Rita Moreno quotes

Rita Moreno is a Puerto Rican actress, dancer, and singer who achieved groundbreaking success in film, television, and theater. Her illustrious career includes winning all four major American entertainment awards: Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony. She continues to inspire generations as a trailblazer for Latin performers and a passionate advocate for diversity. Here are 25 of her quotes:

This is my idea of heaven, coming home and watching the news.

Rita Moreno

I'm proud of me.

Rita Moreno

I started dancing almost before I could walk.

Rita Moreno

Arrogance - I have very little tolerance for that.

Rita Moreno

I can't dwell on past mistakes.

Rita Moreno

I am a very positive and optimistic person.

Rita Moreno

The reason there weren't any, I am surmising, is that a lot of Latin kids, Latino kids, in those days didn't have the money to take those kind of classes.

Rita Moreno

They made me use an accent, which I wasn't thrilled about because a lot of us, obviously, don't have them.

Rita Moreno

Then there's the story of ill-fated love. It's universal.

Rita Moreno

I am a woman of the moment.

Rita Moreno

Is there a grandmother that isn't spunky on television? Is there such a creature?

Rita Moreno

I feel like I could go on forever.

Rita Moreno

Smell the roses. Smell the coffee. Whatever it is that makes you happy.

Rita Moreno

I live in the moment. The moment is the most important thing. That's my entire philosophy: Make the best of the good moments.

Rita Moreno

It's not easy having a partnership in this business.

Rita Moreno

I think lying is a bad idea. Sooner or later, someone's going to catch you.

Rita Moreno

What I say to my gente [people] is to hang on, and to remember who they are, be proud of who they are, and keep talking. And keep complaining, and just don't ever - don't give up. That's always been my motto anyway. My motto has always been "persevere" - perseverancia. And that's what we need to do.

Rita Moreno

I'm so happy. I'm one of the happiest people I know. I truly am.

Rita Moreno

If you have been traumatised from the time you were a child to believe you were a ‘spic', that you were a garlic-mouth, that you are not worthy, it takes a long time to get rid of that. That's why therapy so often takes so long, because you're trying to get rid of that trash before you can deal with the you that wants to get better. I went into therapy wanting to get better, knowing that in some way I had a sickness. And the sickness was Rita hates Rita.

Rita Moreno

You are perceiving that Rita Moreno I presented to the world. What was I gonna do, say: ‘Really, I'm a weak person'? No, that was the persona. I am now that person, but it took me a very, very long time to become her.

Rita Moreno

He didn't like the raucous side of me and I love that side of me. I think I'm funny as hell and I think I'm cute and I think I'm mischievous. I know I'm mischievous. And that's the kind of thing he discouraged, and that makes me very sad, because he was missing out on something pretty wonderful about me...You know, I think I owe an enormous debt to psychotherapy. Without that, I wouldn't be the Rita you know and love.

Rita Moreno

It never occurred to me when I was 10 years old that I was going to end up representing an entire-not just community, but nationality. That's not something I ever thought of, because I wasn't a political person then. But I was forced to become one because of the circumstances. At some point, I discovered that a lot of people were suffering unnecessarily. I really started to understand that everyone has a responsibility to others and to a community, that you are not the only person in the world you simply represent, whether you like it or not.

Rita Moreno