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

Since I couldn't actuate the things that I wanted to do, the only weapon I had was to say no.

I had chosen to use my work as a reflection of my values.

Mine was an easy ride compared to Jackie Robinson's.

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

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.

But I always had the ability to say no. That's how I called my own shots.

There is not racial or ethnic domination of hopelessness. It's everywhere.

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.

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

I was the only Black person on the set. It was unusual for me to be in a circumstance in which every move I made was tantamount to representation of 18 million people.

I never had an occasion to question color, therefore, I only saw myself as what I was... a human being.

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

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

So I'm OK with myself, with history, my work, who I am and who I was.

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

I wanted to explore the values that are at work, underpinning my life.

We all suffer from the preoccupation that there exists... in the loved one, perfection.

I wanted to look at them because I feel, internally, that I am an ordinary person who has had an extraordinary life.

I've had it all my life and when it can time for me to start a family, I was quite anxious to do so.

If you apply reason and logic to this career of mine, you're not going to get very far. You simply won't.

A good deed here, a good deed there, a good thought here, a good comment there, all added up to my career in one way or another.

The journey has been incredible from its beginning.

I had learned something of Miami from people who had visited there, so I knew what to expect.

In my case, the body of work stands for itself... I think my work has been representative of me as a man.

I come from a great family. I've seen family life and I know how wonderful, how nurturing, and how wonderful it can be.

My autobiography was simply the story of my life.

Jackie Robinson is a true legend.

History passes the final judgment.

To be compared to Jackie Robinson is an enormous compliment, but I don't think it's necessarily deserved.

I was not the kind of a principal player that was so in demand that eight or 10 or 12 scripts came per month.

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

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

Far as I can tell, I still have most of my hair, my gut is not hanging over my belt, and I still have all of my teeth.

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

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

I cannot be understood in three minutes.

I couldn't adjust to the racism in Florida.

I don't very often read novels.

I get offered work these days.

I had two roles for which I compromised.

I have always been a learner because I knew nothing.

I know how easy it is for one to stay well within moral, ethical, and legal bounds through the skillful use of words - and to thereby spin, sidestep, circumvent, or bend a truth completely out of shape. To that extent, we are all liars on numerous occasions.

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.

I sometimes like the pictures photographers take of me.

I was born two months early, and everyone had given up on me. But my mother insisted on my life.

I wouldn't change a single thing, because one change alters every moment that follows it.

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

I'm going to quit writing.