I look at the world and I find the funny in it, because there's funny in everything. No matter how ugly it may be, there's a funny way to look at it.Collection: Funny
I respect everybody. You don't have to earn my respect. You earn my disrespect.Collection: Respect
When you don't have money, you fall under the influence of anybody who has the appearance of having it.
If you can't laugh at yourself, you don't deserve to laugh at anybody else.
If you want to laugh, see a comedy. If you want to cry, see a drama, and if you want suspense, see a thriller.
In the Navy, you're around a lot of people from different parts of the country. They've got different accents, different upbringings. I learned to love country-western music.
I don't have beef with anyone, only martians.
There's a lot of racism when I was in the Navy, and I had to deal with that.
I don't hang out with soft cats.
I have a very good talent at finding out exactly what it is about yourself that you don't like and then keep bringing it up.
I like to tease people. I hate when people do it to me, though.
When I was nine, my father passed away. It's one thing when you're a kid and your father wasn't there for you. My father was there, and then he was taken away.
Gangs are formed by kids who want love.
As far as stand-up comedy, I got into the business later than most, yeah.
Prior to the 'Chappelle's Show,' you know, no one would even listen to me, in the frame of, 'Oh, he is trying to be funny.'
When I was nine years old, I was in a movie called, 'Landlord' with Pearl Bailey, Lou Gossett, and Beau Bridges.
If you don't know things, you know, you just go by your instinct.
My whole life is a funny moment, man.
I was into basketball, football, karate, boxing.
I would say I was an all-American teenager.
When you're in the military, you get accustomed to sleep deprivation.
I've never felt like I was living in anyone's shadow. My life was what it was.
I was always proud of my brother. He helped me tremendously, but we're family, so we were never in his shadow.
When I first started doing comedy, I was 42 years old, and I was the brother of one of the most celebrated comics in history who made his name in the game 20 years earlier.
I've always had the luck or blessing that someone would say, 'I liked what you did in that movie. I'd like you to be in my movie.'
In the military, the reason you take the right path is they eliminate other choices. I needed that. They set me straight.
As the older brother, I was expected to make sure no one messed with Eddie when he went to the park. He didn't have to deal with anyone saying, 'I'll get you after school.'
If I look at my family tree and follow every generation before us, going all the way back to the slaves, then Eddie Murphy is the highest achievement as far as my bloodline is concerned. How could you be jealous? You can only be proud, unless you got some serious issues.
I went into the military because I wanted to get an education, not because I wanted to fight anybody.
I don't think there's a person in the industry that wouldn't love to work with Dave Chappelle. That's a no-brainer.
Charlie Murphy has been around for a long time. I've worked with a lot of exciting artists, and it was a thrill to be around to watch them display their skills.
Everything was a lot more challenging for me because of who my brother was. If I were in the film, someone would had said that I got the part because Eddie's in the film. If I wrote a script, folks would say that I didn't really write that: that Eddie did and I threw my name on it.
I never went around saying who my brother was. Everybody else was doing that.
Don't take life for granted.
Don't take people for granted.
Several of my uncles are comedians. My father is a comedian; my grandfather was known for his jokes. It definitely runs in the family.
I think I have had a remarkable and colorful life, so I decided to share it.
What I'm pretty much giving you when you see me onstage is me; it's not a fake character.
I wake up every morning, and I am ecstatic.
While I have been to Switzerland, Stockholm, and other parts of Europe and Canada, I don't have a specific place that is my favorite. I just represent Earth.
I feel blessed to be able to do my stand up comedy all over the world, because some people never even leave New York.
'Chappelle's Show' was like the Tupac of TV shows. It came out, it got everybody's attention, it was a bright shining star, but it burned out, and for some strange reason, it burned out quick.
Richard Pryor - he had stories, he had characters, he had short jokes, and he had bits. He had all those things. Eddie Murphy has all those things, and he can sing. A comedian is a bunch of stuff; it's not just one area.
You have comedians who just do jokes, and they're called comics, not comedians. You have comedians that do bits - a person that has a lot of jokes that have a beginning, a middle and an end, but it's not a real story. And you have someone that does great stories, the one that blends those things together - that person is doing comedy.
Comedy has bits, has jokes, has stories, and it has characters.
I may make you angry or make you feel sorry for me, but in the end, you appreciate my show because it's not one-dimensional.
One thing helps the other. My stand-up helps my writing; my writing helps my stand-up; my stand-up helps my acting. They're all interlocked.
When I first started, it was a dare. Someone basically said, 'You're a tough guy... but I'll bet you won't get on a microphone in front of a bunch of people.' I was terrified, but I did it. Once I broke the ice and got onstage and got some laughs, I thought, 'That's not so bad.'
I guess I must have a good metabolism.
If you can't eat incredible food, then what's the point?