Quotes by Richard Pryor

I was an only child.

Marriage is really tough because you have to deal with feelings ... and lawyers.

There's nothing worse than being an aging young person.

I think about dying. I've come to realize we all die alone in one way or another.

I bought my parents a home before they died, and they got to see that I was going to be all right. They always thought I would go someplace.

All humor is rooted in pain.

If I ain't horny, I check to see if my heart's beatin'.

I realized this is what God has dealt me, and I should be thankful considering all that's happened to me in my life, but MS caused the movies to stop -- stop dead -- and I miss it.

It's so much easier for me to talk about my life in front of two thousand people than it is one-to-one. I'm a real defensive person, because if you were sensitive in my neighborhood you were something to eat.

When that fire hit your ass, it will sober your ass up quick! I saw something, I went, Well, that's a pretty blue. You know what? That looks like... FIRE! Fire is inspirational. They should use it in the Olympics, because I ran the 100 in 4.3.

I live in racist America and I'm uneducated, yet a lot of people love me and like what I do, and I can make a living from it. You can't do much better than that.

I had some great things and I had some bad things. The best and the worst ... In other words, I had a life.

He's just always positive. He's always smiling and he's always trying.

I expected Dracula to come jumping out any second. If he did I'd have held up a cross, cause he's allergic to bullshit.

The reason people use a crucifix against vampires is because vampires are allergic to bullshit.

Crosses only scare vampires away because they're allergic to bullshit.

I'm not addicted to cocaine. I just like the way it smells.

I had to stop drinkin, cuz I got tired of waking up in my car driving ninety.

In March I had a minor heart attack while I was vacationing in Australia. it scared me, but it was nothing compared to what someone had in store for me down the road.

I believe in the institution of marriage, and I intend to keep trying till I get it right.

Sure, I have friends, plenty of friends, and they all come around wantin' to borrow money. I've always been generous with my friends and family, with money, but selfish with the important stuff like love.

I see people as the nucleus of a great idea that hasn't come to be yet.

There are only two pieces of pussy you're gonna get in your entire life, that's your first and your last.

To be diagnosed was the hardest thing because I didn't know what they were talking about... And the doctor said, Don't worry, in three months you'll know. So I went about my business and then, one day, it jumped me. I couldn't get up... Your muscles trick you; they did me.

If you want a friend, you don't buy a friend, Eric, you earn a friend through love and trust and respect.

I just don't want to die alone, that's all. That's not too much to ask for, is it It would be nice to have someone care about me, for who I am, not about my wallet.

A lie is profanity. A lie is the worst thing in the world. Art is the ability to tell the truth.

But for the use of physical punishment by, and fear of their oppressors, animals would never be a part of a circus.

What I'm saying might be profane, but it's also profound.

I think about being married again, having a home and a wife. No one can ever be married too many times, and maybe if I keep trying I'll get it right one day.

I love show business. I wake up every morning and kiss it.

Rosa Parks showed us all that one little person can make a whole bunch of noise without so much as a whisper. She showed the world that the color of your skin shouldn't determine what part of the bus you sit in... as you ride through life.

The reason people use a crucifix against vampires is that vampires are allergic to bull shit.

I was given two weeks to walk again, so I hooked up with a trainer, and he... had me walking. I'll never forget that, it was grueling.

A sold-out house my first night back. Do you have any idea what kinda pressure that is? I could have been at home in my warm bed, playing Nintendo.

What I never understand about a hangover is, where does the breath come from? You know what I mean? I mean, is someone shitting in your mouth?

You can't talk about fucking in America, people say you're dirty. But if you talk about killing somebody, that's cool.

I never met anybody who said when they were a kid, I wanna grow up and be a critic.

I was brought up in a whorehouse in Peoria. My mother and father lived there and worked there.

I won't talk about what it was like in prison, except to say I'm glad I'm out and that I plan never to go back and to pay my taxes every day.

If I thought about it, I could be bitter, but I don't feel like being bitter. Being bitter makes you immobile, and there's too much that I still want to do.

I believe in divine forces and energies.

Hawaii is the best form of comfort for me. When I die, I want to be cremated, and I want half my ashes spread in the Pacific around the island, the rest on the property.

I can't just say the words, do a lot of one-liners. I love each person I play; I have to be that person. I have to do him true.

I'm not for integration and I'm not against it.

I don't see myself getting married again, but if I do, it will be forever.

Imagine people calling you to find out if you're dead. I've led a real crazy life at times, and I've had many strange things happen to me, but that was one of the strangest.

Yes, I'm religious. God has shown me things, made certain ways clear to me.

Someone called all the newspapers in New York and told them I'd died. I've been told by almost everyone it was an ex-wife -- I've had a few so it's hard to pinpoint which one -- but who knows for sure?

The black groups that boycott certain films would do better to get the money together to make the films they want to see, or stay in church and leave us to our work.

Movies are movies, and I don't think any of them are going to hurt the moral fiber of America and all that nonsense.

Even when I was a little kid, I always said I would be in the movies one day, and damned if I didn't make it.

I was kicked out of school because of my attitude. I was not assimilating. So I went to work, taking any jobs I could get.

Friends take up time, and I didn't have time.

I was a loner and never hung out with anyone. I never had any friends.

There's a lot more hypocrisy than before. Racism has gone back underground.

I'm for human lib, the liberation of all people, not just black people or female people or gay people.

The way I see it, the earth is going to be here after we're dead and gone. Even if it's a polluted planet, and they messed it up. Where do they go from here -- to another planet so they can mess that up too?

I became a performer because it was what I enjoyed doing.

I went to Zimbabwe. I know how white people feel in America now; relaxed! Cause when I heard the police car I knew they weren't coming after me!

You work your butt off and somebody says you can't have your record played because it offends them. Tyrants are made of such stuff.

I'd like to make you laugh for about ten minutes though I'm gonna be on for an hour.

Marriage is really tough because you have to deal with feelings... and lawyers.

What I am for is justice for everyone, just like it says in the Constitution.

It's been a struggle for me because I had a chance to be white and refused.

When you ain't got no money, you gotta get an attitude.

Everyone carries around his own monsters.

I know that if I wasn't scared, something's wrong, because the thrill is what's scary.

I believe the ability to think is blessed. If you can think about a situation, you can deal with it. The big struggle is to keep your head clear enough to think.

I urge you to ask yourself just how honorable it is to preside over the abuse and suffering of animals.

I ain't no movie star, man. I'm a booty star.

Booty is just a ghetto expression, and I'm just a booty star.

There was a time in my life when I thought I had everything -- millions of dollars, mansions, cars, nice clothes, beautiful women, and every other materialistic thing you can imagine. Now I struggle for peace.

There's a thin line between to laugh with and to laugh at.