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" In some sense, when you take a child soldier out of an armed group, you've taken away the identity he or she has had for years, and you can't assume life is just going to return to normal. "
Forest Whitaker
Identity
She
You
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" I try to support stories that enable us to see the difficulties in our society and the challenges we face, which is why I've also produced documentaries like 'Brick City' and 'Serving Life.' "
Forest Whitaker
Challenges
Society
Support
" I was a curious child. I'd debate with anyone who came to the door - people from the Islamic community... Jehovah's Witnesses... anyone. "
Forest Whitaker
Door
Child
Community
" I go back and forth between indie and studio because I feel like it, not because I feel obligated to do one or the other. "
Forest Whitaker
Other
Like
Go
" I want to get better as an actor, to keep trying to work harder, trying to discover something different. In some ways, it's a pretty frightening experience. But normally, I do tend to walk against fear and hope that I'll be able to survive. "
Forest Whitaker
Want
Walk
Work
" Cinema and the arts invite viewers to focus on a story and, in doing so, peel away its layers and peer into the depths of the human soul. "
Forest Whitaker
Cinema
Arts
Story
" It's a contract of connection to be in the same space and watch and listen to stories and be caught in them. When you're in a theater, your brain expands because somebody in the theater may do something or respond to something that you wouldn't have. "
Forest Whitaker
Space
Connection
Brain
" I'd been reading Eastern philosophy since I was a kid. And I meditated. I did it on a daily basis. It's the one thing I do with any consistency. Meditation gives you a different kind of mindset. It's very powerful. "
Forest Whitaker
Daily
Reading
Powerful
" I see a deep connection between peace and change: peace always starts from within, for communities and people alike. The same is true of change: real change starts from within. "
Forest Whitaker
Peace
Change
Connection
" On the whole, I now see my work as being an expression of my spiritual life and, because I look at it that way, I have a different centre. I go through the stress and pressure, but I think I'm lucky because I come from a different source point. "
Forest Whitaker
Spiritual
Work
Think
" I'm inspired to work with good actors, period. I want to work with the best anytime because I think they'll make me better. "
Forest Whitaker
Best
Work
Better
" I can't say I follow it, but I've watched 'Downton Abbey' a couple of times and loved it. "
Forest Whitaker
Watched
Couple
Follow
" My wife, Keisha, came home once, and I had these violinists playing for her, and I'd prepared dinner for her, and I write poems. She's pretty amazing, so I like to celebrate that. She's really taught me how to celebrate life; that's something I've learned. "
Forest Whitaker
Life
Home
Amazing
" The key is that I'm trying to keep growing and trying to keep learning and deepen my connection in every way, in my life, in my work. That's what I do when I look at a role. "
Forest Whitaker
Look
Work
Key
" While it's easy for South Sudan to feel distant, the situation is all too real for the South Sudanese mothers choosing which child gets to eat tomorrow. This is a time when we must look outward together and declare that humanity has no borders - no one deserves to suffer like this, especially in a world of such abundance. "
Forest Whitaker
World
Tomorrow
Together
" I am just back from South Sudan, one of the world's most fragile nations. For years, I have been moved by the kind people who maintain hope that they will live to see peace. My heart has ached for them, as they have endured pain and violence that make such hope feel out of reach. "
Forest Whitaker
Hope
Live
Pain
" I think I've made some choices that maybe I wasn't so sure about for some reason or another. But I'm one of the lucky ones. Even when I was young, I played Bird, and that's a role people wait for their whole lifetime. "
Forest Whitaker
Role
Bird
Wait
" As an actor, I've always wanted to do characters that would help me find my connection with others and connect all of us together. You always want the energy of the character, the spirit of the person, to enter you. I've been doing this for 26 years and some of the things I've done are always with me. "
Forest Whitaker
Help
Character
Energy
" Many of the wars we see around the world start as domestic conflicts that are fueled by external forces and powers. My view is that we can help peace if we help communities transform from the inside, on their own terms. "
Forest Whitaker
Start
World
View
" If there is inequality, and that equates with colour, then I'm going to deal with it. "
Forest Whitaker
Inequality
Going
Colour
" I was asked if I would play President Obama in 'My Name is Khan.' I didn't feel comfortable with doing it. Partly because he was still in office, but mainly because I felt that there were other people who were better suited to doing the role. "
Forest Whitaker
Doing
Play
Feel
" I've been trying to understand conflict and violence ever since I was a kid. You know. There were a few things that happened even on my block - the Black Panthers used to be right around the corner from where we were. "
Forest Whitaker
Violence
Know
Conflict
" I was in middle school right around the time the Bloods and the Crips started taking root in Compton and a lot of the other neighborhoods around me. I saw way too many of my peers - smart, kind, good kids - who got drawn into gangs and violence, and their futures were going to be forever scarred by that. "
Forest Whitaker
Me
School
Smart
" I love to play chess. The last time I was playing, I started to really see the board. I don't mean just seeing a few moves ahead - something else. My game started getting better. It's the patterns. The patterns are universal. "
Forest Whitaker
Better
Love
Time
" The first time I ever went out of the country, it was to London. I was with the choir from my college, and we were touring around all these different churches. I loved it so much I tried to find a way to stay there. "
Forest Whitaker
Country
College
Loved
" If I go to a reunion in east Texas, my mother's side or my father's, one out of ten is a preacher or a teacher. That's just the way it is in my family. "
Forest Whitaker
Texas
Teacher
Mother
" It's all about destiny. That's why people look at the zodiac or the I Ching - because there's a certain order to life, and that order has been lived since the beginning of time. No matter what you do, you're going to live inside of it. "
Forest Whitaker
Look
Destiny
Life
" You try to pull away the experiences until you get to the core of humanity, and you find that light that exists in everybody. It's that light that I'm searching for in all of my work - is that connective thing, that ether that enters all of us - you know what I mean? That's a part of God. "
Forest Whitaker
Work
God
Humanity
" Our leaders must hear us speaking on behalf of our brothers and sisters in South Sudan. If the moral duty to save lives and work toward peace is not compelling enough to drive decision-makers, we must remind them that we care and will hold them accountable. "
Forest Whitaker
Work
Care
Moral
" The Internet is part of our evolution. The mystics used to say, 'We can travel across the planet in a thought.' Now we really can. We can be connected with a million people at a time. "
Forest Whitaker
Internet
Travel
Thought
" I've been fortunate, I guess: I've gotten to play a lot of very diverse roles for quite a long time. But in the beginning, I was thinking, 'I'm not gonna do certain characters. I will be willing to say no and live on a couch.' And I was really happy. "
Forest Whitaker
Live
Happy
Time