Cicely Tyson Quotes

9 quotations by Cicely Tyson

You never know what motivates you.

We have to support our own films. If we don't, how can we expect others to support them?

In my work, people say I'm strong. But I'm not aware of any of it. If I were conscious of it, that can only get in the way of future performances.

In my early years, there were a number of experiences that made me decide I could not afford the luxury of just being an actress. There were a number of issues I wanted to address. And I wanted to use my career as a platform.

I was in California when this journalist made a blanket statement about the fact that she did not think that black men and women had the kind of love relationship that Rebecca and Nathan had in Sounder.

I think when you begin to think of yourself as having achieved something, then there's nothing left for you to work towards. I want to believe that there is a mountain so high that I will spend my entire life striving to reach the top of it.

I don't condemn anyone for making their choices. If someone chooses those roles, fine. But not for me. When someone stops me and says, You're the reason I became an actress, that lets me know I made the right decision.

Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew. They're what make the instrument stretch-what make you go beyond the norm.

Ali... we should have gone to see that movie. Malcolm X was another one.