Michael Jai White Quotes

I admire many people, but I am not sure that I have any 'heroes.'

When you're a young boy, you're looking at older men for role modelling. Before I loved De Niro, I loved Clint Eastwood; I loved John Wayne. And James Bond.

James Bond is one of those heroes that all guys feel they could actually be like.

We all want heroes and we all want somebody to look up to.

I'm not a person who particularly had heros when growing up.

Admiration of great men, living or dead, naturally evokes imitation of them in a greater or less degree.

Like all children, I spent a lot of time looking for idols.

When I was young, I was looking for people to look up to - role models I could respect.

My role models were all men. I grew up - I was a big 1980s Laker fan: you know, the years of Worthy, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and, you know, eight-foot-tall men that I could never emulate, and then these big 300-pound football players.

As a man, you think, 'Hey, man, I want to be like Bond or Tintin.'

I was never disappointed by the people I've admired. And the choices I made when I was in a position where it was do-or-die were made with my heroes in mind.

The hip hop community is not at fault here - I'm definitely not blaming them. But, that can't be the only view of manhood for our young men.

As a kid I always idolized the winning athletes. It is one thing to idolize heroes. It is quite another to visualize yourself in their place. When I saw great people, I said to myself: I can be there.

The world needs role models, instead of critics.

If I wanted to become a tramp, I would seek information and advice from the most successful tramp I could find. If I wanted to become a failure, I would seek advice from people who have never succeeded. If I wanted to succeed in all things, I would look around me for those who are succeeding, and do as they have done.

First, find out what your hero wants, then just follow him.

They tell you to be careful because maybe you don't want to meet your heroes. I've met pretty much every one, and I've never been let down.

It's hard to carry a child around with you, but fortunately, in most cases, you don't have to ask a child for directions if you have a well-chosen role model ready to guide you. This is the next prescription: Take one role model, as often as needed. Set aside a few minutes today to fill this prescription so you will have it handy when you need it. Think now about who your role models have been. What do they offer? Who else do you admire, and exactly what do you admire about them? Have your roster of role models ready and waiting to help you the next time you are perplexed.

I think any good artist - and I'm not saying that I am one - takes notes and should first emulate their heroes and then try to move beyond them.

The boy and the man must be raised to see the possibility of self worth, then meet a few others who provide the vision of a road toward it, then spend a lifetime pursing that worth through action and relationship. One of the great tragedies in human life is to be born a male and not be guided toward the value of a man.

… our sons must become men – such men as we hope our daughters, born and unborn, will be pleased to live among. Our sons will not grow into women. Their way is more difficult than that of our daughters, for they must move away from us, without us. Hopefully ours have what they have learned from us, and a howness to forge into their own image.

A wholesome regard for the memory of the great men of long ago is the best assurance to a people of a continuation of great men to come, who shall be able to instruct, to lead, and to inspire. A people who worship at the shrine of true greatness will themselves be truly great.

You look up to your heroes and you shouldn't be intimidated by them; you should be inspired by them.

A boy, by the age of 3 years, senses that his destiny is to be a man, so he watches his father particularly-his interests, manner, speech, pleasures, his attitude toward work.

Annika's my role model, and I wish in the future I could be like her.