Morgan Freeman is not only a legendary actor but also a profound thinker whose words inspire millions worldwide. His quotes reflect wisdom, kindness, perseverance, and a deep understanding of life’s challenges and joys. This article compiles over 100 of his most motivational and uplifting quotes, designed to encourage you to live fully, embrace challenges, and pursue your dreams with courage and grace.
100+ Morgan Freeman Inspirational Quotes You Need to Know
1. “Kindness in thinking or giving, creates profoundness and happiness. Kindness in saying creates an everlasting love.”
2. “Get busy living or get busy dying!”
3. “Don’t be different just for different’s sake. If you see it differently, function that way. Follow your own muse, always.”
4. “Challenge yourself; it’s the only path which leads to growth.”
5. “If you live a life of make-believe, your life isn’t worth anything until you do something that does challenge your reality.”
6. “Fatigue, discomfort, discouragement are merely symptoms of effort.”
7. “The best way to guarantee a loss is to quit.”
8. “As long as you feel like a victim, you are one.”
9. “Never let pride be your guiding principle. Let your accomplishments speak for you.”
10. “If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.”
11. “I always tell my kids if you lay down, people will step over you. But if you keep scrambling, if you keep going, someone will always, always give you a hand. Always. But you gotta keep dancing, you gotta keep your feet moving.”
12. “I have to remind myself that some birds aren’t meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away the part of you that knows it was a win to lock them up does rejoice.”
13. “Life doesn’t offer you promises whatsoever so it’s very easy to become, ‘Whatever happened to..?’ It’s great to be wanted. I spent a few years not being wanted and this is better.”
14. “One of the things you can always depend on – this is one of the truths of the universe – whatever we decide we want to do is what we do.”
15. “We humans are more concerned with having than with being.”
16. “If you want to see a miracle, be the miracle.”
17. “If you’re not living on the edge then you’re taking up a little too much space.”
18. “Race seems to me to be less and less a subject worth discussing.”
19. “How do we change the world? One random act of kindness at a time.”
20. “Finding joy is probably tantamount to finding yourself and being comfortable in your own skin.”
21. “If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient?”
22. “If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?”
23. “I am going to stop calling you a white man and I’m going to ask you to stop calling me a black man.”
24. “Very often, you know, you stop walking because you say, ‘Well, I’m tired of climbing this hill. I’m never going to get to the top.’ And you’re only two steps from the top.”
25. “The most important thing to do if you find yourself in a hole is to stop digging.”
26. “If you look back on your life and where you started from it’s like looking back down a mountain back to the desert floor.”
27. “Stillness. It’s what I learn from the actors I work with. That’s all, and that’s the hardest thing.”
28. “Once you’ve gotten the job, there’s nothing to it. If you’re an actor, you’re an actor. Doing it is not the hard part. The hard part is getting to do it.”
29. “Don’t be afraid of what you want. This is your time. The barriers are down.”
30. “Self-control is strength. Calmness is mastery. You have to get to a point where your mood doesn’t shift based on the insignificant actions of someone else.”
31. “Anyone who spends a significant amount of time with me finds me disagreeable.”
32. “Every job’s a challenge. The challenge is to do it and make it look right, like you belong there – wherever that is.”
33. “I’m a firm believer that things happen as they should. The universe unfolds just as it’s supposed to.”
34. “So we say, ‘Oh, my goodness; we think we’ve found another Earth-like planet.’ We will start trying to figure out how to get there.”
35. “I am passionate about what is going on with the oceans, mainly because we are for some idiotic reason, really screwing it up.”
36. “Literacy could be the ladder out of poverty.”
37. “Still, it can be more effective to accomplish what you need to accomplish with the minimum effort.”
38. “People hear that and say I’m being modest. But I am not a modest person, but I have to be truthful about what I’m doing and what I’m doing is channeling.”
39. “I’m not one for blaspheming, but that one made me laugh.”
40. “Nobody is trying to save energy. We’re trying to shift our use of fuel.”
41. “I’m easy going for the most part but sometimes in the morning if I didn’t sleep well I can be kind of grumpy.”
42. “You want to retire from a job you’re not that all enamoured with. I love what I do.”
43. “Sometimes things always look darkest just before the dawn.”
44. “The only advice I have for any actor is, keep acting. Just keep working. And keep your mind on what you want.”
45. “The reason actors, artists, writers have agents is because we’ll do it for nothing.”
46. “Don’t give up. Do not give up!”
47. “I can say that life is good to me. Has been and is good. So I think my task is to be good to it. So how do you be good to life? You live it.”
48. “You can’t take credit for talent; you can only take credit for using it.”
49. “I once heard a wise man say there are no perfect men. Only perfect intentions.”
50. “Forgiveness liberates the soul. It removes fear.”
51. “If your life turns out to be good and you have a tremendous amount of luck in your life, it’s a good thing to turn around and make it work for others.”
52. “Learning how to be still, to really be still and let life happen – that stillness becomes a radiance.”
53. “People need to start to think about the messages that they send in the movies.”
54. “Please go for your dreams. Whatever your ideals, you can become whatever you want to become.”
55. “How are we going to get rid of racism? Stop talking about it!”
56. “In the harshest place on Earth, love finds a way.”
57. “If you dream you’ve got to dream that it’s going to happen. Remember that.”
58. “The trick to any profession is making it look easy.”
59. “I’m always trying new things and learning new things. If there isn’t anything more you can learn – go off and die.”
60. “I always wanted to be a fireman, a cop, an Indian chief, a doctor, a lawyer. I always wanted to be all these things.”
61. “I don’t have to work. I could stop and never have to worry about paying the rent. I’m working for the joy of doing it.”
62. “As you grow in this business, you learn how to do more with less.”
63. “Somebody once said to me after I’d done ‘Deep Impact,’ ‘What is it like to play a Black president,’ and I said, ‘I didn’t play a Black president. I played a president. I just happened to be Black.’”
64. “Attacking people with disabilities is the lowest display of power I can think of.”
65. “You don’t know how much you appreciate your privacy until you don’t have it.”
66. “Did you just call me old? I really prefer the word ‘experienced.’”
67. “You know, the ancient Egyptians had a beautiful belief about death. When their souls got to the entrance to heaven, the guards asked two questions.”
68. “Every man has his breaking point.”
69. “Discipline is not the enemy of enthusiasm!”
70. “A single mom who’s working two jobs and still finds time to take her kid to soccer practice, that’s a miracle.”
71. “If you wake up and the snow is knee-deep outside, you are not filled with rage. It’s just something that you’ve got to cope with.”
72. “I hate the word homophobia. It’s not a phobia. You are not scared. You are an asshole.”
73. “I never said any of those quotes…”
74. “Insanity is coasting through life in a miserable existence when you have a caged lion locked inside and the key to release it.”
75. “If you want to retire from a job you’re not that all enamoured with, I love what I do.”
76. “I’m easy going for the most part but sometimes in the morning if I didn’t sleep well I can be kind of grumpy.”
77. “You want to keep doing it till you can’t get out of bed doing it.”
78. “People hear that and say I’m being modest. But I am not a modest person.”
79. “Stillness. It’s what I learn from the actors I work with. That’s all, and that’s the hardest thing.”
80. “The universe unfolds just as it’s supposed to.”
81. “We will start trying to figure out how to get there.”
82. “Without the ocean, there is no us.”
83. “Literacy could be the ladder out of poverty.”
84. “Watch Anthony Hopkins. He doesn’t appear to be doing anything. He is so still that you can’t see him working.”
85. “I’m working for the joy of doing it.”
86. “The best way to guarantee a loss is to quit.”
87. “Don’t give up. Do not give up!”
88. “Sometimes things always look darkest just before the dawn.”
89. “If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.”
90. “I always tell my kids if you lay down, people will step over you.”
91. “Keep your feet moving.”
92. “If you look back on your life and where you started from it’s like looking back down a mountain.”
93. “You never know what’s going to happen.”
94. “You just have to get out of bed. Get out and do it.”
95. “You can become whatever you want to become.”
96. “People need to start to think about the messages that they send in the movies.”
97. “The trick to any profession is making it look easy.”
98. “If there isn’t anything more you can learn – go off and die.”
99. “I always wanted to be all these things, so I am drawn to these kinds of characters.”
100. “I’m a firm believer that things happen as they should.”
101. “The universe unfolds just as it’s supposed to.”
102. “Literacy could be the ladder out of poverty.”
103. “Forgiveness liberates the soul. It removes fear. That is why it is such a powerful weapon.”
104. “If you look back on your life and where you started from it’s like looking back down a mountain back to the desert floor.”
105. “Stillness. It’s what I learn from the actors I work with. That’s all, and that’s the hardest thing.”
Conclusion
Morgan Freeman’s words offer timeless wisdom that motivates us to face life’s challenges with strength and kindness. His quotes emphasize perseverance, self-belief, and compassion, reminding us that growth comes from challenge and that true happiness is found in living authentically and purposefully. Let these quotes inspire you to keep moving forward, embrace your uniqueness, and make a positive impact on the world around you.
