I've been doing television for quite some time, so Oprah Winfrey and I thought it was a great idea to partner up. I am going to buy my own network and I thought it was a great opportunity for both of us. It's a win-win because I get the opportunity to give her what she needs, which is programming, and at the same time, I get to learn how to run a network.

It takes a week to do a sitcom in Hollywood. I do a show a day in my studio, three or four shows a week.

The question that a lot of people ask me all the time is how did you make it? The truth be told, it was nothing but the grace of God.

My friend Madea has "attitude" that comes with wisdom. Back in our teens and twenties, we thought we knew everything and made all those foolish mistakes. Then, when we got a little older, at thirty, we started getting these flashes of light, revelations of what a great and lucky thing it is that we didn't get caught doing those stupid things back then. Around forty, if we are lucky, we stop lying to ourselves. Fifty and above, we've run out of patience for foolishness. Take me to the bottom line.

If you're black, you can't just be ordinary. All successful black people are extraordinary. If you are tremendously successful, and you're black, you are extraordinary, or you wouldn't stand out in this world.

My biggest success is getting over the things that have tried to destroy and take me out of this life. Those are my biggest successes. It has nothing to do with work.

Hollywood is finally waking up to the fact that people who go to church also go to the movies. I'm not sure what took them so long to see that or how long they'll keep it up.