I support anyone's right to be who they want to be. My question is: to what extent do I have to participate in your self-image?
Dave ChappelleThey do what they do for money - that's all. I don't even know why you're listening to me. I've done commercials for both Coke and Pepsi. Truth is, I can't even taste the difference, but Pepsi paid me last, so there it is.
Dave ChappelleI'm cool with failing so long as I know that there are people around me that love me unconditionally.
Dave ChappelleSomething 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.
Dave ChappelleI just like seeing people. I just like meeting people. I like finding out new walks of life and new ideas.
Dave ChappelleMost 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.
Dave ChappelleYou 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.
Dave ChappelleThe mark of greatness is when everything before you is obsolete, and everything after you bears your mark.
Dave ChappelleI always take a relationship to the next level. If that works out, I take it to the next level after that, until I finally reach that level when it becomes absolutely necessary for me to leave.
Dave ChappelleEveryone who wants to make it in comedy goes to L.A., so a million comedians fight for time on three stages. If you get in there in New York, you're working eight times a night sometimes. Who's going to be funny, the guy who works once a week, or the guy working eight times a night?
Dave ChappelleA celebrity, whatever I am, you get cut off sometimes from people just by circumstance.
Dave ChappelleI 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 religion if you learn it the right way.
Dave ChappelleI don't want anything bad to happen to the United States, but if North Korea ever drops a nuclear bomb on this country, I swear to God, I hope it lands in Hartford.
Dave ChappelleJerry Seinfeld, he was doing Letterman show all the time, so he kind of had an excuse, that people know the jokes already. He didn't have time to do stand-up. A guy like me, I have no excuses.
Dave ChappelleMy father told me 'Name your price in the beginning. If it ever gets more expensive than the price you name, get out of there.'
Dave ChappelleComedians by and large are some of the most sensitive people on earth. Even if they're socially callous.
Dave ChappelleYou've got to say 'yes' to your destiny. Life's happening right now, look around you. There goes some life. Come on, Mamma, live!
Dave ChappelleThings like racism are institutionalized. You might not know any bigots. You feel like "well I don't hate black people so I'm not a racist," but you benefit from racism. Just by the merit, the color of your skin. The opportunities that you have, you're privileged in ways that you might not even realize because you haven't been deprived of certain things. We need to talk about these things in order for them to change.
Dave ChappelleEvery black American is bilingual. All of them. We speak street vernacular and we speak 'job interview.'
Dave ChappelleWhy is Dave Chappelle going to Africa? Why does Mariah Carey make a hundred-million dollar deal and take her clothes off on TRL? A weak person can not get here and talk to you. Ain't no weak people talking to you. So what is happening in Hollywood? Nobody knows! The worst thing to call somebody is crazy. It's dismissive. I don't understand this person, so they're crazy. That's bullshit. These people are not crazy, they're strong people. Maybe the environment is a little sick.
Dave ChappelleAt the time, I was reading this Miles Davis book, and he was talking about coming to New York right after he was in high school. It kind of made me feel like, "Yeah." I didn't want to go to college; I wanted to do stand-up. And I figured, "What's the point of doing stand-up around DC? I'm always going to be under-appreciated there because I started there." I felt like I was strong enough and unique enough that I should give it a big leash to shine. New York was the best thing that ever happened to me as a comedian.
Dave ChappelleIf you don't have the right people around you and you're moving at a million miles an hour you can lose yourself.
Dave ChappelleI was 23. When you're 23, your concern is not for the greater good of humanity. I didn't feel like I was unleashing an evil on society or anything. At the time, that's what I was into, and I did a movie about it.
Dave ChappelleThe hardest thing to do is to be true to yourself, especially when everybody is watching.
Dave ChappelleI would go to work on the show and I felt awful every day, that's not the way it was. ... I felt like some kind of prostitute or something. If I feel so bad, why keep on showing up to this place? I'm going to Africa. The hardest thing to do is to be true to yourself, especially when everybody is watching.
Dave Chappelle