George Takei quotes

George Takei is an American actor, author, and activist, best known for his role as Hikaru Sulu in the “Star Trek” television series. His career spans acting, voice work, and advocacy for LGBTQ+ and Japanese-American rights. He continues to inspire audiences through his work and social activism. Here are 30 of his quotes:

I'm a civic busybody and I've been blessed with an active career.

George Takei

My memories of camp - I was four years old to eight years old - they're fond memories.

George Takei

Yes, I remember the barbed wire and the guard towers and the machine guns, but they became part of my normal landscape. What would be abnormal in normal times became my normality in camp.

George Takei

He is a clown in blackface sitting on the Supreme Court. He gets me that angry. He doesn't belong there. And for him to say, slaves have dignity. I mean, doesn't he know that slaves were in chains? That they were whipped on the back. If he saw the movie 12 Years as a Slave, you know, they were raped. And he says they had dignity as slaves or- My parents lost everything that they worked for, in the middle of their lives, in their thirties. His business, my father's business, our home, our freedom and we're supposed to call that dignified? Marched out of our homes at gun point. I mean, this man does not belong on the Supreme Court. He is an embarrassment.

George Takei

I've been working with Bill Shatner yea these 40-plus years. He never seems to get it right. I gave him, "It's Takei, as in way." I even said, "as in gay"... I told him, "It's Takei, rhymes with toupee."

George Takei

And it seems to me important for a country, for a nation to certainly know about its glorious achievements but also to know where its ideals failed, in order to keep that from happening again.

George Takei

I spent my boyhood behind the barbed wire fences of American internment camps and that part of my life is something that I wanted to share with more people.

George Takei

STAR TREK is a show that had a vision about a future that was positive.

George Takei

Well, the whole history of Star Trek is the market demand.

George Takei

Plays close, movies wrap and TV series eventually get cancelled, and we were cancelled in three season.

George Takei

I've run the marathon several times, so I definitely don't look like the Great Ancestor!

George Takei

As you know, when Star Trek was canceled after the second season, it was the activism of the fans that revived it for a third season.

George Takei

To do theater you need to block off a hunk of time.

George Takei

You know, I grew up in two American internment camps, and at that time I was very young.

George Takei

Every time we had a hot war going on in Asia, it was difficult for Asian Americans here.

George Takei

It's difficult working with someone who is not a team player.

George Takei

This is supposed to be a participatory democracy and if we're not in there participating then the people that will manipulate and exploit the system will step in there.

George Takei

I love being an actor.

George Takei

We are living in a science fiction world.

George Takei

Happily, the days when overt racial discrimination and segregation were championed by social conservatives are long past.

George Takei

I'm an anglophile. I visit England regularly, sometimes three or four times a year, at least once a year.

George Takei

The so-called "don't say gay" law is premised on the misguided belief that, by not talking about gay people, they can simply make us disappear. I am here to tell Tennessee and all LGBT youth and teachers who would be affected by this law, that I am here for you. In fact, I am lending my name to the cause. Any time you need to say the word "gay", you can simply say "Takei". For example, you could safely proclaim you are a supporter of Takei marriage. If you're in a more festive mood, you can march in a Takei pride parade. Even homophobic slurs don't seem as hurtful if someone says, "That is soooo Takei."

George Takei