Gordon Parks Quotes

I saw that the camera could be a weapon against poverty, against racism, against all sorts of social wrongs. I knew at that point I had to have a camera.

I feel it is the heart, not the eye, that should determine the content of the photograph. What the eye sees is its own. What the heart can perceive is a very different matter.

The guy who takes a chance, who walks the line between the known and unknown, who is unafraid of failure, will succeed.

I picked up a camera because it was my choice of weapons against what I hated most about the universe: racism, intolerance, poverty. I could have just as easily picked up a knife or a gun, like many of my childhood friends did... most of whom were murdered or put in prison... but I chose not to go that way. I felt that I could somehow subdue these evils by doing something beautiful that people recognize me by, and thus make a whole different life for myself, which has proved to be so.

I picked up a camera because it was my choice of weapons against what I hated most about the universe: racism, intolerance, poverty.

The subject matter is so much more important than the photographer.

Enthusiasm is the electricity of life. How do you get it? You act enthusiastic until you make it a habit.

Nothing came easy. I was just born with a need to explore every part of my mind. And with long searching and hard work, I became devoted to my restlessness.

If you don't have anything to say, your photographs aren't going to say much.

Think in terms of images and words. They can be mighty powerful when they are fitted together properly.

You have a 45mm automatic pistol on your lap, and I have a 35mm camera on my lap, and my weapon is just as powerful as yours. (To Black Panther militant Eldridge Cleaver)

I think most people can do a whole lot more if they just try.

I suffered first as a child from discrimination, poverty ... So I think it was a natural follow from that that I should use my camera to speak for people who are unable to speak for themselves.

Enthusiasm is the electricity of life. How do you get it? You act enthusiastic until you make it a habit. Enthusiasm is natural; it is being alive, taking the initiative, seeing the importance of what you do, giving it dignity and making what you do important to yourself and to others.

I've known both misery and happiness, lived in so many different skins it is impossible for one skin to claim me. And I have felt like a wayfarer on an alien planet at times - walking, running, wondering about what brought me to this particular place, and why. But once I was here the dreams started moving in, and I went about devouring them as they devoured me.

At first I wasn't sure that I had the talent, but I did know I had a fear of failure, and that fear compelled me to fight off anything that might abet it.

And now, I feel at 85, I really feel that I'm just ready to start.

You know, the camera is not meant just to show misery. You can show things that you like about the universe, things that you hate about the universe. It's capable of doing both.

I've been asked if I think there will ever come a time when all people come together. I would like to think there will. All we can do is hope and dream and work toward that end. And that's what I've tried to do all my life.

The camera could be a very powerful instrument against discrimination, against poverty, against racism.

If a man can reach the latter days of his life with his soul intact, he has mastered life.

Enthusiasm is the electricity of life

I have never known anyone important enough to consume me in anger beyond a few hours. Better to depart their existence before they poison your own.

Many times I wondered whether my achievement was worth the loneliness I experienced, but now I realize the price was small.

Photography was my choice of weapons.