Morgan Freeman turns 79: Inspiring quotes by the 'Shawshank Redemption' and 'The Dark Knight' trilogy actor

Morgan Freeman is a renowned American actor who has won several awards and accolades for his various roles. He was awarded an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2005 for his role in "Million Dollar Baby" (2004). He has also won a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Freeman has appeared in several box office hits, including "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" (1991), "Seven" (1995), "Deep Impact" (1998), "The Sum of All Fears" (2002), "Bruce Almighty" (2003), "The Dark Knight Trilogy" and "The Lego Movie" (2014), and "Lucy" (2014).

Known for his distinctively smooth and deep voice, Freeman currently ranks the third highest in the list of stars with highest box office earnings, with over $4.316 billion total box office gross, an average of $74.4 million per film. As the iconic actor celebrates his 79th birthday today, here are some of his most inspirational quotes:

"Let me be the first to tell you, drinking alcohol is the worst thing to do in cold weather. Hot soup is the best because the process of digesting food helps to warm you up."

"I don't get off on romantic parts. But I often think if I had had my dental work done early on, well, maybe."

"Acting means living, it's all I do and all I'm good at. If I weren't getting paid well, I would still be acting in a small troupe somewhere."

"But I can say that life is good to me. Has been and is good. So I think my task is to be good to it. So how do you be good to life? You live it."

"I'm not intimidated by lead roles. I'm better in them. I don't feel pressure. I feel released at times like that. That's what I'm born to do."

"Most of the time it's the role. Sometimes it's the story and sometimes it just the paycheck. It's the little movies that come out as stories or the fact that I have work to go out, you know what I'm saying, you can only be out so long without work, you start getting antsy."

Source: Brainy Quote