Quotes from Bernie Mac

That's the whole key to anything: Don't be afraid to fail. And Bernie Mac is not afraid to fail.

I'm so black, I leave fingerprints on coal.

It took me a long time to get to where I'm at, in my career and as a man. I was going through my trials and tribulations in life, and it gave me the strength to tackle things that have come my way.

Sometimes when you lose you win, son. Failure is just life's way of preparing you for success.

The success of my comedy has been not being afraid to touch on subject matters or issues that everyone else is politically scared of.

I hate to compare anything, especially while I'm promoting. I feel that's another disrespect, but 'Ocean's 13' is the best movie I've ever done in my life. No question.

My humor had changed from foolishness to making sense.

I became the storyteller of South Side Chicago. I used an old Kiwi liquid shoe polish as a microphone. I'd go around the house interviewing everybody, telling stupid jokes, doing voices. I mimicked Sidney Poitier, Sammy Davis Jr., people on 'Laugh-In,' Flip Wilson.

The one thing about comedy, making it become a part of you, the audience loves it, because you become part of them.

My girlfriend Rhonda, who's now my wife, I graduated from high school, she got pregnant. My grandfather said, 'You've got to do the right thing.'

Suffering is a good teacher. It keeps you in its grip until you've learned your lesson.

My grandmother always told me how you start is how you finish.

It was rough being dark. I got heat from my own people more than anyone else. I remember going to my mom and saying, 'Why am I so black?' And she said, 'Because I'm black. You just gotta always work harder than the average bear.'

You know you poor when you eatin' breakfast food late. You fryin' toast? At nine o'clock at night? With bacon? You're broke.

You don't see me in Los Angeles a lot. I go back home. Because I can't play the game. I can't - my tolerance - I know I'm getting old; I'll be 50 this year. And you know how I know I'm getting old? 'Cause my tolerance level is low.

You know, every time it comes, every time that light comes on or every time that camera comes on, every time that microphone comes on, the Mac Man seek and destroy.

I can act. I've been acting for a long time, but like anything else, don't nobody owe you nothing. You've go to pay your dues. You go from A to Z; you don't go from M to Z.

Why I was so intrigued with Red Skelton was because he was able to make you cry and laugh and the same time. That was power.

My name is Bernard Jeffrey McCullough, but people know me as Bernie Mac. My mama, God rest her soul - she used to call me Beanie. Used to say, 'Don't you worry about Beanie. Beanie gonna be just fine. Beanie gonna surprise everyone.'

Whatever success I've had, I always like to top it.

I love who I am. I love what I've become.

I love my daughter, but there's a certain feeling, a certain emotion when you got a granddaughter, you know?

Why do people love Richard Pryor so much? 'Cause he had problems.

Bernie Mac is relentless. That's one thing I like about him. He's not PC. He doesn't care what you think. He's going out there to please that audience.