Edward James Olmos Quotes

Had I done the movies that were offered to me in my prime, at the height of my career, I would have been alongside the likes of Denzel Washington. But, I chose not to do those movies.

Our inability to relate to one another is very, very, very important. When we don’t have it, we get situations like Bosnia.

I think in Vice and American Me I played very silent, rigid characters and people remember them.

‘Stand and Deliver’ has been the most successful thing I have done in my life. So many people have seen it. There was really no need for me to do anything else.

There are nuclear weapons in China, Iran, Korea and Pakistan. It wouldn’t take much to send a couple of warheads off on this planet somewhere that would cause a lot of environmental damage, then if you have got someone who wants to retaliate you have real problems.

Yeah, the New York Times is very intellectual and very, very prestigious, but it doesn’t reach the market that People magazine does.

I want to show how strong I am from my roots.

And, granted, for a long time, the European has been dominant in certain parts of this Western Hemisphere, but by the end of the 21st century, it’s over.

I’m not prepared for holding office any more than I think Arnold is.

When you’re asked to fly a 747 you better at least be able to fly a Piper cub.

Education is the key. But it’s the kind of education that we teach that is the key. We don’t have it.

Success is a matter of one’s own feeling about oneself.

Right now, the Anglo people are desperately trying to hold on to the United States, like they tried to hold on to Africa.

You know, Hillary Clinton gives of herself. Princess Diana gave of herself. But they are not saints.

Chiapas is probably the main concern I have right now for the planet.

Because people of color will definitely, definitely become the power base in the Western Hemisphere.

There is no way that we know what is going on between the African American and the Asian American. We don’t understand what an Indigenous American is. We don’t understand what a Latino American is.

A saint is a person who gives of themself without asking for anything in return. That’s how simple it is to be a saint. Try it! Try being a saint.

You get more churches burned down in the United States in the last two years than in the last hundred, because of the lack of understanding of culture and diversity and the beauty of it.

At the rate we’re going, the 21st century looks pretty clear. It’s going to be pretty violent.

I learned to discipline myself to do things I didn’t want to do.

We don’t have as much prejudice as we did 40 years ago, but today it is more educated.

I support the indigenous people anywhere in the planet.

Education is a vacine for violence.

Now I also discipline myself to do things I love to do when I don’t want to do them.

Education is the vaccine for violence.

I’m always pleased when people respond to the work.

And I’ve been acting for 39 years, so I define characters differently than I did in say Miami Vice.

The older you get the more you understand what you’re doing.

I love to drive. It’s one of the most pleasurable things to me.