170 Quotes by Sidney Poitier

Between the American mythology of “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps” and the orthodoxy of entitlements, where’s the enduring commitment for the long haul, the consistent vision of how to weave the less fortunate into a decent and humane society?

I want my great-granddaughter to have a fairly good understanding of the world in which I lived for 81 years and also the world before I came into it – all the way back a hundred thousand years, to the beginning of our species.

If you apply reason and logic to this career of mine, you’re not going to get very far. You simply won’t.

But there is one key ingredient that my wife has helped me to recognize over the years, and that is the importance of articulating love for one another on a daily basis. The words I love you, spoken in acknowledgment in the morning upon rising and before going to bed, or when sitting down to dine, make the most beautiful music recognized by human ears.

I come from a great family. I’ve seen family life and I know how wonderful, how nurturing, and how wonderful it can be.

If the image one holds of one’s self contains elements that don’t square with reality, one is best advised to let go of them, however difficult that may be.

I couldn’t adjust to the racism in Florida.

Of all my father’s teachings, the most enduring was the one about the true measure of a man. That true measure was how well he provided for his children, and it stuck with me as if it were etched in my brain.

Mine was an easy ride compared to Jackie Robinson’s.