You know, T can stand for anything. T stand for working hard. T stand for loving thy neighbor. T stand for feeding the hungry. T stand for just working, working, working, being happy on the set, you know, lifting everybody's spirits. T stands for just a nice guy.
— Mr. T
You pity the fool because you don't want to beat up a fool! You know, pity is between sorry and mercy. See, if you pity him, you know, you won't have to beat him up. So that's why I say fools, you gotta give another chance because they don't know no better. That's why I pity them!
I have been chosen by God Almighty to be one of his messengers.
I have a heart of gold, but I'm really a marshmallow in my heart.
I'm pretty clean, hygienic and all that, but sometimes when I come home, I throw my coat over there, take one shoe off here, one shoe off there, but I'm not dirty.
The blessed of us must save the less of us. I'm blessed, and yeah, I'm planning to go to Heaven.
I don't do Shakespeare. I don't talk in that kind of broken English.
I want people to draw strength from me.
The most violent show on TV is the six o'clock news.
I do watch some TV. I like the History Channel and National Geographic, and old shows on TV Land like 'Sanford and Son,' 'The Jeffersons,' and 'Benson.'
I don't mean to be cocky, but if I'm never on TV again, if I never make another dollar, I am proud. I did what I wanted to do.
Whatever role I play is a positive role; it's a strong role. Never negative.
To the women and children, T stands for tender. To the bad guys and thugs, it stands for tough.
I said I would never wear my gold again because it would be insensitive and disrespectful to all the people who died and lost everything in Katrina.
They used to call me 'Touchdown T.' I remember in high school, we had homecoming, and I got in front of the pep rally, and I told them, 'I'm going to run for three touchdowns.' I ran for three touchdowns, kicked the extra point, and took myself out the game.
You cross me, I'm going to hurt you. But I'm really very gentle.
I go to cancer wards, and I tell them guys, 'I've beaten it. You can, too.'
T stands for being nice. T stands for manners. T stands for being polite.
Really, you don't lose until you stop trying.
When I'm ready to fight, my opponent has a better chance of surviving a forest fire wearing gasoline drawers.
I am tough, but deep inside my toughness, I like to let people know I'm an old-fashioned mama's boy.
One time, this guy was bothering my mother, and me and my brothers had a stern talking with the guy and a little bit of physicality with him. So he disappeared. But I'm not a magician.
We were poor, but we smiled.
I serve God.
I try to use my experience and the fact that I grew up in the ghetto - I tell people you don't have to rob or steal to get out of the ghetto.
To kids, I've always been more than just some big tough black guy. I train to be tough - I box and do karate - but underneath all that toughness is a tender man.
Hmm, on my downtime, I take a shower or listen to the Bible on tape.
If you look at my job, my union card, it says 'actor.' It don't say nothing about celebrity, movie star, nothing like that, and that's one thing that keeps me humble.
I thank God I'm in a position where I can pick and choose - there are some roles I don't play.
See, behind all my tough, rough exterior is basically a marshmallow, maybe a pussycat. But not a wimp!
Life guided me to being a bodyguard, protecting people, then in the movies, so I'm happy with everything because basically all I ever wanted to do was be a good son and take care of my mother.
All I ever wanted out of my life was to buy my mother a house. By 1995, I have achieved all I wanted materially in life.
Everybody loved 'The A-Team' because it was entertainment, pure and simple.
I didn't watch 'The A-Team' movie. I'm an artist. You can't re-paint a Rembrandt. You can't duplicate that; I don't care who you get.
I pull no punches!
I want to represent... to the kids to draw strength from me. So they can see that everybody goes through something, but you can rise up and do your best. Just try.
A lot of the stuff I do in terms of PR, I learned it from Muhammad Ali.
I used to bodyguard for Muhammad Ali, Leon Spinks, Sugar Ray Leonard. I used to bodyguard a lot of diamond merchants; I would travel with a suitcase full of diamonds and take them from point A to point B. My reputation grew because I was a professional. I did my job, and I was courteous - a no-nonsense guy.
Like Frank Sinatra, I'm doing it my way.
It takes a smart man to play dumb.
I believed in God when cancer come to me. Now when I speak, I speak with authority because I've been there.
I go down the street, people see me: 'Hey, I pity-' right on, man, that's a compliment to me.
In 1995, I was diagnosed with cancer, and I had to practice what I preached. I had always said to 'believe in God' and 'don't give up' to little kids who had been diagnosed with cancer. I then thought if I can't call on that same God and same strength that I told people about, I would be a liar and a phony.
I love performing, you know, because, like I say, I'm a ham for this stuff.
I've never seen myself as a star. I never call myself a celebrity or a superstar, whatever.
I could talk all day, T stands for talking, T stands for tender, T stands for things that don't even rhyme with T.
I'm not really an actor, I'm a reactor; I'm a pitchman. That's what I do best. Nobody can do it any better.
I'm proud to be an actor. See, as an actor, you live longer. Football players, the brain and all that stuff, ooh-eee, that's not good.
I am a tough guy.
I hold the door for the ladies - I'm a gent.
