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Tavis Smiley Quotes

Talk show host

Tavis Smiley is an American talk show host, author, and radio host, born on September 13, 1964. He has been a prominent figure in the media industry for over two decades, known for his engaging interviews and thought-provoking discussions on a wide range of topics, including politics, social issues, and culture.

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Famous Tavis Smiley Quotes

“True democracy focuses on the public interest; it defends the common good and protects its citizens - especially the weak and the vulnerable. We maintain that no democracy can survive without the powerful notions of compassion and public service. The level of wealth inequality in this country has gotten so far out of hand, the quantity of compassion so diminished, that the very future of democracy is at stake." ― & Cornel West”

Compassion Democracy Inequality Common Good Public Interest

Book:The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto

Source: The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto

“Jamestown changed the world in many ways, but perhaps it shaped our nation most profoundly the day Africans arrived. I can't think of a more relevant place to talk about the issues facing our community today than the place where African culture became American culture.”

Thinking World Way I Can Today Culture Nations Community Issues Changed Relevant American Culture Our Community African Culture Jamestown

Author:Tavis Smiley

“My personal assessment is that Dr. King is the greatest American we have ever produced. I can argue for Lincoln, I can argue for FDR, but for my money, King is the greatest American we have ever produced. His only weapon was love. He transforms a nation, transforms the world with one weapon and that of course being again the weapon of love. So that for me, King is the quintessential example of everything that I could ever want to be in my lifetime.”

World Want I Can Courses Nations Example Kings Weapons Lifetime Arguing Drs Assessment Smiley Quintessential

Author:Tavis Smiley

“This is not a skill problem, this is a will problem. Does America have the will to make education a priority? We know the things that work. Why don't we scale up those things that do work.”

Knows Doe Problem America Skills Priorities Scales

Author:Tavis Smiley

“Poverty and wealth inequality are a form of instability into the future.”

Form Wealth Poverty Inequality Instability Wealth Inequality

Author:Tavis Smiley

“Live just because or live your life for a cause”

Causes Live Your Life

Author:Tavis Smiley

“I'm very musically curious and I love new experience. I'm an adventurer. Some people want to sort of stay in a safe zone and repeat the same things and give them more depth, and I want to do new things all the time”

People Want Giving Safe Depth Curious Repeats Zone New Things New Experiences Adventurer

Author:Tavis Smiley

“Competition's always been a product of American lifestyle”

Products Competition Lifestyle

Author:Tavis Smiley

“Losing teaches you something”

Author:Tavis Smiley

“Having to try and going through the trials and tribulations to actually overcome, to get there to win, to triumph, that's what makes life interesting”

Trying Winning Interesting Overcoming Trials Triumph Tribulation Trials And Tribulations

Author:Tavis Smiley

“My acting gives me my self-worth”

Giving Self Acting Give Me Self Worth My Self Worth

Author:Tavis Smiley

“I wanted to be a theater actress, and initially, I wanted to work in musical theater”

Wanted Theater Musical Actresses Musical Theater

Author:Tavis Smiley

“I think a lot of people who go to drama school have this ease with the text and they all have five monologues that they know by heart, and I never had that. I've done Chekov and I've done Moliere and I've done classic stuff”

People Thinking Knows Heart Done School Stuff Five Drama Ease Classic Monologues

Author:Tavis Smiley

“I fear that we are living in a society, living in a world where forgiving people is becoming more and more difficult to do.”

People World Difficult Becoming Forgiving Becoming More Forgiving People

Author:Tavis Smiley

“I just find in our world that forgiveness is becoming more and more a difficult thing for us to do.”

World Difficult Becoming Our World Difficult Things Becoming More

Author:Tavis Smiley

“Fear, fear, breeds hopelessness. When you're afraid, you don't know what to believe in, you don't know what to hold on to. You're struggling to find something to believe in.”

Knows Believe Struggle Believe In You Hopelessness

Author:Tavis Smiley

“Troubled times do call for troubled songs, songs that unsettle our souls and our spirits unapologetically.”

Soul Spirit Song Troubled Times

Author:Tavis Smiley

“Regardless of your race, religion or political affiliation, never hesitate to question those in authority.”

Political Race Authority Affiliation

Author:Tavis Smiley

“There are enough bad films coming out of this town already without the process being more democratized. I'm a guy who loves democracy. I'm all for democratizing any process, but I think there is a price to pay for that.”

Thinking Enough Film Guy Process Pay Democracy Towns Coming Out

Author:Tavis Smiley

“[In a blogosphere] everybody has an opinion now, but I don't really freaking care about - all opinions ain't created equal, because everybody can go out there and express themselves and hide behind some character we don't know who you really are, a bunch of cowards.”

Knows Character Care Behinds Opinion Equal Bunch Coward

Author:Tavis Smiley

“Sometimes rejection in life is really redirection.”

Sometimes Life Is Rejection Redirection

Author:Tavis Smiley

“I think, for most of us is that once you get to a certain place in your career you're not having to elbow and knock people around and audition for parts.”

People Thinking Certain Careers Auditions Elbows

Author:Tavis Smiley

“I think when I stop fighting, I die in a sense.”

Thinking Dies Fighting

Author:Tavis Smiley

“I love the fight. I don't - it's not a negative, it's a positive, and I love the challenge. There's that little part of me that I love proving someone wrong in that way when they have an image of me or something, or they think they have me figured out or they think I'm a certain way.”

Thinking Way Littles Certain Fighting Challenges Prove Negative

Author:Tavis Smiley

“When I'm at the premiere and I see the film in its entirety, I forget plot, I forget the story, I forget what my character goes through, because I really do just let it go.”

Character Stories Film Forget Plot Let It Go Entirety Premieres Just Let It Go

Author:Tavis Smiley

“For me, like when you've put yourself out there emotionally, physically, and you've really put yourself on the line, for me, that means I've really done something.”

Mean Done Lines Putting Yourself Out There

Author:Tavis Smiley

“I learned early on that it's heartbreaking to - there's the editor that comes in, and then they have to craft the movie together, and sometimes you give a whole performance that's just been cut up, and maybe it's better for it, absolutely, but you still have to deal with the loss of that.”

Giving Stills Sometimes Whole Together Loss Deals Cutting Performances Crafts Editors Heartbreaking

Author:Tavis Smiley

“I feel like I've been successful after being done with the film is when I see it, if I'm embarrassed, if I'm slightly mortified, and if I feel super-vulnerable, I think I did something.”

Ifs Thinking Feels Done Film Successful Vulnerable Embarrassed Being Done

Author:Tavis Smiley

“I grew. Going outside my comfort zone is a big one for me.”

Bigs Grew Comfort Zone Comfort Zone One For Me

Author:Tavis Smiley

“It's hard these days to have a conversation, at least it is for me, about [Truman]Capote without "Good Night, and Good Luck" coming up in the same conversation.”

Hard Night Conversation Luck These Days Good Luck Good Night Truman Good Night And Good Luck

Author:Tavis Smiley

“We think of - there are too many wars, of course, in the world as we speak, but my read on this suggests to me that water is going to be the resource into the future that we're really - that countries, nations, are going to be fighting for control over.”

Thinking World War Country Fighting Courses Speak Nations Water Resources

Author:Tavis Smiley

“We're all cracked vessels, and we're always in process, I think, every one of us.”

Thinking Process Vessel Cracked

Author:Tavis Smiley

“I can't count the number of people I've talked to over the course of my career who have said to me that the thing that they most regret is the one time they did something just for the money.”

People Said I Can Courses Numbers Careers Regret One Time

Author:Tavis Smiley

“I think that what started out as a European Union originally was probably a really wonderful and world-changing idea, the idea of a kind of cooperation and interdependence between countries. But the idea that individualization would work on common ground, not on conflict, not against each other, but to find how each benefitted from the other I thought was an incredibly hopeful and positive possibility.”

Thinking World Kind Ideas Country Common Wonderful Possibility Conflict Unions Hopeful Cooperation European Union Interdependence Common Ground Individualization

Author:Tavis Smiley

“I think the issue of women's choice is essential for a woman being able to have their lives - if they cannot control their own bodies by choosing if or when to have a child, then they cannot control their working life or anything around them.”

Ifs Thinking Children Body Able Choices Issues Essentials Working Life

Author:Tavis Smiley

“If you don't have courage, you can't practice any of the other virtues.”

Ifs Practice Virtue Have Courage Acorns Oak Tree

Author:Tavis Smiley

“I use the phrase "fellow citizen" all the time when referring to the - people always say, "The American people, the American people." I prefer the phrase fellow citizen because there's a power in that, there's a responsibility, there's a duty in using that phrase fellow citizen.”

People Use Responsibility Duty Citizens Fellows Phrases Referring

Author:Tavis Smiley

“I'm talking about France and Germany and Italy and Spain - new friend Germany - and I love that story, how they lead the world in some things that the world needs leadership in. Amongst them we're the only ones without national healthcare. Can't go to a hospital and not worry about falling into bankruptcy. They go to university free. We're killing our students with debt. That scares me.”

World Needs Stories Fall Talking Worry Students Killing University Debt France Germany Hospitals Scare Healthcare Spain Bankruptcy New Friends

Author:Tavis Smiley

“I love my cross-sectioned, cross-cultural audience. Some of them are doing better than the average guy, but my audience has always been people who are struggling to stay in the middle class.”

People Guy Class Audience Struggle Middle Crosses Average Middle Class

Author:Tavis Smiley

“Struggling to stay in the middle class, and I love that. That's me and my dad and my family.”

Class Struggle Middle Dad My Family My Dad Middle Class

Author:Tavis Smiley

“Music is the soundtrack of our lives, it's essential for our lives.”

Our Lives Essentials Music Is Soundtracks

Author:Tavis Smiley

“John Carlos provided the world with one of the most iconic images of the 1960s with his Black Power salute after a medal-winning performance at the 1968 summer games.”

World Games Winning Black Summer Performances Medal 1960s Iconic Salute Black Power

Author:Tavis Smiley

“[John Carlos] has spent much of his life since that time as a dedicated human rights advocate and public speaker, and he is out now with a wonderful new text; a memoir, in fact.”

Humans Facts Rights Wonderful Human Rights Memoir Dedicated Speakers

Author:Tavis Smiley

“He was a humanist then, he's a humanist now, and to my mind John Carlos is an authentic American hero.”

Mind Hero Humanist American Hero

Author:Tavis Smiley

“Every community has a Martin Luther King Boulevard. It's the cornerstone we all know. It's not just a street or boulevard, but a place where Walmart stands together with your community to make every day better.”

Knows Together Community Streets Kings Luther Cornerstones Boulevard Walmart

Author:Tavis Smiley

“We come to know who we really are in life during the dark and difficult and desolate days of our journey.”

Knows Difficult Dark Journey Desolate

Author:Tavis Smiley

“Even in the era of the first black president, racism is still the most intractable issue in USA. Regarding poverty, half of all Americans are either in or near poverty. Poverty is certainly worse for African-Americans now than it was during King's lifetime.”

Firsts Stills Black President Half Poverty Issues Kings Racism Lifetime African American Eras Usa

Author:Tavis Smiley

“Loving your enemy is a radical concept.”

Enemy Concepts Radical Loving You Loving Your Enemies

Author:Tavis Smiley

“Democrats, too often, take blacks for granted, and Republicans, too often, simply ignore black voters.”

Black Republican Democrat Granted Voters

Author:Tavis Smiley

“We need to elect leaders who understand that leadership is about loving and serving people, not about self-advancement.”

People Needs Self Leader Serving Advancement

Author:Tavis Smiley

About the Author

Born: September 13, 1964
Known for: Talk show host
Quotes: 85

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Fail Up: 20 Lessons on Building Success from FailureRelated source material

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