Sidney Poitier Quotes (37 Quotes)


    A good deed here, a good deed there, a good thought here, a good comment there, all added up to my career in one way or another.

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

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

    My mother is a Bahamian. My father is a Bahamian, as am I, ... And all that I am, I've received from them and a country that has today given me the opportunities, and to my grandchildren, that I have never dreamt of.

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


    The next morning we came into the port at Miami. I saw the buildings. For me they were tall, tall buildings there was nothing like them in Nassau.

    I learned quite quickly that there were places I couldn't go, that I would be questioned if I wandered into various neighborhoods.

    But my dad also was a remarkable man, a good person, a principled individual, a man of integrity.

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

    Smith said he, too, is pleased by the recognition of African-American actors. He noted that Poitier was the last man to win a best actor award and that was 28 years ago. ... Lilies of the Field.

    I wanted to explore the values that are at work, underpinning my life.

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

    I've had it all my life and when it can time for me to start a family, I was quite anxious to do so.

    I had learned something of Miami from people who had visited there, so I knew what to expect.

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

    The journey has been incredible from its beginning.

    I never had an occasion to question color, therefore, I only saw myself as what I was... a human being.

    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.

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



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

    Almost all the job opportunities were reflective of the stereotypical perception of blacks that had infected the whole consciousness of the country.

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


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

    My father was a poor man, very poor in a British colonial possession where class and race were very important.

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

    As a man, I've been representative of the values I hold dear. And the values I hold dear are carryovers from the lives of my parents.


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

    I was the only Black person on the set. It was unusual for me to be in a circumstance in which every move I made was tantamount to representation of 18 million people.

    To be compared to Jackie Robinson is an enormous compliment, but I don't think it's necessarily deserved.

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

    I was not the kind of a principal player that was so in demand that eight or 10 or 12 scripts came per month.

    I wanted to look at them because I feel, internally, that I am an ordinary person who has had an extraordinary life.

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


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