Ossie Davis Quotations

I find, in being black, a thing of beauty: a joy; a strength; a secret cup of gladness.

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

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.

College ain't so much where you been as how you talk when you get back.

He was like one of those messenger boys for God ... doing what he could, where he could and hoping that he got it right.

I wish we had been more organized and determined with respect to carving out the time that we needed to write,

We ultimately decided that that what we had chosen as a possibility didn't really work for us.

It's not the man, it's the plan. It's not the rap, it's the map.

I cannot put into words how happy I was to have had the opportunity to be around him as much as I was. He had a great sense of humor, and through his humor, one could find his wisdom.

I couldn't think of a better way to pay tribute to him, ... I can't imagine his spirit being any happier than to receive this kind of honor.

If we can reach in wih the art and touch the imagination of the child, no matter who, we have affected that child.

It was a lifetime occupation that kept us too busy to stop and ask if we were happy or not

Any form of art is a form of power.

Here - at this final hour, Harlem has come to bid farewell to one of its brightest hopes - extinguished now, and gone from us forever.... Many will ask what Harlem finds to honor in this stormy, controversial and bold young captain - and we will smile. ...We will answer and say unto them, ‘Did you ever talk to Brother Malcolm? Did you ever really listen to him? ...For if you did you would know him. And if you knew him you would know why we must honor him.'

One of the things I appreciate more was how important struggle was as the instrument that helped to keep us knit together.

It is necessary to stay on the march, to be on the journey, to work for peace wherever we are at all times, because the liberty we cherish, which we would share with the world, demands eternal vigilance.

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.

We can't float through life. We can't be incidental or accidental. We must fix our gaze on a guiding star as soon as one comes upon the horizon and once we have attached ourselves to that star we must keep our eyes on it and our hands upon the plow. It is the consistency of the pursuit of the highest possible vision that you can find in front of you that gives you the constancy, that gives you the encouragement, that gives you the way to understand where you are and why it's important for you to do what you can do.