Barkley Quotes & Sayings

We're just playing basketball. It's not like we're going out to have unprotected sex with Magic. — Charles Barkley

You can't start a diet in the middle of the week, that's just stupid. — Charles Barkley

Any time a little midget does something like this, you gotta give him a 10!. — Charles Barkley

I don't hate anyone, at least not for more than 48 minutes, barring overtime. — Charles Barkley

I think anybody who is racist is an idiot whether they are black or white. — Charles Barkley

There's only 5 real jobs in the world. Teacher, fireman, policeman, doctor and somebody who is in the armed service. If you don't have one of those 5 jobs, you shouldn't take your life that serious. — Charles Barkley

I don't believe athletes should be role models ... We're a one-shot deal, one in a million, so we should be the least likely role models ... I think one of the problems in society today is that we don't stress education enough, because we glorify athletes, actors and actresses. — Charles Barkley

I knew I did not love Catherine Barkley nor had any idea of loving her. This was a game, like bridge, in which you said things instead of playing cards. Like bridge you had to pretend you were playing for money or playing for some stakes. Nobody had mentioned what the stakes were. It was all right with me. — Ernest Hemingway,

I'm not paid to be a role model, parents should be role models. — Charles Barkley

Christian is going to be the strongest man in the NBA next year, because all he's been doing all summer is carrying around the luggage for 11 guys. — Charles Barkley

I want to be a politician. I think I understand how the system works, I think a lot of politicians are corrupt, and it's about time we put some people in there who are going to look out for the majority of the people instead of the rich people. — Charles Barkley

I think it sucks that in our country [the USA] there is such a double standard education-wise. Which part of the city you live in, or something like that, determines if you'll be successful, and that's not fair. — Charles Barkley

I'm a mad dog whose only concern is winning. — Charles Barkley

I think you have an obligation to be honest. — Charles Barkley

Only poor people go to jail. — Charles Barkley

It ain't like we're curing cancer or anything, we're watching basketball. — Charles Barkley

When you read the book you see that these guys aren't holding any punches. They're straightforward. They're honest. They're giving you their honest opinion. — Charles Barkley

Every time I think about changing a diaper, I run a little bit harder and a little bit faster to make sure I can afford a nanny until my daughter's old enough to take care of that herself. — Charles Barkley

When you grow up the way I do, and the biggest thing in your life so far has been getting dunked in a glass tank by a man who acts like he's mugging you but says instead he's saving your soul, then celebrating your soul mugging at Sizzler with your parents (get the buffet by itself, not added on to a steak dinner, because the buffet already has sirloin tips), you need rules. And not their rules, not God's rules, but mine. My own. Here's on of Eliot's Rules for Dating:
When you first meet a girl, make sure you are accidentally conducting a chemistry experiment on your lips.
OK. I didn't say they were all good rules. — Brad Barkley

I don't listen to the refs. I don't listen to anyone who makes less money than I do. — Charles Barkley

I don't think of myself as giving interviews. I just have conversations. That gets me in trouble. — Charles Barkley

I don't mess with that cat. I'm pretty sure he carries a blade under his jersey. — Charles Barkley

What does politically correct mean? If you're fat, don't ask me if you're fat, because I'm gonna tell you the truth. You're fat. — Charles Barkley

Although the terms teaching and learning are typically paired, those of us who teach know that students don't always learn. When I complained about this early in my teaching career, a colleagues chided me: "Saying 'I thaught the students something, they just didn't learn it' is akin to saying 'I sold them the car, they just didn't but it'". — Elizabeth F. Barkley

I wasn't at all surprised when Cinderella gave me the finger. — Brad Barkley

White folks are not going to come to see a bunch of guys with tattoos, with cornrows. I'm sorry, but anyone who thinks different, they're stupid. — Charles Barkley

I don't know anything about Angola, but Angola's in trouble. — Charles Barkley

Every time I hear the word conservative it makes me sick to my stomach ... — Charles Barkley

My brother was a huge Charles Barkley fan - my brother went to Miami. He played power forward, and he always used to tell me stories about Barkley and college. And I watched Barkley growing up. I loved what he brought to the game. His toughness and just his attitude, being as strong he was. — Paul Pierce

What I told [my teammates] after the game was I'm just fortunate [for] my 16 years because, this [injury] can happen every single night you go out and play ... It can be over in one instant, so you should appreciate everyday. — Charles Barkley

Don't tell anyone this, but I have never been to Disneyworld. I don't know if I ever will, but I would like to. — Brad Barkley

We don't need refs, but I guess white guys need something to do. — Charles Barkley

What Would Jesus Eat? — Brad Barkley

My family got all over me because they said Bush is only for the rich people. Then I reminded them, 'Hey, I'm rich'. — Charles Barkley

I don't how anybody taller than 6-4 can sit in those seats. And the airline executives don't give a damn 'cause they never walk back there in the first place. I don't fly first class because I have a lot of money. I do it because I need the room. — Charles Barkley

I can be bought. If they paid me enough, I'd work for the Klan. — Charles Barkley

It bothers me when I hear these reporters and jocks get on TV and say: 'Oh, no guy can come out in a team sport. These guys would go crazy.' First of all, quit telling me what I think. I'd rather have a gay guy who can play than a straight guy who can't play. — Charles Barkley

The best audience is intelligent, well-educated and a little drunk. — Alben W. Barkley

People always say he can run and he can jump. So can a deer and you wouldn't put a deer in the game. — Charles Barkley

They run like deer, jump like deer and think like deer. — Charles Barkley

If somebody hits you with an object you should beat the hell out of them. — Charles Barkley

Most sportswriters don't know their ass from a hole in the ground. — Charles Barkley

I don't care what people think. people are stupid. — Charles Barkley

If only your life were a costume, and you could just take it off when you wanted to, leave it hanging on a hook, and walk away. — Brad Barkley

Barkley was the first of many American skyjackers whose primary interest was money; by 1972, the majority of the nation's hijackings would involve demands for ransom. Barkley himself was declared incompetent to stand trial in November 1971, at which point he was committed to a psychiatric hospital in Georgia. — Brendan I. Koerner

I pu my finger to her lips. "You have to hush a minute so that I can tell you something."
"What?" she says, bites my finger.
I look at her. "I love you."
She gets quiet, the kind of quiet that sinks into her, softens her. "Well that works out," she finally says, her voice deeper and breathless, her eyes moist, "because I love you too." She turns, leans against my arm, and settles into me. — Brad Barkley

Everybody in New York thinks the Knicks are Playboy bunnies, and I have been telling them for years the Knicks are a rabbit. They're closer to a Playboy bunny this year but for the last few years these guys are like, 'We have a really good team!' And I say, 'You really think that?' And I say, 'No, they don't.' But this is the best team they've had in a while. — Charles Barkley

Say, Cuttino. What are those Godawful clothes you're wearing? Man, this ain't Rhode Island anymore. You're in the NBA. The girls have teeth here. — Charles Barkley

My initial response was to sue her for defamation of character, but then I realized that I had no character. — Charles Barkley

For six years profound silence was mistaken for profound wisdom. — Alben W. Barkley

I want her to understand that it's going to be a factor in her life. I just want her to know that (racism) does exist, and I want her to always be diligent, and if she sees it, address it and fight it. — Charles Barkley

You know what's amazing to me? America. There have been so many people who have stepped up, and I'm just proud to be an American. Yeah, there were some mistakes made, but I don't play the blame game. Let's move forward and rebuild New Orleans. — Charles Barkley

Poor white people and poor black people just don't know how much they have in common. Rich people don't give a damn about either group. — Charles Barkley

It's the kind of game that makes you go home and beat your wife. — Charles Barkley

The kids who need the most love will ask for it in the most unloving ways — Russell Barkley

There's no medical term for what I've got. — Charles Barkley

Poor people cannot rely on the government to come to help you in times of need. You have to get your education. Then nobody can control your destiny. — Charles Barkley

I believe thinking about being old or even dying eradicates that fear. Fear can control you or you can control it; it's a conscious decision. A life lived with fear doesn't sound that enjoyable to me. — Peter James Barkley

As long as anti-gay legislation exists in any state, I strongly believe big events such as the Final Four and Super Bowl should not be held in those states' cities. — Charles Barkley

All of it seems like noise and false light, and all I want for tonight is quiet, the black and gray of a summer night, and a girl in a pink dress, beside me forever. — Brad Barkley

You know it's going to hell when the best rapper out there is white and the best golfer is black. — Charles Barkley

What I try to do is, I just want the fans to enjoy the game. — Charles Barkley

But when I see a story on welfare on television, they only show black people. — Charles Barkley

I shouldn't toot my own horn, but he who doth not toot his own horn alloweth it to remain untooteth. — Alben W. Barkley

Just because you say something doesn't make it controversial, and it doesn't make you a bad person. — Charles Barkley

On game days, I could be in the worst mood imagiable-a really bad mood. But sometimes, I'd get a call from the Make-A-Wish Foundation-there would be people, sometimes kids, who anted to meet me before they died. And the foundation would call on a game day and say, "There's kid dying here whose last wish is to see you. Can you just come and see him?" I'd get there and sometimes the kid would be comatose. One day, a kid woke up for a split second and smiled at me. I was told he'd been hanging on. The mom and dad called me later and said, "I don't know what yu did to him, but those few moments were wonderful." And I cried all the way to the game, just cried my eyes out.
It's very scary. It's uplifting, too, but so scary. And then ... I'm bitching because my breakfast is cold? — Charles Barkley

Ella, if it's magic, then nothing is supposed to happen. — Brad Barkley

See, my hope and dream is that people have a good time watching basketball. It's not church. It's not serious. — Charles Barkley

They always try to make it like jocks discriminate against gay people. I've been a big proponent of gay marriage for a long time, because as a black person, I can't be in for any form of discrimination at all. — Charles Barkley

Listen to your heart more than your head. This motto will get you in trouble, but it's never boring. — Brad Barkley

I never would say a player stinks. Ever. I'll tell you their team stinks, and first of all, they know their team stinks. And the fans know their team stinks. — Charles Barkley

I know a lot of people did a lot of heavy lifting to make me successful and I do everything in my power not to screw it up. — Charles Barkley

You asked me if I believed in magic, and I said yes, and that's how. You just step out, start pulling your life out of the air. You make friends, you find work you really like doing, you find places. You find diners and Laundromats. You find beaches. You find a junk car and drive it for a month, then lave it beside the road. You find someone to fall in love with you. You make it all up as you go. Or, you know, maybe it makes you up. — Brad Barkley

Okay, Ella. Is it possible for you to be any more vague?"
"Maybe," I say, smiling at her. — Brad Barkley

I'm afraid of the skeletons in my closet. I've got a whole cemetery full of them. — Charles Barkley

I don't know what that gas is made of, but it can't smell any worse than Ernie Johnson 's gym bag. — Charles Barkley

I'm never embarassed. — Charles Barkley

I'm really disturbed about the gay marriage thing. Because I think gay people should get married, cause it's their own business ... Because as a Black man, I think you've got to be against any form of discrimination. — Charles Barkley

You couldn't do it with him because Rhodes wasn't the one ... Furious Barkley is. Furi — A.E. Via

Hey Steve, no offense, but if you couldn't shoot, there would be no reason for you to be alive. — Charles Barkley

I remember sitting down with the Rockets and saying, 'Yeah. I'm going to retire.' They said, 'Well, we'll give you $9 million.' And I said, 'You got a pen on you?' — Charles Barkley

Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler and I used to argue for hours about who the best athletes are. I thought football players were better overall. — Warren Moon

Cal: "I'm really sorry, Professor, but how do you explain these ? Swiss Cake Rolls. That doesn't rhyme; it's not cute; it's not childlike. And this is one of our most-respected snack foods, is it not? How is that, Professor? Hmmm?"
Eliot: "Well, isn't it obvious? We trust the Swiss for their ability to engineer things, to build with precision."
Cal: "We do?"
Eliot: "Do I even have to mention Swiss watches? Swiss Army knives? Swiss cheese? If anyone can build a non-threatening, non-lethal snack cake, it's the Swiss. They're neutral, we can trust them not to attack us with trans-fatty acids and sugar. I think you would feel differently if they were German Cake Rolls. North Korean Cake Rolls. I bet you wouldn't eat them."
Cal: "I bet I would. — Brad Barkley

I know I'm never as good or bad as one single performance. I've never believed in my critics or my worshippers, and I've always been able to leave the game at the arena. — Charles Barkley

All I know is, as long as I led the Southeastern Conference in scoring, my grades would be fine. — Charles Barkley

Adrian Dantley is a guy that I looked at ... on how to maneuver my body around. — Charles Barkley

I read that heavy drinking is bad for your health. I decided I better stop reading. — Charles Barkley

Hakeem couldn't kick your ass cause you were too close, kissing his! — Charles Barkley

If I weren't earning $3 million a year to dunk a basketball, most people on the street would run in the other direction if they saw me coming. — Charles Barkley

I just wish all these young black kids would realize how significant it is to stop acting a fool out there, killing each other, not getting their education. You know, people have died to put us in a situation to be successful. — Charles Barkley

People always say turn the other cheek. If you turn the other cheek, I'm gonna hit you in the other cheek too. — Charles Barkley

I thought if I really wanted to be serious about writing, I should make my own desk. — Brad Barkley

When you're black, you have to deal with so much crap in your life from other black people. It's a dirty, dark secret; I'm glad it's coming out. — Charles Barkley

But how he acts, and what he says, and what he does, and who he is, they don't line up anymore, and the lie is in that not lining up, the lie is in not being what she needs but pretending that he is. No one says a word, and she sees it every minute they have together. — Brad Barkley

If Michael Jordan was a damn plumber, he couldn't get a date. Any guy got $500 million looks good. — Charles Barkley

People say I eat a lot. I really don't. More or less I just eat all the time. — Charles Barkley

He's got to bring something stronger than that. That's like bringing milk to a bar, it's not strong enough — Charles Barkley

This place? Nothing positive. OK, I want to say something positive. It's positively a dump. — Charles Barkley

Everybody in the world has an ego. The only difference between us is we have a reason to have an ego. — Charles Barkley

I May Be Wrong but I Doubt It. — Charles Barkley