All Quotes by Denzel Washington
βYou pray for rain, you gotta deal with the mud too. That's a part of it.β
βI say luck is when an opportunity comes along and you're prepared for it.β
βMan gives you the award but God gives you the reward.β
βIf you don't trust the pilot, don't go.β
βIf I am a cup maker, I'm interested in making the best cup I possibly can. My effort goes into that cup, not what people think about it.β
βMy mother used to tell me man gives the award, God gives the reward. I don't need another plaque.β
βI work hard for the audience. It's entertainment. I don't need validation.β
βI'm very proud to be black, but black is not all I am. That's my cultural historical background, my genetic makeup, but it's not all of who I am nor is it the basis from which I answer every question.β
βMy ultimate life dream project is my kids. My family.β
βOne good thing about acting in film is that it's good therapy.β
βI never really had the classic struggle. I had faith.β
βMeryl and Katharine Hepburn are probably the two greatest actresses of this and the last century.β
βWhen I did A Soldier's Story, I was very young and green and thought I knew everything-now I know I know everything!β
βI wasn't allowed to go to movies when I was kid; my father was a minister. 101 Dalmatians and King of Kings, that was the extent of it.β
βI like talking. I like acting.β
βI think the bottom of the totem pole is African-American women, or women of colour. I think they get the least opportunities in Hollywood.β
βActing is just a way of making a living, the family is life.β
βMichelle Pfeiffer hasn't been finding a lot of work recently because she doesn't like what a woman her age is offered. That's a real double standard. You get Sean Connery, who gets older and older, still playing opposite young ladies, but it doesn't work the other way around.β
βEverybody has a job to do. There are people in Iraq on both sides of this war who do what they do for religious reasons, and they feel with God on their side. Some people are good at annihilating people. Maybe that's their gift.β
βI've been fortunate. I don't pick scripts. Scripts pick me.β
βYou don't know when you're being watched. That's one of the weird things about celebrity. It's my least favorite part of acting, celebrity.β
βWhen people protest and are upset with a movie, it becomes a big hit. They hated Passion of The Christ, it worked out pretty well for the box office. So let's get that going.β
βAny good piece of material like Shakespeare ought to be open to reinterpretation.β
βMy mother used to tell me man gives the award, God gives the reward. I don't need another plaque.β
βBlack or white good parts are hard to come by. A good actor with a good opportunity has a shot; without the opportunity it doesn't matter how good you are.β
βI played Othello, but I didn't sit around thinking how Laurence Olivier did it when he played it. That wouldn't do me any good.β
βThe poorest people are the sweetest people.β
βI read the Bible every day.β
βMy faith helps me understand that circumstances don't dictate my happiness, my inner peace.β
βI never really had the classic struggle. I had faith.β
βI think a role model is a mentor - someone you see on a daily basis, and you learn from them.β
βI'd be more frightened by not using whatever abilities I'd been given. I'd be more frightened by procrastination and laziness.β
βIf you have an enemy, then learn and know your enemy, don't just be mad at him or her.β
βI made a commitment to completely cut out drinking and anything that might hamper me from getting my mind and body together. And the floodgates of goodness have opened upon me - spiritually and financially.β
βYou have to grab moments when they happen. I like to improvise and ad lib.β
βIn Los Angeles, everyone is a star.β
βThe time to worrying about flying is when you're on the ground. When you're up in the air, it's too late. No point in worrying about it then.β
βThe last few years I've been saying I was ready to quit. It wasn't that interesting to me. Now that I'm directing, it's all new again.β
βIt's simple: You get a part. You play a part. You play it well. You do your work and you go home. And what is wonderful about movies is that once they're done, they belong to the people. Once you make it, it's what they see. That's where my head is at.β
βIn any profession it gets to be a grind.β
βMy mother never gave up one me. I messed up in school so much they were sending me home, but my mother sent me right back.β
βIt's simple: You get a part. You play a part. You play it well. You do your work and you go home. And what is wonderful about movies is that once they're done, they belong to the people. Once you make it, it's what they see. That's where my head is at.β
βI'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.β
βI've worked with children all my life.β
βI still have my unemployment books and I remember when I worked for the sanitation department and the post office.β
βI 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.β
βI and haven't been unemployed for 20 years. I'm an exception to the rule.β
βWhere I think the most work needs to be done is behind the camera, not in front of it.β
βGrowing up I didn't watch movies.β
βMy role 14 years ago in Richard III - that was the first time I played a bad guy and learned a lot about it - they have all the fun!β
βI'm not a film buff. I don't watch a lot of movies.β
βI don't concern myself with award. I'd been to the party enough times to know it really didn't matter.β
βI made a commitment to completely cut out drinking and anything that might hamper me from getting my mind and body together. And the floodgates of goodness have opened upon me - spiritually and financially.β
βDakota Fanning is a child, but she is a wonderful actor. I don't know what a child actor is. She's an actor who's a child.β
βWhen I was a child I thought I saw an angel. It had wings and kinda looked like my sister. I opened the door so some light could come into the room, and it sort of faded away. My mother said it was probably my Guardian Angel.β
βMan gives you the award but God gives you the reward.β
βI'm not in the loop; I don't know any actors, really, just the ones I work with.β
βMichelle Pfeiffer hasn't been finding a lot of work recently because she doesn't like what a woman her age is offered. That's a real double standard. You get Sean Connery, who gets older and older, still playing opposite young ladies, but it doesn't work the other way around.β
βActing is just a way of making a living, the family is life.β
βGrowing up I didn't watch movies.β
βIf I am a cup maker, I'm interested in making the best cup I possibly can. My effort goes into that cup, not what people think about it.β
βMy mother used to tell me man gives the award, God gives the reward. I don't need another plaque.β
βI wasn't allowed to go to movies when I was kid; my father was a minister. 101 Dalmatians and King of Kings, that was the extent of it.β
βMy ultimate life dream project is my kids. My family.β
βMy mother used to tell me man gives the award, God gives the reward. I don't need another plaque.β
βIt's simple: You get a part. You play a part. You play it well. You do your work and you go home. And what is wonderful about movies is that once they're done, they belong to the people. Once you make it, it's what they see. That's where my head is at.β