Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential stand-up comedians of all time. Profoundly inspirational Richard Pryor quotes will make you look at life differently and help you live a meaningful life.
If you’re searching for famous quotes by comedians that perfectly capture what you’d like to say or just want to feel inspired yourself, browse through an amazing collection of famous Ricky Gervais quotes, greatest Russell Brand quotes and powerful Trevor Noah quotes.
Famous Richard Pryor Quotes
I’m not addicted to cocaine. I just like the way it smells. — Richard Pryor
But for the use of physical punishment by, and fear of their oppressors, animals would never be a part of a circus. — Richard Pryor
There are only two pieces of p*ssy you’re gonna get in your entire life, that’s your first and your last. — Richard Pryor
Sure, I have friends, plenty of friends, and they all come around wantin’ to borrow money. I’ve always been generous with my friends and family, with money, but selfish with the important stuff like love. — Richard Pryor
I’m not for integration and I’m not against it. — Richard Pryor
There’s a thin line between to laugh with and to laugh at. — Richard Pryor
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
What I am for is justice for everyone, just like it says in the Constitution. — Richard Pryor
I’d like to make you laugh for about ten minutes though I’m gonna be on for an hour. — Richard Pryor
I won’t talk about what it was like in prison, except to say I’m glad I’m out and that I plan never to go back and to pay my taxes every day. — Richard Pryor
To be diagnosed was the hardest thing because I didn’t know what they were talking about… And the doctor said, Don’t worry, in three months you’ll know. So I went about my business and then, one day, it jumped me. I couldn’t get up… Your muscles trick you; they did me. — Richard Pryor
Friends take up time, and I didn’t have time. — Richard Pryor
When you ain’t got no money, you gotta get an attitude. — Richard Pryor
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
I think about dying. I’ve come to realize we all die alone in one way or another. — Richard Pryor
Freebase? What’s free about it? — Richard Pryor
Booty is just a ghetto expression, and I’m just a booty star. — Richard Pryor
I became a performer because it was what I enjoyed doing. — Richard Pryor
What I never understand about a hangover is, where does the breath come from? You know what I mean? I mean, is someone sh*tt*ng in your mouth? — Richard Pryor
In March I had a minor heart attack while I was vacationing in Australia. it scared me, but it was nothing compared to what someone had in store for me down the road. — Richard Pryor
You have to have lived some life. You’ve got to have paid some dues. — Richard Pryor
I realized this is what God has dealt me, and I should be thankful considering all that’s happened to me in my life, but MS caused the movies to stop – stop dead – and I miss it. — Richard Pryor
Most people that you talk to, they’s intelligent. Like I said, Most people. — Richard Pryor
Hawaii is the best form of comfort for me. When I die, I want to be cremated, and I want half my ashes spread in the Pacific around the island, the rest on the property. — Richard Pryor
I can’t just say the words, do a lot of one-liners. I love each person I play; I have to be that person. I have to do him true. — Richard Pryor
It’s been a struggle for me because I had a chance to be white and refused. — Richard Pryor
I was kicked out of school because of my attitude. I was not assimilating. So I went to work, taking any jobs I could get. — Richard Pryor
The MS really started going downhill in 1990. — Richard Pryor
He’s just always positive. He’s always smiling and he’s always trying. — Richard Pryor
I know that if I wasn’t scared, something’s wrong, because the thrill is what’s scary. — Richard Pryor
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
I don’t see myself getting married again, but if I do, it will be forever. — Richard Pryor
If I ain’t h*rny, I check to see if my heart’s beatin’. — Richard Pryor
That’s insanity. We must be good all the time. — Richard Pryor
The black groups that boycott certain films would do better to get the money together to make the films they want to see, or stay in church and leave us to our work. — Richard Pryor
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
You can have a film and have 200 white people working on it, and nobody finds anything wrong with that. But if you insist on having a black crew, all of a sudden there`s something wrong. — Richard Pryor
I never met anybody who said when they were a kid, I wanna grow up and be a critic. — Richard Pryor
No, I’m not dying, and I sure… ain’t dead. — Richard Pryor
Crosses only scare vampires away because they’re allergic to bullshit. — Richard Pryor
If you ask me about women’s lib, I say I don’t even know what that is. — Richard Pryor
The reason people use a crucifix against vampires is because vampires are allergic to bullshit. — Richard Pryor
There’s nothing worse than being an aging young person. — Richard Pryor
Even when I was a little kid, I always said I would be in the movies one day, and damned if I didn’t make it. — Richard Pryor
I believe in divine forces and energies. — Richard Pryor
Everyone carries around his own monsters. — Richard Pryor
I expected Dracula to come jumping out any second. If he did I’d have held up a cross, cause he’s allergic to bullshit. — Richard Pryor
I love show business. I wake up every morning and kiss it. — Richard Pryor
There’s a lot more hypocrisy than before. Racism has gone back underground. — Richard Pryor
I had to stop drinkin, cuz I got tired of waking up in my car driving ninety. — Richard Pryor
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
I ain’t no movie star, man. I’m a booty star. — Richard Pryor
There was a time in my life when I thought I had everything – millions of dollars, mansions, cars, nice clothes, beautiful women, and every other materialistic thing you can imagine. Now I struggle for peace. — Richard Pryor
A lie is profanity. A lie is the worst thing in the world. Art is the ability to tell the truth. — Richard Pryor
If you want a friend, you don’t buy a friend, Eric, you earn a friend through love and trust and respect. — Richard Pryor
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
I went through every phone book in Africa, and I didn’t find one god damned Pryor! — Richard Pryor
I’m for human lib, the liberation of all people, not just black people or female people or gay people. — Richard Pryor
When you’re running down the street on fire, people get out of your way! — Richard Pryor
Marriage is really tough because you have to deal with feelings… and lawyers. — Richard Pryor
Why get killed when you can run … your ego will heal much faster than a broken jaw. — Richard Pryor
You don’t get to be old bein’ no fool… — Richard Pryor
Reaping substantial profits from (the recordings) without ever having acquired any rights in such recordings. — Richard Pryor
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
Two things people throughout history have had in common are hatred and humour. I am proud that I have been able to use humour to lessen people’s hatred. — Richard Pryor
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
I urge you to ask yourself just how honorable it is to preside over the abuse and suffering of animals. — Richard Pryor
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
Someone called all the newspapers in New York and told them I’d died. I’ve been told by almost everyone it was an ex-wife – I’ve had a few so it’s hard to pinpoint which one – but who knows for sure? — Richard Pryor
I’m slower and some days are better than others, but I’m a fighter. — Richard Pryor
You work your butt off and somebody says you can’t have your record played because it offends them. Tyrants are made of such stuff. — Richard Pryor
Yes, I’m religious. God has shown me things, made certain ways clear to me. — Richard Pryor
I wanna grow up and be a critic. — Richard Pryor
My grandmother used to discipline me, I mean, beat my *ss, and I deserved them, too. — Richard Pryor
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
I believe the ability to think is blessed. If you can think about a situation, you can deal with it. The big struggle is to keep your head clear enough to think. — Richard Pryor
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
All humor is rooted in pain. — Richard Pryor
Who you gonna believe-me or your lying eyes? — Richard Pryor
I was brought up in a whorehouse in Peoria. My mother and father lived there and worked there. — Richard Pryor
I see people as the nucleus of a great idea that hasn’t come to be yet. — Richard Pryor
It’s so much easier for me to talk about my life in front of two thousand people than it is one-to-one. I’m a real defensive person, because if you were sensitive in my neighborhood you were something to eat. — Richard Pryor
Now they’re calling taking drugs an epidemic – that’s cos white folks are doing it. — Richard Pryor
I was a loner and never hung out with anyone. I never had any friends. — Richard Pryor
So after Another You I ran off to my very own piece of paradise, my home in Hana. — Richard Pryor
When I was in Africa, this voice came to me and said, Richard, what do you see? I said, I see all types of people. The voice said, But do you see any nigg*rs? I said, No. It said, Do you know why? ‘Cause there aren’t any. — Richard Pryor
I don’t want to go through life as a Wonder Wheel murderer! — Richard Pryor
When that fire hit your *ss, it will sober your *ss up quick! I saw something, I went, Well, that’s a pretty blue. You know what? That looks like… FIRE! Fire is inspirational. They should use it in the Olympics, because I ran the 100 in 4.3. — Richard Pryor
I believe in the institution of marriage, and I intend to keep trying till I get it right. — Richard Pryor
What I’m saying might be profane, but it’s also profound. — Richard Pryor
I live in racist America and I’m uneducated, yet a lot of people love me and like what I do, and I can make a living from it. You can’t do much better than that. — Richard Pryor
You gotta be cool when you’re macho man, cuz you can’t be sensitive and care about someone having a good time in bed, cuz that’s too scary… When you don’t use sensitivity when you’re having sex, or share some of your soul, nothing gonna happen, because men really get afraid. Men really get scared in bed. — Richard Pryor
Unfortunately, the show’s success comes at the expense of its biggest asset — the comedians themselves. — Richard Pryor
A sold-out house my first night back. Do you have any idea what kinda pressure that is? I could have been at home in my warm bed, playing Nintendo. — Richard Pryor
The way I see it, the earth is going to be here after we’re dead and gone. Even if it’s a polluted planet, and they messed it up. Where do they go from here – to another planet so they can mess that up too? — Richard Pryor
