Sidney Poitier Quotes

I've been accused of being too flexible, too willing to mold myself to men, and that's something I'm constantly working on.

Never sit at a table you can't walk away from.

I am willing ... when I cannot get all I wish, to take what I can get.

You don't want to disappoint anybody, but you know, you lose your voice by trying to please everyone.

I am extremely malleable as an actor, but I also know how to get away with doing things the way I want, even if the director disagrees.

When it's impossible, it's better to stoop to compromise, without resisting and without complaining. People who complain are selfish.

As a writer, you're really in control of almost everything. That's not the case in TV. You have to be prepared to work with a lot of people to make something happen, and you got to be prepared, at least in the beginning, to not be too good at your specific task.

I'm not saying I wasn't flawed or amateurish. But you can never say I did anything to appease the music business.

I cannot be a character in a bad movie. I can't be.

I want to be remembered as somebody that tried to respect her integrity as an artist and as a person. And I don't want to be in any box. I don't want to be one thing.

Be right, and then be easy to live with, if possible, but in that order.

I don't miss directing at all, and I don't miss screenwriting either because somebody's always telling you to do something different.

Let no one think that flexibility and a predisposition to compromise is a sign of weakness or a sell-out.

If someone is not happy with one thing we either tweak it until they're happy with it. We all know where that line is, where you have to be three hands up.

I never mind contorting myself for a good cause.

I think if you try to tailor your act to anybody, you end up with an act that doesn't work anyway.

Problems arise in that one has to find a balance between what people need from you and what you need for yourself.

In politics, you must let the other person have your way.

I'll play what you want or I won't play at all.

A sacrifice is best refuted by accepting it.

OK, boss, I don't mind shuffling, but I won't scratch my head.

I've learned that in order to achieve what I wanted, it made more sense to negotiate than to defend the autonomy of my work by pounding my fist on the table.

You know what, if you compromise and do stuff that's not becoming to you as an artist, that's your fault.

There's a fine line between saying, 'You can't tell me what I can and can't do,' and taking on board people's opinions.

The minute you start compromising for the sake of massaging somebody's ego, that's it, game over.