Morgan Freeman, 89, Shows What Never Quitting Looks Like as He Vows to Keep Acting: 'Don't Let the Old Man In'

LOS ANGELES — A line about perseverance credited to Morgan Freeman is circulating widely online this week: "The best way to guarantee a loss is to quit." The Academy Award winner's own words this year suggest he lives by that idea.

The quote anchored a lifestyle piece published Thursday by the Spanish sports daily Marca. The article presented it as a lesson in resilience for young people facing a competitive world, and it spread quickly across social media and inspiration pages.

The quote appears on major quotation websites attributed to Freeman. No original interview, speech or published work containing the line could be found, so its exact source is unconfirmed.

What Freeman has said on the record recently makes a similar point about not stopping.

'Don't let the old man in'

In an interview with The New York Times published in August, Freeman, now 89, said he has no interest in retiring.

"I'm like Clint Eastwood on that: Don't let the old man in," Freeman said, according to accounts of the interview. He was referring to a phrase Eastwood has used to describe staying active late in life.

"So, I'll work as long as I can — as long as somebody says, 'Do you want to do this part?'" he said.

He offered a simple view of aging.

"If you can get out of bed and don't fall down when you do it, then you just count your blessings and keep moving," Freeman said.

Asked whether there were roles he still hoped to play, he answered with humor.

"No. I'm pushing 90 now. So, the roles that I wished I had been able to play, Denzel Washington will play," he said.

Freeman also spoke candidly about why he chooses projects. He said pay can matter as much as the material.

"If they're going to pay you enough, then you overlook some of the glitches in the script that happen to be there," he said.

That remark drew wide attention in August. Many fans praised his honesty about the business side of acting.

A late-blooming career

The theme of persistence fits Freeman's own path. Fame came late for him.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1937 and raised partly in Mississippi, Freeman served in the U.S. Air Force before pursuing acting. He spent years in theater and in smaller television and film roles. Many Americans first knew him from the children's public television series "The Electric Company" in the 1970s.

His film breakthrough came at about 50. His role as a violent pimp in the 1987 drama "Street Smart" earned him his first Academy Award nomination.

Over the next two decades, he became one of Hollywood's most recognizable actors and voices. He earned Oscar nominations for "Driving Miss Daisy," "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Invictus." He won best supporting actor for Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby," which won best picture at the 2005 Oscars.

His deep, steady voice has made him one of the most in-demand narrators in entertainment, from documentaries to blockbuster films.

Still working

Freeman has kept a steady schedule well into his 80s.

He plays Secretary of State Edwin Mullins in "Lioness," the Paramount+ spy series from Taylor Sheridan that co-stars Zoe Saldaña. He also returned as Thaddeus Bradley in the magician heist film "Now You See Me: Now You Don't," the latest installment of the franchise.

Few actors his age keep up that pace. Freeman's comments suggest staying busy is part of how he stays healthy and engaged.

Why the message resonates

Marca's article tied the quote to a broader search for purpose. It argued that many people feel their lives lack direction and that resilience and self-reflection can help turn obstacles into progress.

Celebrity quotes about perseverance are a fixture of social media, where short motivational lines attached to well-known names are shared millions of times. Freeman is among the most frequently quoted actors online, partly because his voice and on-screen roles, including God in "Bruce Almighty" and the narrator in "The Shawshank Redemption," carry a sense of authority and calm.

That popularity also means many lines credited to him online have no clear origin. Quotation researchers have long warned that famous names are often attached to sayings they never said, or said in different words.

Still, Freeman's documented remarks this year carry much the same message as the viral quote: keep going.

"Count your blessings and keep moving," he told the Times.

Freeman has also spoken publicly about living with a chronic condition. He has said for years that he has fibromyalgia, a disorder that causes widespread pain, which has limited some physical activities he once enjoyed. He has continued to work through it.

At 89, with a career spanning more than six decades on stage and screen, he shows no sign of slowing down. In his own words, he will keep working as long as someone keeps offering him parts.