My father was the quintessential husband and dad.
Sidney PoitierRead
My father was a certain kind of man - I saw how he treated my mother and his family and how he treated strangers. And I vowed I would never make a film that would not reflect properly on my father's name.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the influence of family values on personal integrity and responsibility in one's work.
Sidney Poitier emphasizes the profound impact that his father's character and treatment of family and strangers had on him. By vowing to reflect his father's values in his film work, he acknowledges the importance of integrity and respect in both personal and professional life, showcasing how family influence shapes one's identity and aspirations.
In practice
In a speech about values and work ethic, this quote could illustrate the importance of family influence.
My father was the quintessential husband and dad.
I wanted to explore the values that are at work, underpinning my life.
We suffer pain, we hang tight to hope, we nurture expectations, we are plagued occasionally by fears, we are haunted by defeats and unrealized hopes . . . The hoplessness of which I speak is not limited.
We're all imperfect, and life is simply a perpetual, unending struggle against those imperfections.
I was the only Black person on the set. It was unusual for me to be in a circumstance in which every move I made was tantamount to representation of 18 million people.
Okay listen, you think I'm so inconsequential? Then try this on for size. All those who see unworthiness when they look at me and are given thereby to denying me value - to you I say, I'm not talking about being AS GOOD as you. I hereby declare myself BETTER than you.
When we're dealing with the people in our family - no matter how annoying or gross they may be, no matter how self-inflicted their suffering may appear, no matter how afflicted they are with ignorance, prejudice or nose hairs - we give from the deepest parts of ourselves.
The first duty to children is to make them happy. If you have not made them so, you have wronged them. No other good they may get can make up for that.
I came into this environment where there was so much love, so much positive energy. I never heard my parents say, 'We have adopted kids.' The minute my sister Linda and I landed in Sweden, we were their kids.
I am the product of the sustained indignation of a branded grandfather, the militant protest of my grandmother, the disciplined resentment of my father and mother, and the power of the mass action of the church.
A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society.
I'm serious when I do my work. I'm not serious when I'm home with my kids.
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