Paul Mooney Quotes

People don't want to hear the truth, they never do. They wanna live in some kind of fantasy. And then when they get caught up in it, they start being in denial because they don't want to be wrong.

A new broom can sweep the floor, but an old broom knows where the dirt is.

If your hair is relaxed, white people are relaxed. If your hair is nappy, they're not happy.

I have nothing to do with racism in America; it was here when I got here.

We have a lot of black Anglo-Saxons. Their skin is black, but their brain is white. When I get real mad at them, I call them graham crackers.

White people are very good at acting like they're not racist. They deserve an Academy Award for that.

People in America worship money, and a white man's face on a green piece of paper does not make me wealthy. My health makes me wealthy. I used to work at a hospital, so I know the real deal.

If you have money and you have fame, but you don't have any confidence in your blackness, then it's all for nothing.

The political arena is the funniest.They [politicians] are always pretending to change, but they never change. They're the best actors and actresses in the world. They've always been hilarious since the beginning of time.

People ask me, when was my best time? I always say, 'Today.'

Listen, we've got one little ol' black president, and white folks are upset, but they've had 43.

I can't change the past, but one person can change the future - anything can happen.

No wonder circus animals do what they do: They tortured them. And you know the only ones they can't control? It's the chimpanzees. You can't control them. That's why you never see a gorilla in a movie, because the gorilla may decide there'll be no filming.

America is racial. America was founded on race. Race is America. The code name for America is 'race.'

People think you're crazy if you turn money down... people worship money.

Whatever that thing is that white people like in blacks, I don't have it. Maybe it's my arrogance or my self-assurance or the way I carry myself, but whatever it is, I don't have it.

You can't pick when you're touched. You can't pick the time. It just is. It's the reality. What it is, is. I can't change the past. I can only deal with the present and the future.

I think about never losing my voice, never giving in, never selling out, always keeping black, always sticking to the street. Staying neighborhood and not Hollywood.

Hillary Clinton could say she was a woman and running for president. And Sarah Palin could say she was a woman and running for vice-president. But Obama couldn't say, 'I'm black and I'm running for president.' It couldn't come out of his mouth. He couldn't say that because, if he did, he'd lose votes.

I'm passionate about what I do. I'd be naive to be passive.

America has a rap sheet. You can't police the world and tell the world how to act when you're just as bad yourself.

Handshaking means, 'I don't have a weapon.'

Racism is a form of insanity. Human beings became racist when they started talking. Speech has a lot to do with it.

You got to remember that slavery's very complex. It has a lot of levels to it.

When I was 16 or 17, I saw Lenny Bruce being taken to jail. They took him off stage because he talked about race.