Sidney Poitier Quotes

My autobiography was simply the story of my life.

I had to satisfy the action fans, the romantic fans, the intellectual fans. It was a terrific burden.

In my case, the body of work stands for itself... I think my work has been representative of me as a man.

I'm going to quit writing.

Since I couldn't actuate the things that I wanted to do, the only weapon I had was to say no.

We all suffer from the preoccupation that there exists... in the loved one, perfection.

History passes the final judgment

Generally, I tend to despise human behaviour rather than human creatures.

I cannot be understood in three minutes.

I did not go into the film business to be symbolized as someone else's vision of me.

But I always had the ability to say no. That's how I called my own shots.

So it's been kind of a long road, but it was a good journey altogether.

I'd seen my father. He was a poor man, and I watched him do astonishing things.

If you apologize because you are afraid, then you are a child not a man.

I couldn't adjust to the racism in Florida. It was so blatant... I had never been so described as Florida described me.

Every new fashion is a form of rebellion.

I" ve learned that I must find positive outlets for anger or it will destroy me.

Racism is very painful. That's life. It never ends.

I was a gift to my mother. She was a remarkable person. God or nature, or whatever those forces are, smiled on her, then passed me the best of her.

I wouldn't change a single thing, because one change alters every moment that follows it.

The older we get the less afraid we are.

Marriage is no way of life for the weak, the selfish, or the insecure.

I have always been a learner because I knew nothing.

So much of life, it seems to me, is determined by pure randomness.

I decided in my life that I would do nothing that did not reflect positively on my father's life.

There is not racial or ethnic domination of hopelessness. It's everywhere.

Acting isn't a game of "pretend." It's an exercise in being real.

I defend myself by improving myself.

I think the way I want to think. I live the way I want to live.

I had chosen to use my work as a reflection of my values.

True 'joy' is the difference between just amusing ourselves to death and creating 'meaningful' pleasure.

I always wanted to be someone better the next day than I was the day before.

You don't have to become something that you aren't to become better than you are.

A person doesn't have to change who he is to become better.

I do know that I'm responsible not for what happens, but for what I make of it.

I am the me I choose to be.

To simply wake up every morning a better person than when I went to bed.

I set my star so high that I would constantly be in motion toward it.

You don't have to become something you're not to be better than you were.