mail order business, invested in real estate and became a millionaire before getting into movies. This is in both his autobiography ''Education of a Bodybuilder'' and his last one ''Total Recall''.

But when you read both autobiographies, you find out certain lies. Probably made to make himself look even better (who knows why since he was already the goat)

Examples:

[QUOTE][b]i crawled over the wall[/b]taking only the clothes I was wearing. I had barely enough money to buy a third-class train ticket. It crept out of Austria into Germany, stopping at every station, and arrived a day later in Stuttgart. - Education of a Bodybuilder[/QUOTE][QUOTE]“The night before the event, I finally decided fuk it and[b]walked out of the gate - “Total Recall:[/b][/QUOTE]--


[QUOTE][b]This was my first contest. [/b]I was nervous and exhausted from the train trip and I had no idea what was going on. I had to borrow someone else's posing trunks, someone else's body oil - The Education of a Bodybuilder.“I borrowed money to travel back to the base and they caught me as I was [B][B]climbing over the wall. Education of a Bodybuilder[/QUOTE][QUOTE]1963 Steirer Hof Hotel competition (2nd, Graz)

1964 Mr. Steiermark (4th, 26th April, Graz)
1964 Mr. Herkules (3rd, 26th April, Graz)
1964 Mr. Austria (3rd, 26th April, Graz)
1965 Mr. Steiermark (1st, Spring)
[B][b]1965 Best Built Junior Athlete of Europe (1st, 31st Oct, Stuttgart) - Internet[/b][/QUOTE]--

[QUOTE]“I borrowed money to travel back to the base and they caught me as I was climbing over the wall. I sat in jail for[b] seven days[/b]with only a blanket on a cold stone bench and almost no food. ” - Education of a Bodybuilder[/QUOTE][QUOTE]“Unfortunately, I was punished when I returned to training camp. I was put into detention and made to sit by myself in a cell for[b]twenty-four hours[/b]. “Total Recall:[/QUOTE]--

Now here is where it gets extra weird: He claims he went to Germany, then was offered a room in a gym to live in. And eventually with enough loans, begging on the street and savings, he was able to buy it.

[QUOTE]“Other things began happening for me, things that would eventually affect the shape of my whole life. The man who owned the health club I had been managing suddenly announced he was ready to get out of the gymnasium business.[b]He offered the business to me first[/b]. It was the perfect opportunity. I would be able to train and be independent. I couldn't ask for anything better. But I didn't have the money to buy the equipment. I could borrow some of it, but not enough. I was not established enough to go to a bank, and my friends had almost no money. I knew somehow I had to find the money. And I did— managing other clubs, selling food supplements, giving private lessons, and doing whatever odd jobs I could pick up.

I turned the publicity from having placed second in the Mr. Universe contest to attracting new members to my gym. In almost no time I built the membership from 70 to 200.”
When I arrived back in Munich, more people enrolled in my gymnasium. Membership increased to about 400.[b] Money started coming in[/b].[b] Money meant freedom; that in turn meant time to train. So everything began going well. [/b]- Education of a Bodybuilder[/QUOTE][QUOTE]''I came to America with[b] empty pockets[/b]but full of dreams''[/QUOTE]--

So long story short: There are a lot of lies Arnold said, to make his unbelievable story, even more unbelievable. Which is a damn shame imo.
Makes you wonder what else he said was false. Besides the infamous quote that juicing works as much as getting a decent sun tan.

What are your opinion on these?

the truth is hour of hours of g4p, so it's easy to see why he can lose track of his lies

There is only one thing you need to know--- being jacked as fuk and insanely aesthetic opens all the doors. Yes he got special treatment but if you listen closely you'll understand how smart he was. He knew being jacked would get him into movies. He nurtured his relationship with Weider to learn that business. He married into the Kennedy's knowing it would be a good move for his future. Etc. He is a smart MFer with insane drive and being jacked as fuk got him into the door. Quit making excuses for your failures and start riding bikes and become a cutthroat meticulous opportunist. You probably won't be as successful as him but you might get close.

Reg Park, Joe Weider, the Schriver's, all of them helped him along the way because he put himself out there and gave it everything he had. Don't discount his intelligence and work ethic brah.

That has absolutely nothing to do with my post. Yes being successful opens doors. Working hard etc, opens doors. And Arnold achieved his success with his own hands. Nothing will take that away from him.
But this thread is about the lies he said in his 2 autobiographies. (which is weird because it's not like his story would be any less great without them).
Let's not change the topic.

Ah in that case never underestimate the power of the human mind to self-aggrandize and exaggerate on one's own behalf. You really surprised a politician, hollywood icon, and 1/4-billionaire lied in their autobiography?

Yea I thought it was pretty obvious by this point. That's why he did so well in politics. Lying was one of his best skills.

I mean look at him now shilling for veganism and vegan supps while he is getting his 3rd heart surgery.

Amazing that you took the time to research all of this, repped

Doesnt matter who or what they are, every single person adds a little on the top of their story

All that matters is no one else is ever going to be them

A combination of lying, conflating stories/memories, bad memory, etc.

your memories are only snippets of the events and you fill in the blanks, so certain aspects can change in time

never noticed when your brahs tell a story of a thing where you were as well and it's different from how you remember it?

also Arnold didn't write the books himself so maybe the author decided to exagerate certain parts

but most importantly: who even cares? these are only details, doesn't really change that much imo

Arnold is numero uno

Either so much crazy schit has happened in that guy's life that he genuinely mixes up details and timelines or he actively stretches the truth a bit to maintain that insane aura about him.

It matters to young people who think you can achieve his body naturally, because he claims juice only works as much as getting a nice tan.
Only to be discouraged when they find out that's not the case.

In terms of the rest of his exaggerations, it doesn't matter much. But it does make you wonder what else he lied about.
And if we don't know that, then what can we really believe? People like Arnold are an inspiration to perhaps millions of people.
Those people want to look up to him and believe what he says, so that they can learn and improve their own lives.
When you suddenly have to second guess everything on what might be real and what might be a lie, that suddenly becomes a lot more difficult.

And it's completely unnecessary imo. But for some reason Arnold felt the need to do so, and since it's his book, he's entitled to put whatever he wants in it.
Yes that's true. And in his autobiography ''Total Recall'', he mentioned how he had to look up all these different sources to put together the entire story.
But since he already had an existing autobiography written in Education of a Bodybuilder, which he could've used for references as well, the differences between the 2 books can't be merely seen as a flawed memory. There are vast differences between the two.

that's what you gotta keep in mind when reading, even history books aren't objective

it's a romanticisation of his life, that's why I don't take it too hard that it's not entirely factual

It's quite common for celebrities to embellish their background/history etc to make themselves look even more larger than life (no pun intended).

This is fairly typical of everyone.

OP got some weird hard on for calling people out when every minor detail isn’t in order from a guy recalling a story on separate occasions.

You got issues OP

Everybody knows that Arnold is not a "nice guy" that would always do whats right. In fact, if you saw "Pumping Iron" you know that he is more of an ******* that does everything to win. Lies included.

it's not wrong for me to give him the wrong advices

I don't have issues. I was just a young teenager who looked up to Arnold more than anything. When i saw Pumping Iron, i thought wow he's so smart, he tricked lou ferigno, played psychological games on him.
When he said he tricked the #1 at a bodybuilding contest into screaming loud to get the attention of the judges and had him carried off stage, i thought, he's a genius!

Only then i found out that Pumping Iron wasn't a documentary but a docu-drama. That many parts were scripted and acted out.
And when i read Franco Columbu's book - Coming on Strong: He said that Arnold changed the story to make himself look better in Pumping Iron.
That the screamer guy was actually an amateur at one of the bodybuilding competitions Arnold & Franco held, when Arnold was already retired from Bodybuilding.
And that they tricked him into screaming because he was a cocky guy, although he never got carried off the stage.

Maybe i'm guilty of being gullible as a teenager. But it bothers me when you have to doubt every man's word.
Because Arnold might say ''Hard work, self confidence and a positive attitude are keys to success''. And now you're wondering: Is that the truth or is that another lie?
The water becomes muddy and it becomes more difficult to separate bs from truth.

Which autobiography is better?

First or second?

If you're looking for motivation, the first one. It goes more in depth about him as a bodybuilder. It also comes with an incredible lifting routine section at the end of the book.

If you want to read more about Arnold's life doing real estate, as a celebrity, who he met and a boring 200 pages of him being governor of california, then the latter is recommended.
Read both if you're a real fan.