Octavia Spencer Quotes

You just keep moving forward and doing what you do, and hope that it resonates with people. And if it doesn't, you just keep moving on until you find a project that does.

I think if I weren't so squeamish, I would have been some sort of forensic analyst. And I can't do anything with a microscope, because then I start thinking about the world of germs around us.

I don't think you learn as much about yourself when you are moving forwards as when you have fallen backwards. That's when you really learn who you are. And reach for the things that have propelled you forward and made you a better person.

The way to bring about change is to be proactive and active.

There is one thing about knowing history, and another in recreating it.

I have always been very family-oriented. I came from a dysfunctional, broken family growing up, and it's probably instilled in me the need and the want to have a strong family and a great foundation. So I think that is something that I naturally gravitate toward.

You never write a speech in advance because if you don't get to use it, you'll be heartbroken.

As an actor, I've learned to become a detective. You have to figure out who that person is. If the character is a thief, you have to figure out what makes them a thief. Whatever the prevailing idiosyncrasy is, I have to find it in the script.

You know, bigotry isn't relevant to just the South. It never was. But I'm very grateful that I don't know what it's like from experience.

The one thing that I realize - well, not the one thing, but it was a big thing - having in my head that I need to get healthier. It's been a very gradual process for me.

I can't speak for what other artists should do. I can only tell you how I live.

Because we all come from different circumstances, our life experiences really color how we view things.

I hate to tell people what they should think 'cause I really have an aversion when people tell me what to think.

I have experienced loss in my life, but the thing that brings you back is your faith.

I'm an actor and I am looking for roles where I can continue to evolve, and things that are challenging. I gravitate to the roles, not necessarily television or film. It's just the fact that, for me, the most interesting roles have been in television.

You cannot live to please everyone else. You have to edify, educate and fulfill your own dreams and destiny, and hope that whatever your art is that you're putting out there, if it's received, great, I respect you for receiving it. If it's not received, great, I respect you for not.

Where I'm from, you learned about God before you learned to read and write. Our faith is what grounds us.

Weight issues, race issues will always be there and if you allow them to get to you and you allow them to affect you then yes they affect you. But my thing is I have so many other things to worry about I can't worry about other people's perception of me.

The older you get, you always learn more. Sometimes it's a process of learning about yourself and what your journey is. Sometimes the process moves forward at a rapid pace in a short amount of time - or moves backwards. And you're like, "Man, I thought I had made so much progress, and now all of a sudden, I'm 10 steps further behind than when I started."

My job as an artist is to present the material. My job as a woman is to receive from it what I need.

I don't have one role that I want to play. I guess... I want to be a producer. I want to be an activist. I want to be proactive in bringing about work for men, women, boys, girls, everybody who is good at what they do and deserve a shot at it.

I'm starstruck everyday. The day I'm not starstruck, I'll have to retire.

I'm attracted to things that make me want to be a better person.

It's very seldom that we see the good of the South. There is a perception that Southerners are racists and everyone else in the nation is 'enlightened.' There is racism everywhere, and there is good everywhere.

The first time I saw E.T., the actual image of an alien, and he was so sweet-looking. I wanted him. I wanted E.T.

To be silent is to be passive.

I gotta go home and feed my eels. They're not electric, but I have a plan.

One thing I've learned is be comfortable in your skin, and more importantly, be comfortable in your shoes.

If you go through life and you don't find the beauty in an unexpected place, then you really have a sad existence.

Everything happens when it's supposed to.

Even in my music, I am always searching for big, universal things - ways that you can sort of reach outside the norm of what you are doing.

There are moments where you stop living, if you stop changing, and if you stop seeking growth of some sort.

You can't be from Montgomery, Alabama, and not have a background in the church. It's at the core of who we are as a people.

I want to see more women as producers.

What's not fair is having the responsibility of a supervisor but not the title or the pay.

You have to create your own path and I'm up to the challenge.

I think it's actually a misperception that I am a comedic actress. I do more drama than comedy but very little of it has been seen. When you are in big funny movies and they do well and your little part in it kind of explodes people perceive you as a comedian.

I just know that the one thing that we all have in common is challenges. No one lives a challenge free life.

I don't think that moms, with all that's going on in our society today, would want to put their kids in front of something that will be disheartening rather than uplifting.

I choose projects that resonate with me on some personal level and projects that I'm afraid to do. If I'm afraid to do them, then I usually say yes, because it means that I'm not ready to go there and deal with certain aspects of the script.

As you make your way along life's tumultuous highways, it's important to note that you should always carry a map, have plenty of fuel in the tank, and take frequent rest stops.