From his roles on major blockbusters such as Pacific Rim and The Dark Tower, to some of his smaller roles on shows such as The Wire and Luther; Idris Elba has demonstrated himself to be not only a skilled actor, but a diverse and adaptive one as well. From his rough origins in Northern London, Idris clawed & worked his way to become one of the most recognized actors in Hollywood. At one point he was sleeping in a van working as a doorman. During his journey, Idris Elba has learned a lot about life, success, and sticking to your passion.

Here are some of Idris Elba’s best quotes:

1. “Waking up in truth is so much better than living in a lie.” – Idris Elba

2. “I’m never shaken or stirred.” – Idris Elba

3. “I’m an ambitious person. I never considered myself in competition with anyone, and I’m not saying that from an arrogant standpoint, It’s just that my journey started so, so long ago, and I’m still on it and I won’t stand still.” – Idris Elba

4. “My father always told me that a fool at 40 is a fool for life.” – Idris Elba

5. “I’m rebelling against being handed a career, like, ‘you’re the next this; you’re the next that.’ I’m not the next anything, I’m the first me. I can’t be myself, I can’t just be Idris Elba. But that’s just the nature of the business.” – Idris Elba

6. “I come from an era, in my world, where you just had to define yourself as who you are and what you do.” – Idris Elba

7. “I’m not afraid to fail. I’m not afraid to fall over and make a mistake. That often cripples people on the onset of getting into anything.” – Idris Elba

8. “When you come from an underprivileged background, oftentimes, you feel a little overwhelmed by your education or your lack of.” – Idris Elba

9. “We’re all human beings. Experience is experience, let’s just be honest. Let’s not try and dissect suffering into a race, or whatever you want to calle it. We’re all human beings, one way or another. All races have gone through times that are challenging; that’s part of being a human.” – Idris Elba

10. “I’ve always had ambition, and the acting was successful and put my name on the map, but it was never the plan to stop there.” – Idris Elba

11. “I love working. I’m a workaholic and I’m really privileged for some of the jobs I get offered and so I just want to keep going.” – Idris Elba

12. “Work hard, sleep less.” – Idris Elba

13. “Don’t just give yourself boundaries!” – Idris Elba

14. “I love to talk about nothing. It’s the only thing I know anything about.” – Idris Elba

15. “Look whoever you’re talking to in the eyes. Don’t look away. Two reasons: you can tell whether they are lying. Also, so that they can see whatever you’re saying you mean and you can connect to that person.” – Idris Elba

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16. “You wont know you got to the top until you got there.” – Idris Elba

17. “I’m a veteran of looking at an opportunity and knowing whether it will take me forever or not.” – Idris Elba

18. “That’s the thing about people, they always find ways to surprise you.” – Idris Elba

19. “Yeah, I know, any time you hear an actor say, ‘I do music’, you cringe. But I want to be gradual with my music. I want to earn my stripes.” – Idris Elba

20. “Whether it’s music or acting, that creativity all comes from the same source.” – Idris Elba

21. “My definition of bad-ass is that I’m a force of nature and true spirit. I’m self-admitting that, and it sounds vain to say that, but I am.” – Idris Elba

22. “What really excites me in a project is when it goes in a way you haven’t been before.” – Idris Elba

23. “Fear nothing. Do what you want to do, but be educated and intelligent and confident about it.” – Idris Elba

24. “The other thing I think is important is to keep your head down.” – Idris Elba

25. “I love to play different roles. That’s just the kind of actor I am.” – Idris Elba

26. “There are things that I really find important, and that we need to remind ourselves of. When you think about disability, do you really think about it? Someone who’s got a full-time trainer or a boxer, someone who’s got a major disability, but who doesn’t let that get in his way, that’s a really good message for someone who is able-bodied. It can make them think, ‘wow, I suppose I could be doing better for myself.” – Idris Elba

27. “Know what your target is, don’t guess it…if you don’t know what you’re targets are you’re never going to get there.” – Idris Elba

28. “It turns out that you make your own luck but you work hard to keep it.” – Idris Elba

29. “You get a reputation for answering phones, and all they do is ring.” – Idris Elba

Which quote resonated with you the most? Comment below!