160 Quotes by Lupita Nyong'o

We, as human beings, have the capacity for extreme cruelty.

As human beings, what makes us able to empathize with people is a connection that is not necessarily understood mentally.

I have the opportunity to learn about the fashion world, and I appreciate it as an art form... But I never want it to take over my acting.

My conscious life has all been in Kenya, and it's my point of reference. But going back to Mexico was very formative.

My father used to act in high school. He was in a production of 'Othello;' I don't know who he played, but it wasn't Othello. He would talk about it, though, and read Shakespeare to me.

One of the reasons why I went to the Yale School of Drama is because I felt that I was acting off of instinct, but sometimes that is not reliable. When you're not feeling it, what do you do? So, going to grad school was about getting the tools to just use my instrument to the best of my ability.

I was raised in Kenya, and I always wanted to be an actor from when I was really, really little, but the first time I thought it was something that I could make a career of was when I watched 'The Color Purple.' I think I was nine, maybe, and I saw people that looked like me - Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah.

I grew up in the limelight and being the child of someone famous. So my relationship with fame is not bedazzled.

I grew up in a world where the majority of people were black, so that wasn't the defining quality of anyone. When you're describing someone, you don't start out with 'he's black, he's white.'