Idris Elba is an English actor, writer, producer, musician, DJ, rapper, and singer. He is known for roles including Stringer Bell in the HBO series The Wire, DCI John Luther in the BBC One series Luther, and Nelson Mandela in the biographical film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.
Elba is a rather prolific and versatile actor, featuring in many Hollywood blockbusters such as Hobbs & Shaw, Thor, Training Day and Prometheus. In fact, it’s his versatility and dedication that has made him so successful.
In 2016, he was named in the Time 100 list of the Most Influential People in the World and as of 2019, he is one of the top 20 highest-grossing actors in North America.
Below you’ll find the best Idris Elba quotes on success. I hope they inspire you to follow your dreams.
Best Idris Elba Quotes
1. “Fear nothing. Do what you want to do, but be educated and intelligent and confident about it.” – Idris Elba
2. “My father always told me that a fool at 40 is a fool for life.” – Idris Elba
3. “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
4. “Waking up in truth is so much better than living in a lie.” – Idris Elba
5. “Know what your target is, don’t guess it…if you don’t know what your targets are you’re never going to get there.” – Idris Elba
6. “Don’t just give yourself boundaries!” – Idris Elba
7. “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
8. “I’m never shaken or stirred.” – Idris Elba
9. “When you come from an underprivileged background, oftentimes, you feel a little overwhelmed by your education or your lack of.” – 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. “The other thing I think is important is to keep your head down.” – Idris Elba
12. “It turns out that you make your own luck but you work hard to keep it.” – Idris Elba
13. “Work hard, sleep less.” – Idris Elba (This is one of the Idris Elba quotes I don’t agree with. While you should work hard, you should also make sleep a priority. Instead, reduce the time you waste on social media and watching TV.)
14. “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
15. “That’s the thing about people, they always find ways to surprise you.” – Idris Elba
16. “You won’t know you got to the top until you got there.” – Idris Elba
17. “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
18. “I knew that if I wanted to be all I could be, I would have to go to the US. It took three years to get the accent right.” – Idris Elba
19. “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
20. “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
21. “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 call 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
22. “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
23. “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
24. “The problem with a lot of people is that, if they get rejected by a job they want or a person they like, their self-confidence becomes shattered in an instant because they don’t have an abundance mindset. You see when you have an abundance mindset and you get rejected, it’s okay. Because you tell yourself tomorrow I will find 10 other jobs or I will meet 10 other people. You always have possibilities.” – Idris Elba
Did you like these inspirational quotes?
What are your favorite Idris Elba quotes? Let me know in the comments below and please share this post.
