Denzel Washington, the greatest actor of his generation, won the NAACP Image award for Best Actor last night for his role in Fences, and he gave a speech to remind us of why he is Denzel Washington and the rest of us are not. We are mere mortals. Denzel is a demi-god.

Sure, Denzel was blessed with divine talents, but as Denzel tells it, it takes more than talent to succeed. It takes commitment, you candy asses. But more than that, it takes consistency. You wake up. You put in the hours. You fail. You wake up again, you put in more hours, and you fail again. But you keep doing that long enough, and success may just find you. Denzel did not just roll out of bed and win an Oscar for Glory. He did four TV movies, six years on a television series, and a few more forgotten films before he won that Oscar.

You want to know what it takes to succeed? Listen to Denzel, and then maybe — maybe — you might get to play the forgotten co-lead in a Denzel movie one day.

"Without commitment, you'll never start. But without consistency, you'll never finish." - Denzel Washington at the #ImageAwards pic.twitter.com/bPQQeJDCT2

— Philip Lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) February 12, 2017

Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba. You may email him here, follow him on Twitter, or listen to his weekly TV podcast, Podjiba.

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