I was born two months early, and everyone had given up on me. But my mother insisted on my life. Sidney Poitier More Quotes by Sidney Poitier More Quotes From Sidney Poitier Living Sidney Poitier african-americanhonestylive-in-the-moment When you walk with someone, something unspoken happens. Either you match their pace or they match yours. Sidney Poitier pacewalkshappens You don't have to become something you're not to be better than you were. Sidney Poitier better-than-you I never had an occasion to question color, therefore, I only saw myself as what I was... a human being. Sidney Poitier sawscolorhumans I do know that I'm responsible not for what happens, but for what I make of it. Sidney Poitier responsiblehappenspositive True 'joy' is the difference between just amusing ourselves to death and creating 'meaningful' pleasure. Sidney Poitier creatingdifferencesmeaningful To simply wake up every morning a better person than when I went to bed. Sidney Poitier morning-inspirationalgood-morninggood-day A person doesn't have to change who he is to become better. Sidney Poitier persons 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. Sidney Poitier blackpeoplemoving 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. Sidney Poitier teachingfatherchildren Child psychologists have demonstrated that our minds are actually constructed by these thousands of tiny interactions during the first few years of life. We aren't just what we're taught. It's what we experience during those early years - a smile here, a jarring sound there - that creates the pathways and connections of the brain. We put our kids to fifteen years of quick-cut advertising, passive television watching, and sadistic video games, and we expect to see emerge a new generation of calm, compassionate, and engaged human beings? Sidney Poitier cuttingkidschildren You don't have to become something that you aren't to become better than you are. Sidney Poitier better-than-you We're all imperfect, and life is simply a perpetual, unending struggle against those imperfections. Sidney Poitier imperfectionstrugglelife-is I am the me I choose to be. Sidney Poitier life I've learned that I must find positive outlets for anger or it will destroy me. There is a certain anger: it reaches such intensity that to express it fully would require homicidal rage--self destructive, destroy the world rage--and its flame burns because the world is so unjust. I have to try to find a way to channel that anger to the positive, and the highest positive is forgiveness. Sidney Poitier flamesselftrying 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. Sidney Poitier responsibilityreflectionpositive 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. Sidney Poitier tryingtalkingthinking I set my star so high that I would constantly be in motion toward it. Sidney Poitier starsinspirational I have always been a learner because I knew nothing. Sidney Poitier learners I was fortunate enough to have been raised to a certain point before I got into the race thing. I had other views of what a human is, so I was never able to see racism as the big question. Racism was horrendous, but there were other aspects to life. Sidney Poitier racismraceviews
