Top 100 Pryor Quotes
#1. Whereas I want everything to be peaceful during a birth, I take the total opposite approach when I'm helping someone come to terms with leaving this place - I play Richard Pryor records.
Erykah Badu
#2. When Richard Pryor did comedy, it was like he was having a conversation.
Tracy Morgan
#3. When I was younger, I listened to the greats: Winters, Mel and Carl, Nichols and May, Pryor, Carlin, Klein, Berman and lots of Lenny Bruce albums. But once I started doing fairly well, I didn't want to hear anybody's jokes or premises.
Richard Lewis
#4. My father was funnier than me. My father was Richard Pryor-funny. I'm just a better businessman.
Tracy Morgan
#5. Pryor's comedy isn't based on suspiciousness about whites, or on anger, either; he's gone way past that. Whites are unbelievable to him.
Pauline Kael
#6. I'm telling a Richard Pryor story through me.
Mike Epps
#7. Now, Richard Pryor was unique. Many misunderstood his humor. He lit up the hallway, but they didn't understand his use of profanity. He didn't use it just to be using it; he used it in the context of his satire.
Bill Cosby
#9. I've always liked Richard Pryor. I've always responded to rhythmic profanity.
David Rees
#10. People walked out on Richard Pryor and he's the funniest man alive.
Tracy Morgan
#11. My dream role is Richard Pryor, no question about that. I'm a big Richard Pryor fan. I've always been intrigued about the darkness behind his comedy; that would always be a dream role for me.
Dorian Missick
#12. I've never seen anyone more messed up over success than Richard Pryor. For him, it's a constant battle between success in the white world and keeping it real for his black self.
Paul Mooney
#13. As a kid, I loved Paula Poundstone and Richard Pryor. But my mother was a huge influence on my comedy.
Tig Notaro
#14. You can be funny and say what you mean; these ideas are not mutually exclusive. Some of the best jokes came from people who meant it. See: Pryor, Bruce, Carlin, etc.
Hari Kondabolu
#15. I was thinking about comedy and how comedy in many ways opens us up to ideas and really being influenced by Richard Pryor and sort of the way he would use comedy to really speak about larger social issues.
Terry Gross
#16. I'd much rather see Richard Pryor or Jackie Mason in a theater than in a club.
Elayne Boosler
#17. Mike Tyson, what can I say about you that hasn't already been the title of a Richard Pryor album?
Anthony Jeselnik
#18. On the comedy side of what I love as a filmmaker are Richard Pryor, Lenny Bruce, and Eddie Murphy; those are my favorites.
David Dobkin
#19. I like Louis C.K., Chris Rock. Old schools like Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy.
Adam DeVine
#20. Few if any teenagers can relate to getting up for school and finding famous comics like Pryor and Williams hanging out in your living room after a hard night of partying. But that's Hollywood.
Pauly Shore
#21. As Richard Pryor was to Eddie Murphy, that's what Kurt Vonnegut was to me.
Christopher Moore
#22. When I was a bit older I had all of the George Carlin records, all of the Steve Martin records, all of the Cheech and Chong records and all of the Richard Pryor records.
Marc Maron
#23. W. Kamau Bell is in the vanguard of a new era of American comedy for an unsettling, troubling, and strangely hopeful time. Firmly in the fearless tradition of Mort Sahl, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, & Chris Rock. Comedy as common sense purged of the absurd hypocrisy that is Our America.
Vernon Reid
#24. I opened up for Richard Pryor in 1992. I had a conversation with him. All those other comedians can say what they want about what they did, but I opened up for the man. Paul Mooney and I are probably the only ones that can say that.
Mark Curry
#25. Historically, Hollywood comedy has arrived in skinny envelopes. From fence post Buster Keaton to herky-jerky Jerry Lewis to wiry nerve-bundle Woody Allen to hung-loose Richard Pryor to whippy contortionist Jim Carrey, its comics and clowns have tended to be sliced thin and bendable.
James Wolcott
#26. Show me one guy or woman as funny as Rodney Dangerfield or as good as George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, or Joan Rivers. There are a lot of good comics out there, no doubt, but as far as the quality of the comics goes, I think what you have is a bunch of situational comics.
Chris Rock
#27. When I got on Stern I realized that this was the one job where you could be really honest and open, almost like Richard Pryor or something. You can be honest about your life and get laughs.
Artie Lange
#28. The truth is, I've never thought of myself as the Michael Jordan of comedy. And that's a good thing. You know why? Because I'm not. Wasn't that Richard Pryor? Yes, it was. I know what I am: I'm funny!
Tracy Morgan
#29. When I became a standup comic, my hero, one of them, was Richard Pryor, and you know, I think that comedians, like, comedians talk about hacks, and what a hack is, is someone who does stuff that's not original.
Artie Lange
#30. I wish I was this dark genius artist - like Richard Pryor or something.
Artie Lange
#31. I love comedy and I would write things to myself as an exercise in writing. I didn't do well for years, and I quit. I started to break down why I was afraid and started to look at people I admired, like Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Freddie Prinze, George Carlin and all.
George Lopez
#32. I had seen movies before that that had made me laugh, but I had never seen anything even remotely close to as funny as Richard Pryor was, just standing there talking.
Joe Rogan
#33. Becoming Richard Pryor is a compulsively readable book that sets a new gold standard for American biography. Scott Scaul's research is extraordinary; his writing is taut, elegant, and insightful; and he captures both the hilarity and pain that made Richard Pryor such a towering figure,
Debby Applegate
#34. Richard Pryor is, in my mind, the most honest comedian. He bared his soul to people. I think that's why everybody loved him so much.
Joe Rogan
#35. The king of comedy is dead. Richard Pryor was the king of comedy. The rest of them are the king of copycats.
Paul Mooney
#36. Rain Pryor was born July 16, 1969. Richard and
David Henry
#37. I'm not a natural comedian, as an artist. I studied comedy growing up. I would watch Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence, all day.
Brandon T. Jackson
#38. At the end of the day, I want to be part of the same conversation as Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, Dave Chappelle, Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor.
Kevin Hart
#39. The first time I heard Richard Pryor, I knew he would be a major force in the world of comedy.
Bob Newhart
#40. I really understood a lot more about comedy after listening to Bill Hicks, who died at 32 years old. He's probably the best comedian who ever lived. Although you can't say that because of Carlin, Cosby and Pryor.
Ron White
#41. Why do people love Richard Pryor so much? 'Cause he had problems.
Bernie Mac
#42. So I started to relax and would work on my act eight hours a day, sitting at a desk writing at my grandmother's house, and I would put on Richard Pryor Live on Long Beach and would play it like a loop and think and write.
George Lopez
#43. George Carlin was great right up to the end of his life. But Richard Pryor was probably the best, most gifted stand-up comedian who will ever live.
Denis Leary
#44. Julie Christie, I used to hang out with her. She was friends with Richard Pryor and Warren Beatty and all of them. There was a club in Beverly Hills called the Candy Store, a private club. I used to hang out with them all.
Paul Mooney
#45. I went through every phone book in Africa, and I didn't find one god damned Pryor!
Richard Pryor
#46. I remember seeing Richard Pryor's first movie; it was a midnight movie when I was in high school. I must have been about fifteen. It was one of the most cathartic experiences of my life. I'd never laughed that much.
Marc Maron
#47. People like to compare something to something that they know. Even with Chris Rock, they say he's like Richard Pryor or Eddie Murphy.
Hannibal Buress
#48. The best comedy to me - and again, I grew up with comedy since I was a baby, so I've seen it all - is when you exaggerate the truth, like Richard Pryor did, you understand?
Pauly Shore
#49. [Adoption] could turn you into an exquisite comedian. Ask Richard Pryor's ghost.
Keegan-Michael Key
#50. I learned from the guys before me - Bill Cosby, Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Richard Pryor, just to name a few. These are guys that let it all hang out. What they lived is what they took to the stage.
Kevin Hart
#51. There's a charm, there's a rhythm, there's a soul to Jewish humor. When I first saw Richard Pryor perform, I told him, 'You're doing a Jewish act.'
Alan King
#52. Richard Pryor had real sincere and vulnerable moments. Now it seems so cheesy if you stop your act and say, "This is why we have to help them kids. We've got to make sure them kids can read."
Moshe Kasher
#53. 'The Simpsons' is like Charlie Parker or Marlon Brando or Richard Pryor: Comedy couldn't go back to the way it was after 'The Simpsons' came out.
Eric Andre
#54. I reenact everything. I love to paint a picture for my audience. I'm a lot like Richard Pryor in that aspect. I do a lot of acting on stage, acting out and visualizing stuff. I love to do that. I'm into it so much, it just comes out of me.
Chris Tucker
#55. I love Richard Pryor. I love him to death.
Mike Epps
#56. I think seeing Pryor's first movie, Live In Concert, when I was in high school changed my life. Pryor really put the heart in darkness for me.
Marc Maron
#57. Richard Pryor introduced me to the world of the inner city, and the urban world, and did it hysterically. My favorite comedian, even though we work 180 degrees differently, but funny is funny is funny.
Bob Newhart
#58. As it stands right now, I lead Richard Pryor in heart attacks, two to one. However, Richard still leads me, one to nothing, in burning yourself up.
George Carlin
#59. Aaron Pryor wants to get into the ring with me. He wants to be able to retire, and he will. For health reasons.
Sugar Ray Leonard
#60. I have no desire to be hip to the latest black slang and do the stereotypical black thing. I was a Richard Pryor fan, and I have used profanity in my act. But when it becomes a whole thing that defines blacks, we're limiting ourselves. The enemy is us.
Franklyn Ajaye
#61. As far as stand-ups go, I always loved Richard Pryor, Chris Rock, and Sinbad. Basically, I love black comedians because they're the funniest. I wish I were a black comedian, actually.
Adam DeVine
#62. I went to Zimbabwe. I know how white people feel in America now; relaxed! Cause when I heard the police car I knew they weren't coming after me!
Richard Pryor
#63. Marriage is really tough because you have to deal with feelings ... and lawyers.
Richard Pryor
#64. It's not our mistakes that define us, but what we do about them.
Lindsay J. Pryor
#65. Let's clean up the Senate and return to politics of common ground.
Mark Pryor
#66. If I thought about it, I could be bitter, but I don't feel like being bitter. Being bitter makes you immobile, and there's too much that I still want to do.
Richard Pryor
#67. Like it or not, the people of Arkansas sent me to Washington to represent them in this great body.
Mark Pryor
#68. I think about dying. I've come to realize we all die alone in one way or another.
Richard Pryor
#69. I bought my parents a home before they died, and they got to see that I was going to be all right. They always thought I would go someplace.
Richard Pryor
#70. Movies are movies, and I don't think any of them are going to hurt the moral fiber of America and all that nonsense.
Richard Pryor
#71. Have you ever noticed how quiet you get when you go in the woods? It's almost like you know that God's there.
Richard Pryor
#72. I was a loner and never hung out with anyone. I never had any friends.
Richard Pryor
#73. I'm not for integration and I'm not against it.
Richard Pryor
#75. I love show business. I wake up every morning and kiss it.
Richard Pryor
#76. And now here we are," he said. "Both knowing what you are, both knowing what I am. And that, my little fledgling sacrifice, must make me your worst fucking nightmare.
Lindsay J. Pryor
#77. If you ask me about women's lib, I say I don't even know what that is.
Richard Pryor
#78. Rebounding helps a lot with your ball skills, because you're able to go get the ball at a high point, which is what they want you to do in football.
Calvin Pryor
#79. Imagine people calling you to find out if you're dead. I've led a real crazy life at times, and I've had many strange things happen to me, but that was one of the strangest.
Richard Pryor
#80. You breathe too fast to be convincing,' he goaded.
'You don't breathe enough to judge me.
Lindsay J. Pryor
#82. I think about being married again, having a home and a wife. No one can ever be married too many times, and maybe if I keep trying I'll get it right one day.
Richard Pryor
#83. Life does not stand still for families and local communities when our brave men and women are deployed, but we can make their time apart more bearable by recognizing their sacrifice and fulfilling our commitments to them.
Mark Pryor
#84. I was given two weeks to walk again, so I hooked up with a trainer, and he ... had me walking. I'll never forget that, it was grueling.
Richard Pryor
#85. I just don't want to die alone, that's all. That's not too much to ask for, is it It would be nice to have someone care about me, for who I am, not about my wallet.
Richard Pryor
#86. The rarity of what you hold is more powerful than you can imagine. It is a gift for humanity and the most lethal curse to the vampires.
Lindsay J. Pryor
#87. What I'm saying might be profane, but it's also profound.
Richard Pryor
#88. I had some great things and I had some bad things. The best and the worst ... In other words, I had a life.
Richard Pryor
#89. Rob glanced back at the glint of the blade as Caleb spun it once more. 'So what - you want information?' he asked,looking back at him'You want to talk'?.
'If talking means I ask questions and you answer them'.
Rob exhaled sharply. 'Is that what the tickingclocks about?some kind of threat.
Lindsay J. Pryor
#90. Rosa Parks showed us all that one little person can make a whole bunch of noise without so much as a whisper. She showed the world that the color of your skin shouldn't determine what part of the bus you sit in ... as you ride through life.
Richard Pryor
#91. There are only two pieces of pussy you're gonna get in your entire life, that's your first and your last.
Richard Pryor
#92. I always look on imagination as one of the most powerful things we can cultivate in young people. If they have a good, active imagination, they can cope with life better; they are ... able to imagine possibilities and to think around problems.
Michael Pryor
#93. There's nothing worse than being an aging young person.
Richard Pryor
#94. Countless emotions could be masked by the sexual act, but a kiss, the most intimate and passionate of exchanges, concealed nothing.
Lindsay J. Pryor
#95. I played three sports in high school, baseball, football and basketball. Baseball really helped me a lot.
Calvin Pryor
#96. But for the use of physical punishment by, and fear of their oppressors, animals would never be a part of a circus.
Richard Pryor
#97. When you're running down the street on fire, people get out of your way!
Richard Pryor
#98. Yes, I'm religious. God has shown me things, made certain ways clear to me.
Richard Pryor
#99. Do you know how you felt when you would lean all the way back in a chair, and just before you were about to tip over, at the very last second, you'd catch yourself ? That's how I feel all the time.
Richard Pryor
#100. I think you're so busy reading between the lines, you're missing the sentence on the page.
Lindsay J. Pryor
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