Ossie Davis

“Any form of art is a form of power; it has impact, it can affect change – it can not only move us, it makes us move.”

“I find, in being black, a thing of beauty: a joy; a strength; a secret cup of living water.”

“Struggle is strengthening. Battling with evil gives us the power to battle evil even more.”

“Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.”

“A hero is someone who is willing to help others in his or her best capacity.”

“The purpose of theater is to arouse, to disturb, to provoke, to protest, to give us a glimpse of the potential of our lives.”

“We must be what we are, and we must be it to the fullest. Black is not a color of the skin, but a state of mind, a state of being.”

“To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.”

“In this world, goodness is destined to be defeated. But a man must go down fighting. That is the victory.”

“It is not a matter of whether one is biased or not. It is a question of which bias is the best bias to be biased with.”

“We knew that we were not only entertainers, but we were also citizens.”

“The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast.”

“It is from the artists and poets that the new world comes.”

“You have to be a little bit of a dreamer to be a successful writer.”