Denzel Washington Quotes

“There is nothing good or bad, except by comparison" (209) - "Effort is Everything" by Bud Selig”

“Don't aspire to make a living, aspire to make a difference.”

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

“I worked with Sidney Lumet years ago, and we had a long rehearsal process, and he would tape out the entire set on the stage, so I stole that from him.”

“[Black people] come into the world exactly like you. It's just that there are circumstances in the culture that are dictated and put on our lives that we have to fight against.”

“Bad guys need love too.”

“I love research and being educated. It's a great job being able to step into all kinds of professions and into other people's shoes.”

“Cats are too independent. They piss me off. They play when they want, and then they turn their back on you. Dogs, you throw the ball, and they bring it back, tongue hanging out, tail wagging. Cats are like "Not right now, too busy." Definitely a dog man. Except when it comes to cleaning up after them! Cats win that!”

“It was never my dream to be famous. I didn't start acting to be a movie star. I started in the theater and my desire was to get better at my craft. It's still my desire. I don't consider myself a movie star, nor do I really have the desire to be one. I'm just an entertainer. An actor who works hard at his craft. Whatever labels people give me, that's not really me or part of my process.”

“Don't be afraid to fail big, to dream big.”

“In the movie I realized, I had the luxury of getting to see how the other person feels.”

“The poorest people are the sweetest people.”

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

“For me, success is inner peace. That's a good day for me.”

“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'll never see a U-Haul behind a hearse. ... Now, I've been blessed to make hundreds of millions of dollars in my life. I can't take it with me, and neither can you. It's not how much you have but what you do with what you have.”

“I've worked in a factory. I was a garbage man. I worked in a post office. It's not that long ago. I like to think that I'm just a regular guy.”

“Growing up I didn't watch movies.”

“Cursed be the ground for our sake. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for us. For out of the ground we were taken, for the dust we are and to the dust we shall return.”

“That's where you can find things and modulate your performance and give the other actors something fresh to respond to. We've probably all worked with actors who when it's suddenly your close up, they get sleepy. I don't like that. It's selfish acting, and I won't tolerate it.”

“I like talking. I like acting.”

“We live in a time when people give up too easy.”

“I know, as an actor, I don't like sharing everything with the director. And it's fine if they don't with me.”

“I always think it's not what we know that's terrifying; it's what we don't know. That's sort of pervasive with everything in life.”

“I'm not afraid to upset people. But I am not as upset because I understand what I'm up against.”