The Measure of a Man - a spiritual autobiography - Sidney Poitier

I don't know a lot about Sidney Poitier. I don't watch a lot of old movies. But somehow I was drawn to this book when I saw it on my friend Simone's shelf.
I read about how Mr Poitier came of age in the America of the 1940's, how he dealt with racism and oppression, how he beat the odds to become a successful actor and helped pave the way for the Denzel Washingtons and Halle Berrys of our day. I have no experience in my life to help me identify with his. But his words spoke to me and made me think and maybe at the end of the day that is all you can ask from a good book.

"So what we do is we stay within the context of what's practical, what's real, what dreams can be fashioned into reality, what valued can send us to bed comfortably and make us courageous enough to face our end with character. ... We're all somewhat courageous, and we're all considerably cowardly. We're all imperfect, and life is simply a perpetual, unending struggle against those imperfections." (p243)

"Why do we spend most or all of our lives searching for blance between the bewildering variety of opposites designed in Nature's nature? ... Ever present is this duality, and ever present is our need to articulate ourselves betwixt the various poles." (p223)

"But when I focus beyond the self, the interference drops away and suddenly I have access to a much grander form of awareness. It includes what I see and what I don't see but know to exist - even what will far outlast me as a physical being. I can begin to sense the connection of it all, and my place within it all, but only by removing myself from the center. ... When I cling to the sefl, I feel neurtoic, alienated, insecure, It's when I let the self go that I can begin to realize how fully a part of this grand scheme I am and will always remain." (p201,202)