"Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew. They're what make the instrument stretch - what make you go beyond the norm."
"The moment anyone tries to demean or degrade you in any way, you have to know how great you are. Nobody would bother to beat you down if you were not a threat."
Source: Cid Corman (1975). “The Gist of Origin, 1951-1971: an anthology”
About the author
Cicely Tyson
Actress
Cicely Tyson was an acclaimed actress known for her powerful portrayals of strong Black women, advocating for representation in film and theater.
All quotes by Cicely Tyson →Same author
More quotes by Cicely Tyson
"I am not a quitter. I will fight until I drop. It is just a matter of having some faith in the fact that as long as you are able to draw breath in the universe, you have a chance."
"If each person in this world will simply take a small piece of this huge thing, this amazing quilt, and work it regardless of the color of the yarn, we will have harmony on this planet."
"When I told my mother that I wanted to be an actress, she said, you can't live here and do that, and so I moved out. I was determined to prove her wrong because she was so sure that I was going to go astray. And that's the juice that kept me going"
"I think when you begin to think of yourself as having achieved something, then there's nothing left for you to work towards. I want to believe that there is a mountain so high that I will spend my entire life striving to reach the top of it."
"I was in California when this journalist made a blanket statement about the fact that she did not think that black men and women had the kind of love relationship that Rebecca and Nathan had in Sounder."