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

- Sidney Poitier

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

- Sidney Poitier

But my dad also was a remarkable man, a good person, a principled individual, a man of integrity.

- Sidney Poitier

My father was the quintessential husband and dad.

- Sidney Poitier

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.

- Sidney Poitier

My autobiography was simply the story of my life.

- Sidney Poitier

I was fortunate enough to have been raised to a certain point before I got into the race thing. I had other views of what a human is, so I was never able to see racism as the big question. Racism was horrendous, but there were other aspects to life.

- Sidney Poitier

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

- Sidney Poitier

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

- Sidney Poitier

I have always been a learner because I knew nothing.

- Sidney Poitier

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

- Sidney Poitier

My father was a poor man, very poor in a British colonial possession where class and race were very important.

- Sidney Poitier

I lived in a country where I couldn't live where I wanted to live. I lived in a country where I couldn't go where I wanted to eat. I lived in a country where I couldn't get a job, except for those put aside for people of my colour or caste.

- Sidney Poitier

So it's been kind of a long road, but it was a good journey altogether.

- Sidney Poitier

I'd seen my father. He was a poor man, and I watched him do astonishing things.

- Sidney Poitier

I couldn't adjust to the racism in Florida. It was so blatant... I had never been so described as Florida described me.

- Sidney Poitier

I'll always be chasing you... Glory.

- Sidney Poitier

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

- Sidney Poitier

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

- Sidney Poitier

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