Quote

I'm very proud to be black, but black is not all I am. That's my cultural historical background, my genetic make-up, but it's not all of who I am nor is it the basis from which I answer every question.

Denzel Washington

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Denzel Washington
Age: 69
Born: 1954
Born: December 28
Actor
Basketball Player
Film Actor
Film Director
Film Producer
Politician
Screenwriter
Spokesperson
Stage Actor
Television Actor
Mount Vernon
New York
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr.
Success
Basis
Black
Bases
Every
Historical
Make
Answer
Genetic
Life
Proud
Background
Question
Backgrounds
Answers
Makeup
Faith
Cultural

More quotes by Denzel Washington

Image
I even asked [Saniyya Sidney] why she wanted to be an actor and she said, I'm serious about this. These other little kids they want to play, and I don't have time for that.
Denzel Washington
Image
Talent comes from God. If you have been given some, then value it, cultivate it, work and develop it.
Denzel Washington
Image
As an actor in the theater you're taught that you never play a bad guy. You have to love who you are. You can't say, Oh, I'm a bad guy. How do you play that?
Denzel Washington
Image
Any good piece of material like Shakespeare ought to be open to reinterpretation.
Denzel Washington
Image
Revenge is a meal best served cold.
Denzel Washington
Image
[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.
Denzel Washington
Image
What it taught me was forgiveness. It taught me that when people present themselves in a certain way, there's probably some back story or issue or reason for the way that they are. It's not you. It's them. And a lot of times, its about something that's completely out of their control
Denzel Washington
Image
Religion to me is when man gets ahold of spirituality: My god is right, yours is wrong. Religion to me is the human condition. If you're a Muslim, you can't be a Christian. That to me is religion.
Denzel Washington
Image
I just do what I feel and what I like. I don't necessarily censor or feel an obligation to have a particular moral standard - I'm willing to wallow in the mud, if necessary. It appears as if there seems to be a consistency in result, but maybe that has as much to do with the roles I choose as it does with how I play them. I do what pleases me.
Denzel Washington
Image
I asked my mother I said, You divorced my dad, how did you decide? She said, I decided twelve years before he knew it. I was like wow I'm learning something new every day.
Denzel Washington
Image
When you trust the director you want to trust his or her choices. I don't want to say, 'No, I don't like this girl or that guy, when the director really loves them. No, you want to go with what the director likes.
Denzel Washington
Image
So the desire you have, that itch that you have to be whatever it is you want to be ... that itch, that desire for good is God’s proof to you sent already to indicate that it’s yours. You already have it. Claim it.
Denzel Washington
Image
In Los Angeles, everyone is a star.
Denzel Washington
Image
It's strictly business. If I loan you $25 million, I want my money back. I don't want to hear about the social impact. That's great for you, but now I'm $25 million in the hole, so next time you come to ask me.
Denzel Washington
Image
Thank God in advance for what's already yours.
Denzel Washington
Image
What's a celebrity anyway? Paris Hilton's a celebrity. I'm just a working actor.
Denzel Washington
Image
You don't pick black actors or black directors because they are black. You pick them because they are good. If you lend somebody 50 million dollars you want you're money back. You don't care if they are oppressed. You just want you're money back.
Denzel Washington
Image
I 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.
Denzel Washington
Image
There's a book called The Sociopath Next Door. I thought most sociopaths were violent. In fact, they aren't. But almost all sociopaths want to win, no matter what.
Denzel Washington
Image
You have to grab moments when they happen. I like to improvise and ad lib.
Denzel Washington