170 Quotes by Sidney Poitier

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

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

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

So I’m OK with myself, with history, my work, who I am and who I was.

I find myself, at this time in my life, no less challenged, no less plagued, no less intrigued by what I still don’t know.

I know how easy it is for one to stay well within moral, ethical, and legal bounds through the skillful use of words – and to thereby spin, sidestep, circumvent, or bend a truth completely out of shape. To that extent, we are all liars on numerous occasions.

Okay listen, you think I’m so inconsequential? Then try this on for size. All those who see unworthiness when they look at me and are given thereby to denying me value – to you I say, I’m not talking about being AS GOOD as you. I hereby declare myself BETTER than you.

So I had to be careful. I recognized the responsibility that, whether I liked it or not, I had to accept whatever the obligation was. That was to behave in a manner, to carry myself in such a professional way, as if there ever is a reflection, it’s a positive one.

It is not a bad idea, Ayele, as you grow into adulthood, to fix your eye on people of your parents’ generation, or perhaps those even older, to find those you can admire for their qualities of character and contribution. Heroes and role models are important, especially because when you think of them they have the ability to buoy your spirits and ignite your energies to move you onward. In.