Forest Whitaker quotes: deep-dive into Whitaker’s world as he sees it.
“Life is an active, not a passive, journey.”
“My mom always used to tell me, ‘You don’t have to believe in what I believe, but always believe in something.'”
“There’s a molecule inside of you that is connected to everything—every person, every energy, every thing. You look for it, and when you find it, then you allow it to magnify and grow and be the dominating chemistry inside of you.”
“A favorite quote from novelist Walter Kirn: ‘Life is an upstream, not an uphill battle, and it results in just one story: how, and alongside whom, one used his paddle.'”
“If you live with honesty and integrity, if you try to see the best in others, if you seek to deepen your relationships and understanding with your fellow human beings, if you devote your life in some way to service, then no matter where the currents take you, you’ll find the meaning and the purpose that we all seek.”
“There’s a good fear and there’s a negative fear. There’s a thing you confront when you’re going into something new and you come to this sort of abyss, and then you push yourself. There’s a fear, and we have to pass that fear. It makes you try different things.”
“In life, there’s a ladder sometimes, and maybe at the top, there’s a mirror. You take a step up, then maybe three steps down… just because you don’t want to face the decloaking in the mirror.”
“I’m inspired to work with good actors, period. I want to work with the best anytime because I think they’ll make me better.”
“I want to get better as an actor, to keep trying to work harder, trying to discover something different. In some ways, it’s a pretty frightening experience. But normally, I do tend to walk against fear and hope that I’ll be able to survive.”
“Ultimately, all human beings fulfill their patterns. We’re set in a certain archetype, and we fulfill that destiny.”
“I see a deep connection between peace and change: peace always starts from within, for communities and people alike. The same is true of change: real change starts from within.”
“The internet is part of our evolution. The mystics used to say, ‘We can travel across the planet in a thought.’ Now we really can. We can be connected with a million people at a time.”
“I think that cinema and the arts are central in our lives because we grow up and learn about the world through our exposure to stories. Parents use them as a tool to teach their children fundamental truths and values, much as adults can view them to gain exposure to cultures and individuals that they’d never be able to view in their own lives.”
“Stories hold great power, which enables us to utilize them to shape minds and test our capacity to feel and think.”
“Stereotypes do exist, but we have to walk through them.”
“The true wealth of a community is measured by how carefully it listens to its women and how sincerely it values their wisdom. Empowering women empowers us all.”
“We have to not just open our eyes to what’s going on in other places; we need to open our eyes to what’s going on right in front of us.”
“It is important to make the best out of every generation.”
“I always try to remain aware that what affects others affects me, too.”
“I always stand up for what I believe and what I want to.”
“I was a curious child. I’d debate with anyone who came to the door—people from the Islamic community, Jehovah’s Witnesses, anyone.”
“When I was young I read a lot of philosophy and it influenced me. I’m drawn to ancient truths.”
“I eat really clean… usually vegan without sugar or oils. Then I learn lines while using the treadmill.”
“I try to be like a forest: revitalizing and constantly growing. I thought being called Forest helped me find my identity.”
“I really wasn’t even sure if I should continue acting. I would like try and figure out if I could be good enough to do it. It was like 10 or 12 years into my career before I felt like maybe I can do it. It was such a different time than now.”
“As a kid, I never had dreams of becoming an actor or director. Even when I was already working professionally, it took me a long time to know whether this was what I really wanted to be. Now I feel comfortable about what I’m doing, but I see that I can continue to make it better, that I can create a deeper balance in my life, and I’m still working on that. I didn’t plan for things to turn out this way at all. But I have to say, I feel good about it. I do.”
“It’s easy to get lost in this maze called life.”
“Fame allows you a lot of opportunities to experience new things and connect with people. But on the other hand, people’s perceptions of you can limit the scope of your relationships with them. You walk both lines.”
“I’m just looking for characters that continue to make me stretch and grow and learn more about the human condition.”
“I think the biggest thing that motivates me when I’m choosing a part is a role that will help me continue to grow as a person and as an artist, and a role that will deepen my understanding of humanity, and my connection to it.”
“I think I didn’t know whether I wanted to keep acting deep into my career. I kept trying to see if I would be able to do it well enough to make that part of my destiny or part of what I was supposed to do.”
“When I first started acting, it was because of my desire to connect to everyone, to that thing inside each of us, that light that I believe exists in all of us. Because acting for me is about believing in that connection; and it’s a connection so strong, it’s a connection so deep that we feel it and through our combined belief we can create a new reality.”
“Yeah, there have been difficult times. On the whole, I now see my work as being an expression of my spiritual life and, because I look at it that way, I have a different center. I go through the stress and pressure, but I think I’m lucky because I come from a different source point.”
“I try to live my life in a holistic way and show that all of it intersects because I’m coming from the same place. Now, at the core of it, I’m just trying to connect and be there, so I’m trying to be there for my family, my wife, my kids, my friends.”
“It is possible for a kid from east Texas, raised in South Central LA and Carson, who believes in his dreams, commits himself to them with his heart, to touch them and to have them happen.”
“From time to time, I hope the currents will carry you back home to where you began.”
“I think I’ve made some choices that maybe I wasn’t so sure about for some reason or another. But I’m one of the lucky ones.”
“The key is that I’m trying to keep growing and trying to keep learning and deepen my connection in every way, in my life, in my work.”
“You must ask yourself if you’re standing up for what you know is right, if you’re spending time with people close to you, if you’re treating others with kindness and compassion. These question are your moral compass, they’re your north star. There will always be forces—things like jealousy, greed and anger—trying to push you away from the ideas you believe in and the causes you care most about.”
Related: Denzel Washington quotes.
