Whoopi Goldberg Quotes & Sayings

It you want to be somebody, If you want to go some where, you've got to wake up and pay attention — Whoopi Goldberg

And I don't believe that I have to stay on one side of the fence or the other. I don't believe that there is any good career move or bad career move. I believe there are only the things that make me happy. — Whoopi Goldberg

Should I be worried about being a slave and being returned to slavery? Because certain things happened in the Constitution that had to change. — Whoopi Goldberg

TALIBAN-ESQUE Any behavior that imposes the beliefs of one person on everyone else. Conversations with the Taliban-esque are impossible. They aren't even conversations. WIth them, it's my way or no way. — Whoopi Goldberg

When I was 9 years old, Star Trek came on ... — Whoopi Goldberg

I don't really view communism as a bad thing. — Whoopi Goldberg

I'm fighting the label of 'Black' actress simply because it's very limiting in people's eyes, especially people who are making movies. — Whoopi Goldberg

I won once [an Oscar]. So it can't be that racist. — Whoopi Goldberg

There are times when I haven't been proud of America or really proud. But there have been times that I've been incredibly proud of the country. — Whoopi Goldberg

I've learned to take time for myself and to treat myself with a great deal of love and respect, because I like me.. I think I'm kind of cool. — Whoopi Goldberg

I think the idea that you know who your inner self is on a daily basis, because ... you know. What's good for you 25 years ago may not be good for you now. So, to keep in touch with that, I think that's the first ingredient for success. Because if you're a successful human being, everything else is gravy, I think. — Whoopi Goldberg

What I am is a humanist before anything - before I'm a Jew, before I'm black, before I'm a woman. And my beliefs are for the human race - they don't exclude anyone. — Whoopi Goldberg

I don't have to be bam, bam, bam, funny when I'm working. I can tell stories, and there's some funny in them. — Whoopi Goldberg

When I was doing ensemble theater and comedy work, I felt I had some talents. But when I started doing my shows in Berkeley and found that I could be funny on my own, I was shocked. — Whoopi Goldberg

In the dark times, if you have something to hold on to, which is yourself, you'll survive. — Whoopi Goldberg

We're born with success. It is only others who point out our failures, and what they attribute to us as failure. — Whoopi Goldberg

You know what? I think the American people are a little pissed, and I think they're pissed at both parties - I think they're really pissed at both parties - and it will be reflected during election time ... — Whoopi Goldberg

I want Carl Sagan to explain the sky to me. — Whoopi Goldberg

All I really want to do is just keep acting, and some of it will stink, and some of it will be really good, and maybe when I'm 85 and presenting an Oscar like Bette Davis did, I can look back and say, 'It was okay, I did all right.' — Whoopi Goldberg

Now, I've always known that there were bullies in the world. We've seen a lot of it in politics lately as well as in daily life. You see it where people who may be stronger, or bigger, or better with verbiage than other folks ... show off. To me, that's what bullying is, showing off. It's saying, I'm better than you, I can take you down. Not just physically, but emotionally. — Whoopi Goldberg

Sitting at the table during Color Purple and looking up and suddenly realizing I was acting in front of Steven Spielberg, was pretty cool. It was pretty good. — Whoopi Goldberg

Things happen to you out of luck, and if you get to stick around it's because you're talented. — Whoopi Goldberg

There are roles I am never considered for. Meryl Streep roles, let's say. Why not? I really wanted to do 'Ironweed,' for example, because the depression era in this country was one of the best for multiracial people, because everybody was poor. Everybody lived in the tents, and under buildings, and under gratings, together. — Whoopi Goldberg

Did you know that we are the only people in the United States who have to have their voting rights okayed every couple of years? — Whoopi Goldberg

No matter what you say to yourself, you do want to win. You try to look casual, like you're not thinking, 'oh, please pick me.' — Whoopi Goldberg

We are all here for a reason.I believe the reason is to throw little torches out to lead people thru the darkness. — Whoopi Goldberg

I am where I am because I believe in all possibilities. — Whoopi Goldberg

If every American donated five hours a week, it would equal the labor of 20 million full-time volunteers. — Whoopi Goldberg

I don't have pet peeves like some people. I have whole kennels of irritation. — Whoopi Goldberg

Really, darling, it's a no-brainer. You know, I understand not everybody is for gay marriage. But if you're not for gay marriage, don't marry a gay person. That's what I say — Whoopi Goldberg

[On lightweight movies:] Fun movies. They were never meant to cure cancer, only to take away the mind. — Whoopi Goldberg

I'd like somebody to get rid of the death tax. That's what I want. I don't want to get taxed just because I died. I just don't think it's right. If I give something to my kid, I already paid the tax. Why should I have to pay it again because I died? — Whoopi Goldberg

Most of all, I dislike this idea nowadays that if you're a black person in America, then you must be called African-American. Listen, I've visited Africa, and I've got news for everyone: I'm not an African. — Whoopi Goldberg

If You don't like Gay Marriage, Don't Marry a Gay Person. — Whoopi Goldberg

My mother's great. She has the major looks. She could stop you from doing anything, through a closed door even, with a single look. Without saying a word, she has that power to rip out your tonsils. — Whoopi Goldberg

Just call me black, if you want to call me anything. — Whoopi Goldberg

If you get a little gassy, you've got to let it go. So people used to say to me, 'You're like a whoopee cushion.' — Whoopi Goldberg

You've got to vote for someone. It's a shame, but it's got to be done. — Whoopi Goldberg

I'm as American as Chevrolet. — Whoopi Goldberg

I always wore sneakers when I wanted to. It was always about being comfortable and being myself. — Whoopi Goldberg

I would love to teach every kid to say "fuck." Hang on, now, hang on, listen to why. The reason is because to me, that is a word that doesn't have any effect. But "stupid" and "dummy"? You can say it to someone who is six and you can say it to someone who is a hundred and six and they will hunch their shoulders and it will be like somebody kicked them in the stomach because they are harsh, ugly words. — Whoopi Goldberg

I don't have pet peeves; I have whole kennels of irritation. — Whoopi Goldberg

The only argument you can make against having [Confederate] flag as spectacularly shown as it is around the south is the Nazis. I mean, it would be like having the swastika flag ... — Whoopi Goldberg

Everything for me is visual. That's just how my head works. — Whoopi Goldberg

If you're not sure how you feel about same-sex marriage, go and meet some of the families and see what they're looking for. Once you take it out of the caricature of what gay people are and what gay marriage is, and put it in the reality of family and what these folks are fighting for, it's really amazing. — Whoopi Goldberg

For some reason, all artists have self-esteem issues. — Whoopi Goldberg

Who amongst us doesn't want to be a hero? — Whoopi Goldberg

The Africans know I'm not an African. I'm an American. — Whoopi Goldberg

It bums me out tremendously what the church has become, and if it's got me bummed, imagine what Jesus Christ must be feeling. — Whoopi Goldberg

Normal is just a cycle on the washing machine. — Whoopi Goldberg

If I was doing a talk show, I would do the kind of show that comes on just once a month, with amazing guests. — Whoopi Goldberg

I have witnessed things the ancients would have called miracles, but they are not miracles. They are the products of someone's dream, and they happen as the result of hard work. — Whoopi Goldberg

[On her monologue as the thief 'Fontaine':] People always got things. People always want things. So I provide a service. — Whoopi Goldberg

I used my imagination to make the grass whatever color I wanted it to be. — Whoopi Goldberg

When I forget how talented God is, I look to the sea. — Whoopi Goldberg

I grew up in a time when it would never have occurred to anyone to tell me there was anything I couldn't do. — Whoopi Goldberg

I eat eight bags of chips in one sitting, and then nothing for a day or two. I learned that my body thought it was starving, so it would hold on to fat. — Whoopi Goldberg

Children are a quality of life ... when our children are happy, then we are better as human beings. — Whoopi Goldberg

It's being willing to walk away that gives you strength and power - if you're willing to accept the consequences of doing what you want to do. — Whoopi Goldberg

[On writing to Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple:] I told her I would play a Venetian blind, dirt on the floor, anything. — Whoopi Goldberg

We're here for a reason. I believe a bit of the reason is to throw little torches out to lead people through the dark. — Whoopi Goldberg

Taking action is hard, but know what? Enduring a bad situation can be its own hell. — Whoopi Goldberg

When I started, I knew I didn't fit any visual that anyone was going to lie down and take their clothes off about. Work doesn't come to me; I go out and look for it. — Whoopi Goldberg

When I was a kid they didn't call it dyslexia. They called it you know, you were slow, or you were retarded, or whatever. What you can never change is the effect that the words 'dumb' and 'stupid' have on young people. I knew I wasn't stupid, and I knew I wasn't dumb. My mother told me that. If you read to me, I could tell you everything that you read. They didn't know what it was. They knew I wasn't lazy, but what was it? — Whoopi Goldberg

I believe that parts of people like John Garfield and Moms Mabley, the parts of them that I needed to be able to do what I'm doing, came into me. There's a very nice feeling that there are many, many spirits inside of me looking after me ... — Whoopi Goldberg

When I listen to these women, it makes what I thought were my hard knocks feel like little nudges. — Whoopi Goldberg

Is there any forgiveness? If somebody does something wrong, we now have copped this "off with the head" attitude, which, I confess, feels great sometimes, but come on. Why do we paint everyone with the same brush? Why does it seem more & more we want people ruined rather than rehabilitated? — Whoopi Goldberg

And for some reason, there seems to be no internal policeman for a bully that says maybe you're hurting somebody's feelings. Or worse, maybe you're going to push this perons too far and they'll do something terrible. Something's not processing correctly in a bully's head. It doesn't seem to occur to them that what they're doing is corssing a line that shouldn't be crossed. And it's really, in my mind, no different than taking on defenseless kids. You do it just because you can.
It's an exercise in power; but it's also meant to dinsintegrate someone's Self. It's meant to take away their sense of who they are. And why? Because they're not as strong, or as bit, or as witty.
Bullies are ball-less, soul-less creatures to me. And they're not just children, they're adults too.
It's a terrorist act.
It's meant to make you feel afraid. It's meant to make you feel powerless to take care of the situation you find yourself in. — Whoopi Goldberg

We're dealing with old issues that aren't ours. We carry them and we pass them on to those who come after us. I am hoping to crack some of those. — Whoopi Goldberg

Her least favorite thing: VOLUNTARY IGNORANCE — Whoopi Goldberg

Thank you, God, because I am lucky. Also let's face it, it turns out I'm black. And I'm having a career quite different from lots of people, so I feel doubly lucky. — Whoopi Goldberg

The people who can be helping to make movies that have blacks and Latinos and women and all that - that movie doesn't come to you. Because the idea is that there's no place for black movies. — Whoopi Goldberg

I don't like driving very much. That makes me very unhappy, because I scream a lot in the car, but other than that, life is actually pretty good. — Whoopi Goldberg

Most women do not have [abortions] with some sort of party going on. It is the hardest decision that a woman ever has to make ... One of the reasons we've had to make this decision is because so many women were found bleeding, dead, with hangers in their bodies because they were doing it themselves. The idea of this was to make it safe and clean - that was the reason the law came into effect. — Whoopi Goldberg

If you don't look out for others, who will look out for you? — Whoopi Goldberg

An actress can only play a woman,I'm an actor I can play anything — Whoopi Goldberg

I'm a big old egotistical baby and that's okay. I can accept it. — Whoopi Goldberg

You know, be an actor because you love to act. Don't be an actor because you think you're going to get famous, because that's luck. — Whoopi Goldberg

It never occurs to me that there are things I can't do. — Whoopi Goldberg

Don't you believe that the punishment should fit the crime? Isn't that what justice is? Letely, though, I wonder if we've gotten more into vengenance than justice. — Whoopi Goldberg

If there wasn't something called acting, they would probably hospitalize people like me. — Whoopi Goldberg

I fear waking up one morning and finding out my life was all for nothing. We're here for a reason. I believe a bit of the reason is to throw little torches out to lead people through the dark. When you're kind to someone in trouble, you hope they remember and are kind to someone else and so on. Soon it will be like a wildfire ... — Whoopi Goldberg

If you're willing to stand for what you believe in ... you won't need advice from me, because you will be able to handle whatever comes. — Whoopi Goldberg

When I was nine years old, Star Trek came on, I looked at it and I went screaming through the house, 'Come here, mum, everybody, come quick, come quick, there's a black lady on television and she ain't no maid!' I knew right then and there I could be anything I wanted to be. — Whoopi Goldberg

Actors have no color. That's the art form. — Whoopi Goldberg

Normal is nothing more than a cycle on a washing machine. — Whoopi Goldberg

I dig being a mother ... — Whoopi Goldberg

I should not ever live with anyone, because I just don't have the patience for it. I'm very cranky around other people. — Whoopi Goldberg

Art and life are subjective. Not everybody's gonna dig what I dig, but I reserve the right to dig it. — Whoopi Goldberg

I am the American Dream. I am the epitome of what the American Dream basically said. It said you could come from anywhere and be anything you want in this country. That's exactly what I've done. — Whoopi Goldberg

We forgive sometimes, and sometimes we don't. One thing that's consistent is, at least in the early going, we love to punish and we need to find a villian. — Whoopi Goldberg

Before you judge me, look in the mirror. — Whoopi Goldberg

My family is Jewish, Buddhist, Baptist and Catholic. I don't believe in man-made religions. — Whoopi Goldberg

I don't think in terms of failure ... I don't feel like anyone outside of me should be setting limitations. People should be encouraged to shoot for the moon. — Whoopi Goldberg

When you are kind to someone in trouble, you hope they'll remember and be kind to someone else. And it'll become like a wildfire. — Whoopi Goldberg

You have to believe in yourself in spite of what other people believe. — Whoopi Goldberg

I am an artist, art has no color and no sex. — Whoopi Goldberg

I don't look like Halle Berry. But chances are she's going to end up looking like me. — Whoopi Goldberg

That's the thing about Mother Nature, she really doesn't care what economic bracket you're in. — Whoopi Goldberg

I have the strangest time to get cast in anything. 'Ghost' was the same thing. Six months I had to wait for them to decide they had seen everybody possible. Why not? What limits me? I'm black? Oh, am I black? — Whoopi Goldberg