Dave Chappelle's Quotes

Something about New York, man: You can do more comedy there probably than you can anywhere in the world. If you're interested in being funny, New York is the place to go.

Because I was surrounded by so much negativity at some point that it took me going back and doing stand-up to realize, you know, people really like me.

I felt in a lot of instances I was deliberately being put through stress because when you're a guy who generates money, people have a vested interested in controlling you.

I just always loved stand-up. It's like magic. You say something, and a whole room full of people laughs together. Say something else, they laugh again. The fact that people come to see that and participate in that... I don't know, it's just like magic.

Most of the people around me have a vested interest in how much money I make. You know, so a celebrity could find themselves in a position where people could have meetings about their life without them involved. And when I say 'their life' I mean not their professional life either. They could talk about their personal life.

There's a lot of people who don't want anything from me but to laugh and have a good time. You see them at the show and they like - they dress up to come see your show and stuff. And they pack these auditoriums and it's a lot of fun, man. It's like, this is how I started, and it's still fun for me.

You know you must be doing something right if old people like you.

The hardest thing to do is to be true to yourself, especially when everybody is watching.

I don't normally talk about my religion publicly because I don't want people to associate me and my flaws with this beautiful thing. And I believe it is beautiful if you learn it the right way.

You know, be able to do something great in your life, you're gonna have to realize your failures. You're gonna have to embrace them and figure out how to overcome it.

I think every group of black guys should have at least one white guy in it.

I'm cool with failing so long as I know that there are people around me that love me unconditionally.

I love Ohio.

I think extreme sports are really good for relieving stress.

People don't know what it's like standing up there onstage, when you have a wall of people smiling at you.

I enjoy my own thoughts sometimes.

If I can make a teacher's salary doing comedy, I think that's better than being a teacher.

The worst thing to call somebody is crazy. It's dismissive.

Comedy is a very approval-oriented field.

I got real important relationships in my life that are very empowering relationships.

I love my jokes.

I'm famous today. People like me today. Might not like me tomorrow. You can't count on it.

My father told me 'Name your price in the beginning. If it ever gets more expensive than the price you name, get out of there.'

You got to be careful of the company you keep.

I want to tell my jokes. I want to have time with my children. I want to entertain people. And at one point, I'll walk away from show business. But I don't want to walk away empty-handed.

After a while, a joke, if you say it too much, just becomes contrived, or fake-sounding.

America, I appreciate you liking me.

Being famous is great, it's not like bad or horrible or anything.

Everyone around me says, You're a genius! You're great! That's your voice! But I'm not sure if they're right.

Fame for me is like a place, a country I'm taking a tour through.

I care about the work I do. But I'm not going to say that money's not an issue.