Quotes By Sidney Poitier

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

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

My father was very big on marriage.

I'm going to quit writing.

I always wanted to be someone better the next day than I was the day before.

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

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

I was born two months early, and everyone had given up on me. But my mother insisted on my life.

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

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

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

I have always been a learner because I knew nothing.

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.

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

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

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

I sometimes like the pictures photographers take of me.

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

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

I couldn't adjust to the racism in Florida.

I wouldn't change a single thing, because one change alters every moment that follows it.

In America, it is difficult to be your own man.

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

I had two roles for which I compromised.

Far as I can tell, I still have most of my hair, my gut is not hanging over my belt, and I still have all of my teeth.

When I set out to become an actor, I had set myself a standard.

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

History passes the final judgment.

I'm not a library.

My wife collects knickknacks.