106 Inspiring Quotes by Morgan Freeman

I don't get off on romantic parts. But I often think if I had had my dental work done early on, well, maybe.

People hear that and say I'm being modest, but I am not a modest person, but I have to be truthful about what I'm doing and what I'm doing is channeling.

I can only be so long without work before I start getting antsy.

Was I always going to be here? No I was not. I was going to be homeless at one time, a taxi driver, truck driver, or any kind of job that would get me a crust of bread. You never know what's going to happen.

Give me something interesting to play and I'm happy.

And that if you become a star, people are going to go to see you. If you remain an actor, they're going to go and see the story you're in.

I feel fine, I don't care who the director is. All you have to do is know what your doing -- all of us -- everybody in the business -- that's all you ask anyone -- you know your job, I know mine, let's go do it.

My parents were working in a hospital in Memphis. But I didn't live there for any length of time that I remember. The first thing I remember is the town in Mississippi that I live in now, Charleston.

It can have an enormous effect because big budget movies can have big budget perks, and small budget movies have no perks, but what is the driving force, of course, is the script, and your part in it.

I am going to stop calling you a white man and I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man.

Life doesn't offer you promises whatsoever so it's very easy to become, 'Whatever happened to... ?' It's great to be wanted. I spent a few years not being wanted and this is better.

Not only do I have to live, right, I have to get some cash for my troubles -- it's a scary thing, and people need to start to think about the messages that they send in the movies.

I do know there are a lot of people who seem to be in my corner, and that's, of course, wonderful. I'm really more interested in the nomination than in the award, because I think the nomination just puts you within a group of outstanding actors.

I joined the air force. I took to it immediately when I arrived there. I did three years, eight months, and ten days in all, but it took me a year and a half to get disabused of my romantic notions about it.

When I was doing theater, I was very successful at believing that I was great, God's gift to the theater.

Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered as our prince of peace, of civil rights. We owe him something major that will keep his memory alive.

The best way to guarantee a loss is to quit.

I've been living with myself all of my life, so I know all of me. So when I watch me, all I see is me. It's boring.

I knew at an early age I wanted to act. Acting was always easy for me. I don't believe in predestination, but I do believe that once you get where ever it is you are going, that is where you were going to be.

Most of the time it's the role. Sometimes it's the story and sometimes it just the paycheck. It's the little movies that come out as stories or the fact that I have work to go out, you know what I'm saying, you can only be out so long without work, you start getting antsy.

It's what I learn from the great actors that I work with. Stillness. That's all and that's the hardest thing.

This kid came up with Napster, and before that, none of us thought of content protection.

I'm not intimidated by lead roles. I'm better in them. I don't feel pressure. I feel released at times like that. That's what I'm born to do.

I want to thank everybody and anybody who ever had anything to do with the making of this picture.

As you grow in this business, you learn how to do more with less.

I don't want a Black History Month. Black history is American history.

If you live a life of make-believe, your life isn't worth anything until you do something that does challenge your reality. And to me, sailing the open ocean is a real challenge, because it's life or death.

Let me be the first to tell you, drinking alcohol is the worst thing to do in cold weather. Hot soup is the best because the process of digesting food helps to warm you up.

I like the blues a lot. I grew up on it.

And some places you been before are so great that you don't ever mind going back. Some places you been before you don't ever want to go back, you know, like Montreal in the Winter.

Dr. Martin Luther King is not a black hero. He is an American hero.

I find it difficult to watch myself... I find it boring.

I like the character roles. Somewhere back there I really came to the conclusion in my mind that the difference between acting and stardom was major. And that if you become a star, people are going to go to see you. If you remain an actor, they're going to go and see the story you're in.

Man is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance.

I don't know what my favorite film of mine is... But I think the most important film I was in was 'Glory.'

All my life, all my life that I can, as far back as I can remember, I saw my first movie when I was six years old. And since then I wanted to do that. I wanted to be a part of that.

How do we change the world? One random act of kindness at a time.

I was raised in Mississippi, so heat and humidity is my bread and butter. It keeps me going. I can't stand cold weather.

Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single ‘victim' of Columbine?

Challenge yourself; it's the only path which leads to growth.

If you want to see a miracle, be the miracle.

Learning how to be still, to really be still and let life happen -- that stillness becomes a radiance.

Literacy could be the ladder out of poverty.

You measure yourself by the people who measure themselves by you.

As long as you feel like a victim, you are one.

We humans are more concerned with having than with being.

Attacking People With Disabilities is the Lowest Display of Power I Can Think Of.

I'm a firm believer that things happen as they should. The universe unfolds just as it's supposed to.

If we don't save the oceans, if we don't do something about what we're doing to the oceans, as well as the planet at large, we're going to be really sorry.

I once heard a wise man say there are no perfect men. Only perfect intentions.

I always wanted to be a fireman, a cop, an Indian chief, a doctor, a lawyer. I always wanted to be all these things, so I am drawn to these kinds of characters.

My earrings are worth just enough to buy me a coffin if I die in a strange place. That was the reason why sailors used to wear them.

Donald Trump is the Honey Boo Boo of rich people.

I have four children and nine grandchildren. I'm presently wearing out my second wife.

If your life turns out to be good and you have a tremendous amount of luck in your life, it's a good thing to turn around and make it work for others.

I've always been really hot on westerns. All my life growing up, cowboy, cowboy, cowboy.

I don't do cold. My reaction to cold is drastic. I'm a southern boy.

I've never had any intimate relationships with a dolphin.

Marketing only really works with word of mouth.

These walls are funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them. That's institutionalized.

It's just the stupidest law possible... You're just making criminals out of people who aren't engaged in criminal activity. And we're spending zillions of dollars trying to fight a war we can't win! We could make zillions, just legalize it and tax it like we do liquor. It's stupid.

I believe it doesn't really matter where you work as long as you work. Keep sharpening your teeth.

Playing is no challenge; every time that you get a role you get to go play with other people in the sandbox and so there is no challenge, real challenge. The challenge, the major challenge is getting the work, finding the sandbox.

The surest way to lose at any endeavor is to quit.

I want to be up there, being lauded and applauded and given all these and on the red carpet, waving at the hordes of people.

I know people are saying they like you. I'm not being insulted or pushed around or anything. People are coming up because they like me. Nevertheless, I can't be everybody's...none of us can. I hate saying no to people.

I was always ambitious. I always wanted to be more than I was....I always wanted to be a movie actor.

Even through my good-looking youth, I wasn't called on for any romantic parts, which is okay. What I was called on to do, I enjoyed doing. The funny thing about life is that if you live long enough, I think, you'll get every wish you ever had. It'll all come true.

I don't need any more press. I get enough when I work, but environmental causes is one place where you can get me to open my mouth. And put my foot in it if necessary. I think the only thing I do that gives me any bragging rights in terms of energy conservation is sailing. Just using wind power.

Is listening important? I can't think of a single walk of life where it wouldn't be.

I just wanted to be an actor. It's better to be well-rounded.

As the mask of deception falls off the face of humanity
Unveiling the grim reality of duality
In which everyone is a casualty, no one will be exempt
Truth has many shades
It's not a matter of black and white, but gray
Although many, we are one, so in the final analysis
Could it be that we are fighting a war that can't be won?

If I stay at home, I'm not famous. I'm only famous when I'm out in the streets, so I don't go out on the streets much.

I'm making a great effort because sometimes life is not enjoyable. Sometimes it's painful and sometimes it's stressful, sometimes it's agonizing even, so I think once you get around those humps: strive for pleasure and peace.

They're talking about kids who have grand mal seizures, and they've discovered that marijuana eases that down to where these children can have a life. That right there, to me, says, 'Legalize it across the board!'

I'm easy going for the most part but sometimes in the morning if I didn't sleep well I can be kind of grumpy. But my grumpiness doesn't have that much to do with my dissatisfaction with my station in life.

Nobody is trying to save energy. We're trying to shift our use of fuel. Forget saving energy; if we get the right kind of energy, there are endless amounts.

In my home, who is my boss? If you ask my wife she'll say certainly not her. She claims that she can't make me do anything and so she's not my boss. I am. I'm pretty sure, maybe.

A scientist sounds like a scientist because the things that come out of their mouth don't stumble, that's all. If they said, "And the, um, a microwave, uh," you know, then you don't sound right, but if you can just get it out without stumbling then you're going to sound fine.

If you're not living on the edge then you're taking up a little too much space.

Which lady would I like to meet? Um, I don't know that there's anybody left that I didn't meet. But the one that I really wanted to meet died and that was Princess Diana. I really wanted to get to know her. I like her.

Your job is always the same if it's a juggernaut or if it's just one of these little jewels of a film that's gonna wind up at the Laemmle or something, so your job doesn't change whatsoever... give it your best shot.

You know, the ancient Egyptians had a beautiful belief about death. When their souls got to the entrance to heaven, the guards asked two questions. Their answers determined whether they were able to enter or not. 'Have you found joy in your life?' 'Has your life brought joy to others?'

Very often, you know, you stop walking because you say, 'Well, I'm tired of climbing this hill. I'm never going to get to the top.' And you're only two steps from the top.

Working on stage is really a great voice developer.

I have a problem with writer directors, personal. I can't work well with both of them on the set, if both of them are giving instructions. Writers tend to be in love with what they wrote. You can't always translate the words into the meaning, sometimes the meaning is better served without the words, difficult to make a writer to try to understand that. It gets, sometimes, tense.

In growing up, I was a child of the movies. I went to the movies every given opportunity, and that's pretty much what has informed a lot of my choices.

If you dream you've got to dream that it's going to happen. Remember that. If you dream you have to imagine that it will actually happen.

But I was 22 before I took my first dance class. I had never been athletic, so I was very stiff; I still am. I think what I got mostly from dance was carriage.

Being blind is as simple as closing your eyes. The blind don't act any different than you or I. You never see a blind person going around saying, 'I'm blind.' So if you want to play blind just close your eyes and keep them closed and fare thee well.

If you sat down and you wrote a script, you may write something that's way beyond what you've ever seen me do, but if you thought of me to do it, I would be flattered to be asked to do something other than be wise.

I'm not a comedian. I don't make things funny if they're not funny. I don't invent funny stuff.

From early childhood, my thrust was to get into the movies.

I have to deal with being famous. Sometimes I have to tell people I don't do autographs, thank you very much. At certain places, I refuse to have my photograph taken.

There's an exercise we do where someone is sat behind you and you're asked to close your eyes and fall backwards. That's acting.

I'm not digging tunnels, I'm not building buildings. My work is not hard, my work is refreshing, my work is pleasant. The more the better. Lying around and getting no job is debilitating.

The public feels that if it's on the Internet and you can access it, you deserve it. You haven't committed any kind of crime. We may even have to rename piracy. But in any case, we have to confront it.

Don't be different just for different's sake. If you see it differently, function that way. Follow your own muse, always.

I am passionate about what is going on with the oceans, mainly because we are for some idiotic reason, really screwing it up. I mean, we're really killing the ocean. It's like putting out the sun. Without it, there is no us.

I seldom get into the mood of the story. It's acting. I go in, I act, I quit. I don't take anything away from it.

I hate the word homophobia. It's not a phobia. You're not scared. You're an asshole.