150 Morgan Freeman Quotes That Will Change the Way You View Life

Morgan Freeman is one of the most beloved actors in Hollywood. He has starred in some of the biggest movies of all time, and his voice is instantly recognizable. But Freeman is more than just an actor – he is a thinker, and his insights into life are profound.

In this blog post, we will share 150 of Morgan Freeman’s best quotes on happiness, success, and living a meaningful life.

Morgan Freeman Quotes

1. “I gravitate towards gravitas.” – Morgan Freeman
2. “Every man has his breaking point.” – Morgan Freeman
3. “Black history is American history.” – Morgan Freeman
4. “Get busy living or get busy dying!” – Morgan Freeman
5. “Your best posture is your next posture.” – Morgan Freeman
6. “I like the blues a lot. I grew up on it.” – Morgan Freeman
7. “Discipline is not the enemy of enthusiasm!” – Morgan Freeman
8. “The best way to guarantee a loss is to quit.” – Morgan Freeman
9. “If you want to see a miracle, be the miracle” – Morgan Freeman
10. “Literacy could be the ladder out of poverty.” – Morgan Freeman
11. “You’re going to relegate my history to a month.” – Morgan Freeman
12. “As long as you feel like a victim, you are one.” – Morgan Freeman
13. “Forgiveness liberates the soul, it removes fear.” – Morgan Freeman
14. “In the harshest place on Earth, love finds a way.” – Morgan Freeman
15. “The trick to any profession is making it look easy.”- Morgan Freeman
16. “Give me something interesting to play and I’m happy.” – Morgan Freeman
17. “Just that working with Clint again is like coming home.” – Morgan Freeman
18. “I find it difficult to watch myself… I find it boring.” – Morgan Freeman
19. “I’m not one for blaspheming, but that one made me laugh.” – Morgan Freeman
20. “How can we change the world? One random act of kindness.” – Morgan Freeman
21. “We humans are more concerned with having than with being.” – Morgan Freeman
22. “All you have to do is believe, then you will see everything.” – Morgan Freeman
23. “Challenge yourself; it’s the only path which leads to growth.” – Morgan Freeman
24. “How are we going to get rid of racism? Stop talking about it!” – Morgan Freeman
25. “The better the actor, usually the safer you feel working with.” – Morgan Freeman
26. “Actors cannot work against each other. It’s totally impossible.” – Morgan Freeman
27. “I can only be so long without work before I start getting antsy.” – Morgan Freeman
28. “Race seems to me to be less and less a subject worth discussing.” – Morgan Freeman
29. “As you grow in this business, you learn how to do more with less.” – Morgan Freeman
30. “How do we change the world? One random act of kindness at a time.” – Morgan Freeman
31. “You measure yourself by the people who measure themselves by you.” – Morgan Freeman
32. “Did you just call me old? I really prefer the word ‘experienced.’” – Morgan Freeman
33. “Dr. Martin Luther King is not a black hero. He is an American hero.”- Morgan Freeman
34. “Fatigue, discomfort, discouragement are merely symptoms of effort.” – Morgan Freeman
35. “Dr. Martin Luther King is not a black hero. He is an American hero.” – Morgan Freeman
36. “I don’t want a Black History Month. Black history is American history.”- Morgan Freeman
37. “Truth has many shades. It’s not a matter of black and white, but gray.” – Morgan Freeman
38. “You can’t take credit for talent; you can only take credit for using it.” – Morgan Freeman
39. “Write something insightful. Say Morgan Freeman said it. Win at internet.” – Morgan Freeman
40. “I was lucky in that when the opportunity came, I was prepared to meet it.” – Morgan Freeman
41. “If you dream you’ve got to dream that it’s going to happen. Remember that.” – Morgan Freeman
42. “Don’t be afraid of what you want. This is your time. The barriers are down.” – Morgan Freeman
43. “Life is tough, but you just have to just get out of bed. Get out and do it.” – Morgan Freeman
44. “Is there a movie I think I should have won the Oscar for? Yeah. All of them.” – Morgan Freeman
45. “You don’t know how much you appreciate your privacy until you don’t have it.” – Morgan Freeman
46. “Anyone who spends a significant amount of time with me finds me disagreeable.” – Morgan Freeman
47. “People need to start to think about the messages that they send in the movies.” – Morgan Freeman
48. “I once heard a wise man say there are no perfect men. Only perfect intentions.” – Morgan Freeman
49. “People need to start to think about the messages that they send in the movies.” – Morgan Freeman
50. “If you’re not living on the edge then you’re taking up a little too much space.” – Morgan Freeman
51. “I only get one life, and I will not let Fibromyalgia take the joy from living it.” – Morgan Freeman
52. “Attacking People With Disabilities is the Lowest Display of Power I Can Think Of.” – Morgan Freeman
53. “Never let pride be your guiding principle. Let your accomplishments speak for you.” – Morgan Freeman
54. “If I wasn’t acting, I have no clue what I’d be doing ’cause I have no other talent.” – Morgan Freeman
55. “Is listening important? I can’t think of a single walk of life where it wouldn’t be.” – Morgan Freeman
56. “This kid came up with Napster, and before that, none of us thought of content protection.” – Morgan Freeman
57. “Forgiveness liberates the soul. It removes fear. That is why it is such a powerful weapon.” – Morgan Freeman
58. “That’s your job as the actor, to understand the human part of the character, to make it real.”- Morgan Freeman
59. “In my career? Me. I’m the boss. I’m the end all and be all. I’m the alpha and omega in that.” – Morgan Freeman
60. “Finding joy is probably tantamount to finding yourself and being comfortable in your own skin.” – Morgan Freeman
61. “There’s no mystery to it. Nothing more complicated than learning lines and putting on a costume.” – Morgan Freeman
62. “I want to thank everybody and anybody who ever had anything to do with the making of this picture.” – Morgan Freeman
63. “I believe it doesn’t really matter where you work as long as you work. Keep sharpening your teeth.” – Morgan Freeman
64. “I am going to stop calling you a white man and I’m going to ask you to stop calling me a black man.” – Morgan Freeman
65. “The best way to confront, or deal with, technological innovation is to keep moving technologically.” – Morgan Freeman
66. “The best way to confront, or deal with, technological innovation is to keep moving technologically.” – Morgan Freeman
67. “Stillness. It’s what I learn from the actors I work with. That’s all, and that’s the hardest thing.” – Morgan Freeman
68. “Stage is really hard work. You’ve got to do it every night. Not like doing it once and walking away.” – Morgan Freeman
69. “Learning how to be still, to really be still and let life happen – that stillness becomes a radiance.” – Morgan Freeman
70. “I’m a firm believer that things happen as they should. The universe unfolds just as it’s supposed to.” – Morgan Freeman
71. “When I was doing theater, I was very successful at believing that I was great—God’s gift to the theater.” – Morgan Freeman
72. “And finding the hat, I always like to find the hat. And then props just dress the set. It’s all fabulous.” – Morgan Freeman
73. “When I was doing theater, I was very successful at believing that I was great, God’s gift to the theater.” – Morgan Freeman
74. “I don’t know what my favorite film of mine is… But I think the most important film I was in was ‘Glory’.” – Morgan Freeman
75. “I don’t do comedy. I think if a situation is funny you just play it for real and if it’s funny, it’s funny.” – Morgan Freeman
76. “I don’t get off on romantic parts. But I often think if I had had my dental work done early on, well, maybe.” – Morgan Freeman
77. “The highest power is the human mind. That’s where God came from and my belief in God is my belief in myself.” – Morgan Freeman
78. “It’s what I learn from the great actors that I work with. Stillness. That’s all and that’s the hardest thing.” – Morgan Freeman
79. “I got my first job as a card-carrying actor in New York in 1967. Before that, I was a very desperate wannabe.” – Morgan Freeman
80. “A single mom who’s working two jobs and still finds time to take her kid to soccer practice, that’s a miracle.” – Morgan Freeman
81. “I’m always trying new things and learning new things. If there isn’t anything more you can learn – go off and die.” – Morgan Freeman
82. “People like to say that this is all just about making money, but if you don’t make money, you don’t make anything.” – Morgan Freeman
83. “I’ve been living with myself all of my life, so I know all of me. So when I watch me, all I see is me. It’s boring.” – Morgan Freeman
84. “Every job’s a challenge. The challenge is to do it and make it look right like you belong there – wherever that is.” – Morgan Freeman
85. “Kindness in thinking or giving, creates profoundness and happiness. Kindness in saying creates an everlasting love.” – Morgan Freeman
86. “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.” – Morgan Freeman
87. “I’ve always been a fan of or desired to or responded to variety. I like variety in life, so variety in work is a must.” – Morgan Freeman
88. “My approach to acting is that I am totally intuitive. I read the script and I get it. If I don’t get it, I can’t do it.”- Morgan Freeman
89. “If I stay at home, I’m not famous. I’m only famous when I’m out in the streets, so I don’t go out on the streets much.” – Morgan Freeman
90. “When you have made your choice, it is providence that is your guide. Good, bad, or indifferent. Your fate lies in that.” – Morgan Freeman
91. “I think you have to be left-brained, to a certain extent, to understand science. I can talk about it, but I can’t do it.” – Morgan Freeman
92. “Don’t be different just for different’s sake. If you see it differently, function that way. Follow your own muse, always.” – Morgan Freeman
93. “The reason actors, artists, writers have agents is because we’ll do it for nothing. That’s a basic fact – you gotta do it.” – Morgan Freeman
94. “If you live a life of make-believe, your life isn’t worth anything until you do something that does challenge your reality.” – Morgan Freeman
95. “There’s an exercise we do where someone is sat behind you and you’re asked to close your eyes and fall backwards. That’s acting.” – Morgan Freeman
96. “It’s sort of well-known that anytime any catastrophe happens anywhere in the world, they can count on the United States for help.” – Morgan Freeman
97. “I think you take a job, you owe it as much passion as the job itself demands. And most jobs demand that you be totally committed.” – Morgan Freeman
98. “Audiences believe what you believe. It’s a matter of believing in yourself. If I believe me, then you’ve got no choice. None at all.” – Morgan Freeman
99. “If you dream you’ve got to dream that it’s going to happen. Remember that. If you dream you have to imagine that it will actually happen.” –Morgan Freeman
100. “Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered as our prince of peace, of civil rights. We owe him something major that will keep his memory alive.” – Morgan Freeman
101. “And that if you become a star, people are going to go to see you. If you remain an actor, they’re going to go and see the story you’re in.”- Morgan Freeman
102. “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. How do you be good to life? You live it.” – Morgan Freeman
103. “Acting means living, it’s all I do and all I’m good at. If I weren’t getting paid well, I would still be acting in a small troupe somewhere.” – Morgan Freeman
104. “I’m not intimidated by lead roles. I’m better in them. I don’t feel pressure. I feel released at times like that. That’s what I’m born to do.” – Morgan Freeman
105. “But 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.” – Morgan Freeman
106. “When I was a teenager, I began to settle into school because I’d discovered the extracurricular activities that interested me: music and theater.” – Morgan Freeman
107. “You want to retire from a job you’re not that all enamoured with. I love what I do. I want to keep doing it till I can’t get out of bed doing it.” – Morgan Freeman
108. “I’m not one who can write out a speech and remember all the names of the people that you need to thank because you need to thank all of those people.” – Morgan Freeman
109. “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.” – Morgan Freeman
110. “You’re not going to be able to look like anyone else, no matter how hard you try, unless you’re a mimic; then you’re not acting, you’re just mimicking.” – Morgan Freeman
111. “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.” – Morgan Freeman
112. “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.” – Morgan Freeman
113. “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.” – Morgan Freeman
114. “I am God. So it’s easy to play him. They say God is in all things. So if God is in me, then I am in God. Therefore, I am God. God does not exist without me.” – Morgan Freeman
115. “Nobody is trying to save energy. We’re trying to shift our use of fuel. Forget saving energy; if we get the right kind of energy, there are endless amounts.” – Morgan Freeman
116. “I don’t have anybody telling me what to say. I have people who would suggest, maybe, that I shouldn’t do this, that or the other, but that’s strictly up to me.” – Morgan Freeman
117. “I always wanted to be a fireman, a cop, an Indian chief, a doctor, a lawyer. I always wanted to be all these things, so I am drawn to these kinds of characters.” – Morgan Freeman
118. “One of the things you can always depend on, this is one of the truths of the universe. And you heard it first from here, whatever we decide we want to do is what we do.” – Morgan Freeman
119. “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.” – Morgan Freeman
120. “Let me be the first to tell you, drinking alcohol is the worst thing to do in cold weather. Hot soup is the best because the process of digesting food helps to warm you up.” – Morgan Freeman
121. “If you’re playing somebody who is not you, then you can imagine that you are that person. You can feel like he feels, move like he moves, look like he looks – in your own mind.” – Morgan Freeman
122. “People say it’s a movie about boxing, but… I don’t agree at all. I don’t think it’s a movie about boxing. Boxing is like a platform. It’s just a stage where this is played out.” – Morgan Freeman
123. “The accident was a horrible thing – but that horrible thing made Chris, at the end of his life, Superman. It’s a happy irony if there is such a thing. I’m proud to have known him.” – Morgan Freeman
124. “Not only do I have to live, right, I have to get some cash for my troubles – it’s a scary thing, and people need to start to think about the messages that they send in the movies.” – Morgan Freeman
125. “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.” – Morgan Freeman
126. “And some places you been before are so great that you don’t ever mind going back. Some places you been before you don’t ever want to go back, you know, like Montreal in the Winter.” – Morgan Freeman
127. “All my life, all my life that I can, as far back as I can remember, I saw my first movie when I was six years old. And since then I wanted to do that. I wanted to be a part of that.”- Morgan Freeman
128. “I don’t remember what my favourite comedy film is – truthfully! I saw Borat and I thought I was not going to be able to get out of the theatre because I was in so much pain from the laughter.” – Morgan Freeman
129. “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 sin to lock them up does rejoice.”- Morgan Freeman
130. “I try to keep my mind active. I’m a solitaire and puzzle addict. I exercise religiously. I don’t do many things religiously and I’ve taken up golf to have something to do when I have nothing to do.” – Morgan Freeman
131. “My parents were working in a hospital in Memphis. But I didn’t live there for any length of time that I remember. The first thing I remember is the town in Mississippi that I live in now, Charleston.” – Morgan Freeman
132. “It can have an enormous effect because big budget movies can have big budget perks, and small budget movies have no perks, but what is the driving force, of course, is the script, and your part in it.” – Morgan Freeman
133. “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. But my grumpiness doesn’t have that much to do with my dissatisfaction with my station in life.” – Morgan Freeman
134. “If you live a life of make-believe, your life isn’t worth anything until you do something that does challenge your reality. And to me, sailing the open ocean is a real challenge, because it’s life or death.” – Morgan Freeman
135. “Was I always going to be here? No I was not. I was going to be homeless at one time, a taxi driver, truck driver, or any kind of job that would get me a crust of bread. You never know what’s going to happen.” – Morgan Freeman
136. “I feel fine, I don’t care who the director is. All you have to do is know what your doing – all of us – everybody in the business – that’s all you ask anyone – you know your job, I know mine, let’s go do it.” – Morgan Freeman
137. “I joined the air force. I took to it immediately when I arrived there. I did three years, eight months, and ten days in all, but it took me a year and a half to get disabused of my romantic notions about it.” – Morgan Freeman
138. “I knew at an early age I wanted to act. Acting was always easy for me. I don’t believe in predestination, but I do believe that once you get where ever it is you are going, that is where you were going to be.” – Morgan Freeman
139. “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. There’s a difference.” – Morgan Freeman
140. “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. It’s like now I can’t believe I had whatever it takes or perceived whatever it took to get here.” – Morgan Freeman
141. “Which lady would I like to meet? Um, I don’t know that there’s anybody left that I didn’t meet. But the one that I really wanted to meet died and that was Princess Diana. I really wanted to get to know her. I like her.” – Morgan Freeman
142. “I know people are saying they like you. I’m not being insulted, or pushed, around or anything. People are coming up because they like me. Nevertheless, I can’t be everybody’s. None of us can. I hate saying no to people.” – Morgan Freeman
143. “I am passionate about what is going on with the oceans, mainly because we are for some idiotic reason, really screwing it up. I mean, we’re really killing the ocean. It’s like putting out the sun. Without it, there is no us.” – Morgan Freeman
144. “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.” – Morgan Freeman
145. “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. And I have this strong belief that whatever we think we can do, whatever we can dream, we can do.” – Morgan Freeman
146. “I’m making a great effort because sometimes, life is not enjoyable. Sometimes it’s painful, and sometimes it’s stressful, sometimes it’s agonizing, even, so I think once you get around those humps, strive for pleasure and peace.” – Morgan Freeman
147. “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. If you’re living in a situation it’s the only situation that you know, and you’ve got to deal with it.” – Morgan Freeman
148. “I do know there are a lot of people who seem to be in my corner, and that’s, of course, wonderful. I’m really more interested in the nomination than in the award, because I think the nomination just puts you within a group of outstanding actors.” – Morgan Freeman
149. “Being blind is as simple as closing your eyes. The blind don’t act any different than you or I. You never see a blind person going around saying, ‘I’m blind.’ So if you want to play blind just close your eyes and keep them closed and fare thee well.” – Morgan Freeman
150. “I’m not a campaigner or a crusader for ending racism, or anything for that matter. I believe you should live your life according to your own tenets. If there are people you don’t like, avoid them. But not liking people based on generalities is stupid.” – Morgan Freeman
151. “There are things that I would like to do, but I make a big distinction between liking to do something and wanting to do something. If there’s something that I want to do, I’ve done it. If there’s something that comes up that I want to do, I will do it.” – Morgan Freeman
152. “Even through my good-looking youth, I wasn’t called on for any romantic parts, which is okay. What I was called on to do, I enjoyed doing. The funny thing about life is that if you live long enough, I think, you’ll get every wish you ever had. It’ll all come true.” – Morgan Freeman
153. “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 someon else. Don’t allow others to control the direction of your life. Don’t allow your emotions to overpower your intelligence.” – Morgan Freeman
154. “Most of the time it’s the role. Sometimes it’s the story and sometimes it just the paycheck. It’s the little movies that come out as stories or the fact that I have work to go out, you know what I’m saying, you can only be out so long without work, you start getting antsy.” – Morgan Freeman
155. “Still, it can be more effective to accomplish what you need to accomplish with the minimum effort. Watch Anthony Hopkins. He doesn’t appear to be doing anything. He is so still that you can’t see him working, but you are drawn into his character through his very stillness.” – Morgan Freeman
156. “If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient?… 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?” – Morgan Freeman
157. “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. Their answers determined whether they were able to enter or not. ‘Have you found joy in your life?’ ‘Has your life brought joy to others?'” – Morgan Freeman
158. “I like the character roles. Somewhere back there I really came to the conclusion in my mind that the difference between acting and stardom was major. And that if you become a star, people are going to go to see you. If you remain an actor, they’re going to go and see the story you’re in.” – Morgan Freeman
159. “Seeing is believing, but is it truth? Depends on your point-of-view. Are you listening, horsemen? When you emerge, and you will, I will be there… waiting. Because mark my words, you will get what’s coming to you… in ways you can’t expect… but very much deserve. Because once thing I believe in is an eye for an eye.” – Morgan Freeman
160. “I can remember when I first got to los Angeles . I didn’t have a car, I didn’t have any money. I was walking the streets, you know, trying to get from place to place on foot almost. Sometimes, you know, you say, how am I ever going to get from here to there? There are a lot of people still having that dream and not being able to get there. So you never know. The idea is to keep on tap dancing, though.” – Morgan Freeman
161. “I never think about awards or anything like that when I do a job. I was first named a best actor when I was 12 years old and it doesn’t really mean anything when you get down to it, because there is no best. I don’t get all that involved. My chest puffs up as much as I can puff it up but I am not trying to be better than the person I am acting with. I am trying to be at least as good. That’s how it works.” – Morgan Freeman

Wrapping Up

The words of wisdom and advice that Morgan Freeman provides are truly remarkable. His insight into acting, life, and the human condition is remarkable. He has shown us how to approach our lives with calmness, strength, and determination. We can all be inspired by his words to achieve more in life and become better people. No matter how complex or difficult the situation may be, we can take solace in knowing that Morgan Freeman has been through it and come out on top. His words of wisdom are a testament to his strength and courage, and serve as an inspiration to us all. Through his words, we can all take a step towards achieving our goals and making the world a better place. Thank you, Morgan Freeman. Thank you for your words of wisdom and inspiration. We are forever grateful.