Top 47 Sidney Poitier Quotes (MEASURE OF A MAN)

Top 10 Most Famous Sidney Poitier Quotes (BEST)

Living consciously involves being genuine; it involves listening and responding to others honestly and openly; it involves being in the moment.

You don't have to become something you're not to be better than you were. — You don’t have to become something you’re not to be better than you were.

A person doesn't have to change who he is to become better. — A person doesn’t have to **change** who he is to become better.

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

The journey has been incredible from its beginning.

When you walk with someone, something unspoken happens. Either you match their pace or they match yours.

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

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

I have always been a learner because I knew nothing.

10 Inspirational Sidney Poitier Quotes About Life

If I'm remembered for having done a few good things, and if my presence here has sparked some good energies, that's plenty. — If I’m remembered for having done a few good things, and if my presence here has sparked some good energies, that’s plenty.

I set my star so high that I would constantly be in motion toward it.

I do know that I'm responsible not for what happens, but for what I make of it. — I do know that I’m **responsible** not for what happens, but for what I make of it.

I learned to hear silence. That's the kind of life I lived: simple. I learned to see things in people around me, in my mom, dad, brothers and sisters. — I learned to hear silence. That’s the kind of life I lived: simple. I learned to see things in people around me, in my mom, dad, brothers and sisters.

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

We're all somewhat courageous, and we're all considerably cowardly. We're all imperfect, and life is simply a perpetual, unending struggle against those imperfections. — We’re all somewhat **courageous**, and we’re all considerably cowardly. We’re all imperfect, and life is simply a perpetual, unending struggle against those imperfections.

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

Generally, I tend to despise human behavior rather than human creatures.

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

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

8 Sidney Poitier Quotes on His Father and Mother (FAMILY)

“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

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

“My mother was the most amazing person. She taught me to be kind to other women. She believed in family. She was with my father from the first day they met. All that I am, she taught me.”
Sidney Poitier

My father was the quintessential husband and dad.

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

My father was a tomato farmer. There is the phrase that says he or she worked their fingers to the bone, well, that's my dad. And he was a very good man. — My father was a tomato farmer. There is the phrase that says he or she worked their fingers to the bone, well, that’s my dad. And he was a very good man.

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. — 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.

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

8 Sidney Poitier Quotes on Acting and Work

“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

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.

Acting isn't a game of "pretend". It's an exercise in being real. — Acting isn’t a game of “pretend”. It’s an exercise in being real.

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

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

I did not go into the film business to be symbolized as someone else's vision of me. — I did not go into the film business to be symbolized as someone else’s **vision** of me.

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

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

2 Sidney Poitier Quotes on Anger

I've learned that I must find positive outlets for anger or it will destroy me. — I’ve learned that I must find positive outlets for anger or it will destroy me.

I have to try to find a way to channel that anger to the positive, and the highest positive is forgiveness. — I have to try to find a way to channel that anger to the positive, and the highest positive is **forgiveness**.

4 Sidney Poitier Quotes About Love

“We all have a capacity for love, for kindness, for passion. We also have a capacity for the opposite, but love is infinitely more effective in the world than hate, although they exist as equal opposites.”
Sidney Poitier

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

Forgiveness works two ways, in most instances. People have to forgive themselves too. — **Forgiveness** works two ways, in most instances. People have to forgive themselves too.

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. — 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.

5 Wise Sidney Poitier Quotes That Will Make You Think (DEEP)

“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