Eddie Murphy quotes: on impact versus income, how fast life moves, his idol, some unusual advice, and more.
“Go after what you really want.”
“The dream is free. The hustle costs extra.”
“Work hard and be nice to people.”
“My desire to balance a challenging and creative work schedule, while appreciating the people that help me make it happen, strongly informs my definition of success.”
“I think you know what you’re supposed to do. Deep down inside I think everybody does and a lot of people just don’t go after it.”
“Every now and then you crash and burn, but that’s part of it.”
“I also learned something exceptional about what hard work and team play can get you.”
“Most people start out, they say, ‘I want to be a this but I’m going to be a that to make sure I have something to fall back on.’ What you’re doing is you’re setting yourself up for failure because you’re going, ‘There’s a possibility that I’m going to fall back.’ When you put that out there, then you fall back, but if you just say, ‘Hey, this is what I want to do,’ and you go do it, you usually get your stuff the way you want it man.”
“I’ve learned from several years of practice: you earn the right to bend the rules when you spend time following and learning within them.”
“Once your value is proven, you can start to gently buck the norms that have been set for you in your role, as long as you can prove that value to the organization.”
“Who are the people around you that have the blend of talent and personality to elevate your work? Seek out these people, ally yourself, and create a product where you all can shine. Then, find the people who need you in a role to elevate their work, and do that too.”
“Every bad decision I’ve made has been based on money. I grew up in the projects and you don’t turn down money there. You take it, because you never know when it’s all going to end. I made Cop III because they offered me $15 million. That $15 million was worth having Roger Ebert’s thumb up my ass.”
“All men are sculptors, constantly chipping away the unwanted parts of their lives, trying to create their idea of their masterpiece.”
“The advice I would give to someone is to not take anyone’s advice.”
“You can’t let the good things people say make you feel too good, because you’re going to let the bad things make you feel bad.”
“If you interact with anyone, ultimately, all people are the same. However they’re dressed, when you’re in the house with a person, they’re going to be a regular human being.”
“When I’m doing stand-up, it’s just me depending on me. I know how to go out there and make people laugh. I’ve been doing it since I was a teenager. I trust my instincts. I just go out and talk. A lot of the time I let the material come from the top of my head.”
“I’ve always had confidence. It came because I have lots of initiative. I wanted to make something of myself.”
“Anything you have to acquire a taste for was not meant to be eaten.”
“The best way you hurt rich people is by turning them into poor people.”
“That’s my idol, Elvis Presley. If you went to my house, you’d see pictures all over of Elvis. He’s just the greatest entertainer that ever lived. And I think it’s because he had such presence. When Elvis walked into a room, Elvis Presley was in the f*cking room. I don’t give a f*ck who was in the room with him, Bogart, Marilyn Monroe.”
“The welfare of our children is our main concern and their best interests are our first priority.”
“The thing about kids is that they express emotion. They don’t hold back. If they want to cry, they cry, and if they are in a good mood, they’re in a good mood.”
“I don’t know what my death row meal would be. I’m surprised that people can even eat when they’re on death row.”
“All inspiration comes from a higher power. The body is a shell. The creative spot is from God. You hear voices, everybody does. When you get older, you refer to it as intuition.”
“I knew I wanted to be in show business. I just happened to luck out and things happened.”
“I’m a comedian who got into movies, so I don’t really think of myself as an actor.”
“SNL is part of my history. I got on the show as a kid. That’s the show I got known from.”
“Being on SNL gives you a unique experience that almost no one else has. It’s like Harvard for the comic actor.”
“From the very beginning, I always tried to make dialogue flow comfortably; I always did that to make it seem more authentic.”
“I’ve made 30 movies and for the most part my movies work. In a business where success is an exception and not the rule, I’ve mostly been successful.”
“I have enough of a sense to know what works for me and what doesn’t, without going into some big thing and analyzing what I do. I’m in a position that allows me to do what I want to do, and I do it.”
“[On taking lousy movie roles] I don’t whore myself out as easily as I used to. I don’t think about money.”
“My wife ain’t gonna make love to me if I got no money!”
“I keep telling people I’ll make movies until I’m 50 and then I’ll go and do something else. I’m going to be a professional gentleman of leisure.”
“Homebody, absolutely. I’m 50 years old, beautiful house, I’m supposed to be home, chilling.”
“Seventy-five years. That’s how much time you get if you’re lucky. Seventy-five years. Seventy-five winters, seventy-five spring times, seventy-five summers, and seventy-five autumns. When you look at it like that, it’s not a lot of time, is it? Don’t waste them. Get your head out of the rat race and forget about the superficial things that preoccupy your existence and get back to what’s important now.”
“Have a little fun.”
“After all these years, I’ve done well and I’m cool. I feel comfortable in my skin, I’ve saved some paper, everybody’s healthy, my kids are beautiful and smart, doing different things, it’s all good.”
