Top 50 Larry Wilmore Quotes

Police have to have one of the most difficult jobs in society today. But at the same time, I think, a person in that position – their responsibility has to be high as well.

I would consider myself more a passionate centrist.

When you‘re taking chances, you know it’s not going to please everybody.

When you use the word ‘fair‘ in television, you’re already in a fantasy world. Nothing is really fair in television.

One of the missions of ‘The Nightly Show’ was to have a conversation with America in a sense, and talk about the things that people didn’t want to talk about it.

I have a free voice. I have a free mind. I have freedom of expression.

I don’t take pleasure in anyone‘s demise, really.

I’d rather go after the people who are the guardians or what we’re doing – the news people and the politicians and that sort of thing. I always feel like those should be my targets, not really entertainers. That’s just my personal opinion.

I guess I hadn’t counted on ‘The Unblackening’ happening to my time slot as well.

People aren’t autonomous creatures. They’re under a lot of pressure themselves.

You are always, always overwhelmed by positive response because you know it can go either way.

Sometimes I’d say what’s bad for the country is good for my business, unfortunately.

Even though you’re in charge, you’re not completely in ownership. You know, the audience takes a huge ownership of your show. Look at comments about shows and tell me if I’m wrong. Look at shows like ‘The Walking Dead‘ and the ownership that the audience has of that show.

I really enjoyed being able to be one of the people who weighed in on the events. As hard as it is to do that every day, because it is exhausting, it really is fun to do that, especially when you feel like you really did something well, and it really hit.

Richard Pryor was my hero. Richard Pryor was keeping it 100.

I am from Pomona, California. I was born in Los Angeles.

I have this rule. It’s called ‘Top Dog-Underdog:’ Underdog gets to make fun of Top Dog, but Top Dog can’t make fun of Underdog. But you know what? You get Top Dog, you get to be Top Dog. Congratulations! And that dynamic happens not just in race but in many different ways. It’s like the male-female dynamic.

I like ‘The Nightly Show.’ People ask me what it is, and I say, ‘If you’re watching ‘The Daily Show,’ and it feels like it’s getting a little darker, you’re probably watching ‘The Nightly Show.”

I don’t think I ever intend to provoke outrage, but I don’t mind being provocative in content.

When you work in television, you’re in the writer‘s room all the time.

The last thing I would ever do is try to become a network programmer.

I’m too tired most of the time. Why do I have to take a stand on everything? Sometimes, I’m just not mad at it.

As long as you say I’m the guy who’s real about it, I have no problem being the person who people look to to talk about race.

The business part of it can be very vexing. You always have to keep certain metrics and everything. Because all I can do is make a good show.

The fact that we live in a world where black people have to strategize so they’re not brutalized by police is insane.

Not everybody’s gonna get your vision.

My white counterparts are always pushing the line, and they are fearless, so why can’t I do that, too?

I just feel it’s important to make sure that behind the scenes is as filled with diverse voices as in front of the scene is.

I’m not the type of person to have a schadenfreude.

We had a segment called Tampon Tuesdays that I was very proud of; that was hilarious because there are a lot of women‘s issues out there that a lot of people don’t know about because they’re not women, and they don’t have to go through them.

Remember, MTV would only show white videos for a long time. Can you imagine that? That was the ’80s when that happened. It’s hard to even think of that now, you know?

I’m not a homosexual, but if I can be an ally for that issue, I think it’s fantastic.

MSNBC got rid of so many black people, I thought Boko Haram was running that network.

The thing that’s worked for me is having as much of a connection to the material as possible. And sometimes the material requires a more straightforward approach, and sometimes it requires a little more silliness, you know?

I’m not going to grouse and complain when there’s nothing I can do about it. Once you’ve broken up with somebody, arguing with them is not going to bring them back. You may want to stop their Twitter account or call them up late at night, but they made the decision to leave.

Salt Lake City gave me a lot of surprises. How progressive the city actually is, for instance, compared to the rest of Utah – it’s like this purple dot in a sea of red. And the government there is kind of a mix of conservative values and progressive ideas.

When most people become president, even if you disagree with their ideology, you can still agree that they would have the competence to run something… With Trump, I do not have the confidence of that at all.

There’s something about a new family moving into the White House that’s kind of interesting, even if you didn’t vote for them.

I was taught from a very early age that I had to work twice as hard to get half as much. That was the world I grew up in – a very strong work ethic.

Whenever I did sitcoms, that always happened on your show. Once the show was on the air, it takes on a life of its own. It develops, and it becomes something else.

I didn’t get into comedy to talk about violent death all the time.

My joke is that three black people watch ‘The Daily Show’ at any given time. So if I’m watching it, that counts, and there’s only two left. It’s a silly joke, but you know, different types of comedy reach different cultures.

When you have somebody like a Donald Trump – he made no bones about trying to disprove Barack Obama‘s Americanism in trying to make him out to be some foreigner that was born in Kenya. I thought that to be very racist.

Doing a TV show is different because it’s more of a TV version of something. A more focused take on things.

I think the term ‘fair reporting‘ is overused when it comes to journalism. I think saying they want to report evenly is more accurate.

Writing is the most frustrating, but it’s something that I’ve always done.

You have to stay alert. You’ve got to keep raising your game.

A lot of my family on both sides have worked in education and nursing, and my grandmother was a nurse; my sister is a nurse, and her – my other sister’s daughter is going into nursing. There’s a lot of that in the family.

My father was in law enforcement growing up. He was a probation officer. And I’ve always understood the point of view of the peace officer, you know, because of my dad.

I love the word ‘dearth,’ by the way. It’s one of my favorite words.