Quotes By Denzel Washington

Luck is where opportunity meets preparation.

I think the bottom of the totem pole is African-American women, or women of colour. I think they get the least opportunities in Hollywood.

I played Othello, but I didn't sit around thinking how Laurence Olivier did it when he played it. That wouldn't do me any good.

Growing up I didn't watch movies.

I never really had the classic struggle. I had faith.

I read the Bible every day.

I work hard for the audience. It's entertainment. I don't need validation.

I had a lot of success from the start. I never really was tested for long periods of time. I got my first professional job while I was a senior in college. I signed with the William Morris Agency before I graduated.

You don't know when you're being watched. That's one of the weird things about celebrity. It's my least favorite part of acting, celebrity.

I like talking. I like acting.

My mother never gave up one me. I messed up in school so much they were sending me home, but my mother sent me right back.

The last few years I've been saying I was ready to quit. It wasn't that interesting to me. Now that I'm directing, it's all new again.

Any good piece of material like Shakespeare ought to be open to reinterpretation.

If I am a cup maker, I'm interested in making the best cup I possibly can. My effort goes into that cup, not what people think about it.

I've worked with children all my life.

When I was a child I thought I saw an angel. It had wings and kinda looked like my sister. I opened the door so some light could come into the room, and it sort of faded away. My mother said it was probably my Guardian Angel.

I don't concern myself with award. I'd been to the party enough times to know it really didn't matter.

I'm not a film buff. I don't watch a lot of movies.

Acting is just a way of making a living, the family is life.

Man gives you the award but God gives you the reward.

The time to worrying about flying is when you're on the ground. When you're up in the air, it's too late. No point in worrying about it then.

I still have my unemployment books and I remember when I worked for the sanitation department and the post office.

I'd be more frightened by not using whatever abilities I'd been given. I'd be more frightened by procrastination and laziness.

If you don't trust the pilot, don't go.

If you have an enemy, then learn and know your enemy, don't just be mad at him or her.

My mother used to tell me man gives the award, God gives the reward. I don't need another plaque.

When I did A Soldier's Story, I was very young and green and thought I knew everything-now I know I know everything!

I think a role model is a mentor - someone you see on a daily basis, and you learn from them.

In any profession it gets to be a grind.

Black or white good parts are hard to come by. A good actor with a good opportunity has a shot; without the opportunity it doesn't matter how good you are.