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Margaret Cho Quotes

Margaret Moran Cho is an American stand-up comedian, actress, fashion designer, author, and singer-songwriter. Cho is best known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially regarding race and sexuality. She rose to prominence after creating and starring in the ABC sitcom All-American Girl , and became an established stand-up comic in the subsequent years.

She has also had endeavors in fashion and music, and has her own clothing line. Cho has also frequently supported LGBT rights and has won awards for her humanitarian efforts on behalf of women, Asian Americans, and the LGBT community.

As an actress, she has acted in such roles as Charlene Lee in It's My Party and John Travolta's FBI colleague in the action movie Face/Off. Cho was part of the cast of the TV series Drop Dead Diva on Lifetime Television, in which she appeared as Teri Lee, a paralegal assistant. In 2012 she was nominated for an Emmy Award for her guest starring role as Dictator Kim Jong-il on 30 Rock. Wikipedia  

✵ 5. December 1968
Margaret Cho photo
Margaret Cho: 179   quotes 0   likes

Famous Margaret Cho Quotes

“If you are a woman, if you are a person of colour, if you are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, if you are a person of size, if you are person of intelligence, if you are a person of integrity, then you are considered a minority in this world.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Tours and CDs, The Notorious C.H.O. Tour
Context: “And I have a lot of self-esteem, which is amazing, because I’m probably somebody who wouldn’t necessarily have a lot of self esteem as I am considered a minority and if you are a woman, if you are a person of color, if you are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, if you are a person of size, if you are person of intelligence, if you are a person of integrity, then you are considered a minority in this world. And it's going to be really hard to find messages of self-love and support anywhere. Especially women's and gay men's culture. It's all about how you have to look a certain way, or else you're worthless. You know, when you look in the mirror and think, ‘Ugh, I'm so ugly, I'm so fat, I'm so old.’ Don't you know that's not your authentic self? But that is billions upon billions of dollars of advertising. Magazines, movies, billboards, all geared to make you feel shitty about yourself, so that you will take your hard earned money and spend it at the mall on some turn-around crème that doesn't turn around shit. If you don't have self-esteem, you will hesitate before you do anything in your life. You will hesitate to go for the job you want to go for. You will hesitate to ask for a raise. You will hesitate to call yourself an American. You will hesitate to report a rape. You will hesitate to defend yourself when you are discriminated against because of your race, your sexuality, your size, your gender. You will hesitate to vote; you will hesitate to dream. For us to have self-esteem is truly an act of revolution, and our revolution is long overdue.

“Most conservatives also believe in the death penalty, but not abortion, which proves they like to procrastinate.”

Margaret Cho

Source: I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight

“I’m not going to die because I failed as someone else. I’m going to succeed as myself.”

Margaret Cho

And I'm gonna stay here and rock the mike until the next Korean-American, fag hag, shit starter, girl comic, trash talker comes up and takes my place!
From Her Tours and CDs, I'm The One That I Want Tour

“Bush is not Hitler. He would be if he applied himself.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, WAR

Margaret Cho Quotes about thinking

“Life is a tragedy for those who feel and a comedy for those who think.”

Margaret Cho

Source: I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight

“Don't you think the soldiers look like they came straight from high school yearbooks, too young to be over in Iraq, fighting for no reason?”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, WAR

“I am not so much angry as trying to find my own voice in the world, to find enough courage to speak up in the first place, then to go forth and use it, which both are monumental tasks and require more confidence than you'd think.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, SPEAKING UP

“I think that gay people should have the right to get married by Elvis like everybody else.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Tours and CDs, Revolution Tour

“I want to scream and shout, "Stop! We are all human beings!"…but I don't think anybody will hear it.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, INVISIBILITY

“Life is a tragedy for those who feel and a comedy for those who think. It is vital to mourn the victims of this government, but not at the expense of losing our sense of humor. Our ability to laugh directly coincides with our ability to fight. If we make fun of it, we can transcend it.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, ACTIVISM

Margaret Cho Quotes about people

“I have to watch the news and movies about the people who I am not, then translate my struggle in order to make it palatable for those people who don't have to march but are sympathetic to my voice.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, ACTIVISM

“People are surprised at the depth of resentment against Asian Americans, but it never shocks me. We are the object of hatred not only for the things we do but just being who we are, ching chong chinamen.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, RACISM AND CIVIL RIGHTS

“What is deeply distressing is the incredible number of people who are vehemently opposed to equality, and the need for them to deny gay rights simply because they cannot bear the thought of gays having rights.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, RACISM AND CIVIL RIGHTS

“I love Karl Lagerfeld, and they [PETA] hate him because he showed fur in his collection, and they protested his fashion show. People were chanting outside, "KARL LAGERFELD IS A MURDERER! KARL LAGERFELD IS A MURDERER!" And I thought, "Wouldn't it be fabulous if Karl Lagerfeld actually was a murderer?" Like, what if he just fuckin' lost it one day… backstage at a show in Milan… and bludgeoned Elsa Klensch to death with a platform shoe. "I HATE THAT BLOUSE!"”

Margaret Cho

From Her Tours and CDs, I'm The One That I Want Tour

“I was on a plane, and the steward was coming down the aisle. "Asian chicken salad… Asian chicken salad… Asian chicken salad…" And he gets to me and he's like, "… chicken salad!" What does he think I'm gonna do? "Dis is not de salad of my people! In my homeland, dey use mandarin orange slices… and crispy wonton crunches!"”

Margaret Cho

From Her Tours and CDs, Revolution Tour

“Talking to John Kerry is like talking to an Ent. You know, the tree people from Lord of the Rings…[imitating an Ent] I believe that all Americans should have affordable healthcare…”

Margaret Cho

From Her Tours and CDs, Assassin CD

Margaret Cho: Trending quotes

“I urge you all today, especially today in these times of terrorism and chaos to love yourselves without reservation and to love each other without restraint. Unless you're into leather; then by all means, use restraints.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Tours and CDs, The Notorious C.H.O. Tour

Love , Time

Margaret Cho Quotes

“I have so much hate that it has turned into love.”

Margaret Cho

Source: I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight

Love , Hate

“strange, there's so much religion in the world, but only enough to make us fight over who is right, not enough to make us love one another.”

Margaret Cho
Love , World , Religion , Fight

“If we have the opportunity to be generous with our hearts, ourselves, we have no idea of the depth and breadth of love's reach.”

Margaret Cho
Love , Idea , Heart

“I stood in front of a hundred and one critics at a critic's convention and a critic asked me, "Miss Cho, isn't it true that your management asked you to lose weight to play the part of yourself in your own TV show?" Gail [the producer] grabbed the mike from me and said, "There is no truth in that whatsoever."”

Margaret Cho

I...was so...hungry.
From Her Tours and CDs, I'm The One That I Want Tour

Truth , Parting

“Then there was this extra on the set who runs up to me and says, "Oh, I know you! I know who you is, I seen you before. You that comedienne, Margaret Cho! I saw you at the Comedy Store. You was wearin' a kimono and you was bowin'." "No, that's the other one." "Oh, right! Now I remember. I just didn't recognize you because you've put on a little weight since your show." And it didn't piss me off that she said that, but it was that she said, "You put on a lot of *gestures* weight!" so I'll know exactly where I put it. And it pissed me off, so I just sort of talked about it to everybody for the whole day. The next day I come into work and the assistant producer comes over to me and says, "Uh, you know that lady from the other day? Well, don't worry. We took care of her."”

Margaret Cho

Oh my God! What did you do?! Suddenly I felt like I was running around like this tyrant, all drunk with power- "Nobody can call me fat on this set!"
From Her Tours and CDs, Drunk With Power CD

God

“Like when Jay Leno made jokes about Koreans eating dog, but the hidden messages, our invisibility, is more harmful to us than any of those fools on "board."”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, INVISIBILITY

Dogs , Fools

“Racism is one of the biggest taboos in our culture, yet most discrimination against Asian-Americans goes largely unnoticed…its blown off by the rest of the media as a joke, as in "Look at them. They get all up in arms over nothing."”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, INVISIBILITY

“One of my first jobs was on a lesbian cruise. I was the ship comedian for the Lesbian Love Boat.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Tours and CDs, I'm The One That I Want Tour

Love

“We are more aware and politicized than ever before. There is very little ambiguity as to which side you are on.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, ACTIVISM

“Self-hatred is a devastatingly difficult habit to break, especially when we are mostly unaware of it.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, MENTAL COLONIZATION

“[on having a gay child] And the Three Wise Drag Queens would come, bearing gifts of 1000-thread-count sheets, hair products by Frédéric Fekkai, and a copy of the Immaculate Collection.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Tours and CDs, Revolution Tour

“We are no longer afraid to voice our opinions, to use our power, to pool our resources, to allow our differences to unite us instead of keeping us apart.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, ACTIVISM

“I'm very inappropriate, which makes me a problem dinner guest, because at some point during the evening someone inevitably says, "OK, heh heh heh, OK, too much information! Heh heh heh. Don't go there!" I live there. I bought a house there.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Tours and CDs, Revolution Tour

Problem , Housing

“I am fighting when I'm sleeping. In my dreams, I must slay the dragon of European heterosexual male society, then I wake up in the morning and be an activist.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, ACTIVISM

Dreams , Sleep , Fight

“[An article about Cho] started out, "Funny, sexy, zaftig Margaret Cho…" What is "zaftig?" Isn't that German for "big fat pig?" I guess I was lucky- "zaftig" is kind of a nice word. It could have been, "Funny, sexy, OBESE Margaret Cho."”

Margaret Cho

From Her Tours and CDs, Drunk With Power CD

“Having to remind others of your American status, fear of being connected to the enemy because of ancestral ties, the threat so prevalent that it makes you put not one but two giant flags outside is not right.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, RACISM AND CIVIL RIGHTS

Fear

“Monogamy is so weird. Like when you know their name and stuff.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Tours and CDs, Revolution Tour

“If I'm talking to a guy who's straight and cute and single, I'm like, "Are you a unicorn?"”

Margaret Cho

From Her Tours and CDs, I'm The One That I Want Tour

Guy

“These new ways of looking at ourselves politically redefine what it means to be American. It took our until now, very passive identity and turned us all into revolutionaries.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, ACTIVISM

Way

“What is needed now is action, not hopelessness”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, ACTIVISM

“I feel 100% responsible, even though there's nothing I could do to prevent it. What good is my guilt if it's not felt by those supposedly in charge?”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, NATIONALISM

Feeling

“I stamp my feet and claim ignorance like a child, because its the color of my skin that says I'm supposed to know. I become the "one who refuses to see the self."”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, PIGEONHOLING PEOPLE

Color

“Then there are the laws against homosexuality. Then there is the Asian exclusion act. Then there the internment of Japanese Americans. I'm not even going to talk about Guantanamo. And then there is the first American hate crime: taking this land from the Native Americans. We can keep it up forever. Hate Crime Trivial Pursuit. There are more than enough hate crimes to play a decent round.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, RACISM AND CIVIL RIGHTS

Hate , Law

“The way some of these politicians talk about homosexuality is very insulting. They treat it like it's a disease, like being gay is contagious. Being gay is not contagious. And if you think that it is, YOU'RE GAY.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Tours and CDs, Assassin CD

Disease , Way , Thinking

“We don't have the luxury of our own privatized civil rights movements because the crimes - the ignorance, the rage, the hate against the who/what/why of some of us, is a much much larger foe. Together we are more than the sum of our parts. In union, in communion, in joining hands, we conquer all, because we have love on our side.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, RACISM AND CIVIL RIGHTS

Love , Hate , Rage , Parting

“There was never a lack of reasons to hate myself, to hate my body.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, HATING ONESELF

Hate

“I could care less where my breasts are as long as they are on my body, … and I'm sorry I just don't care that much about gravity…. My lawless, braless ways are rather outlaw.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, HATING ONESELF

Way

“If racial minorities, sexual minorities, feminists both male and female, hell, all liberals got together and had this big "too much information," "go there," voice…that would equal power. And that power would equal change. And that change would equal a revolution.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Tours and CDs, Revolution Tour

Hell , Change

“Just as we pull up to this place… I notice two very large American flags… It's as if there was a need to emphasize the Americanness of this place. "We are American" says the first flag. "No we really are!" says the second. It struck me as enormously sad, somehow awkward and tragic.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, NATIONALISM

Sadness

“How many Americans lives have been lost in this brutal and needless war? How many Iraqi? How many names do we know on either side?”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, WAR

War

“Why do Republicans hate gay marriage so much? They certainly don't hate gay prostitutes.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Tours and CDs, Assassin CD

Hate , Marriage

“So I was drinking tequila, and I was drinking grappa, which is Italian for gasoline, and I was drinking Jägermeister, which I believe is the liquid equivalent of Wonder Woman's golden lasso, because it will make you tell anybody the truth for no reason whatsoever. "You have really bad skin. Thanks for the drink."”

Margaret Cho

From Her Tours and CDs, Drunk With Power CD

Truth , Drink

“I had always regarded the world of political humor as the exclusive domain of white men and immediately disqualified myself from participation. I know better now, its immensely pleasing when I'm referred to as a political comedian…”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, MENTAL COLONIZATION

Men , World

“Whenever I get hate mail, the verbal assault is always racial.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, RACISM AND CIVIL RIGHTS

Hate

“Why am I political? Because society's consistent and constant disregard and lack of respect for minorities, even the title minority, is too much to bear silently. Their insistence at our invisibility, whether subtle as noninclusion, or as loud and violent as hate crimes, is contagious, and can make me hide from myself.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, SPEAKING UP

Hate

“We have allowed alarmist and racist attitudes to take us hostage, and if these impulses are not kept in check they will behead us all.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, RACISM AND CIVIL RIGHTS

“Something traumatic happened to me when I was younger. I was with this old black woman, and she was very wise, very Alice Walker, The Color Purple…she looked at me and she says, "Baby…you know I used to be able to fly but I can't fly no more, baby. But baby, you…? You too fat to fly."”

Margaret Cho

From Her Tours and CDs, Drunk With Power CD

Color , Baby , Flying

“We justify those atrocities because, well, they're doing their best for their country, but then again, that exactly what the hooded executioners…”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, NATIONALISM

Country

“The amount of racism, sexism, homophobia, and hatred in general that lies beneath the surface of the American dream is astounding and serious.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, RACISM AND CIVIL RIGHTS

Dreams

“When we never see who we are, never hear what we think about things, what we are doing as a group or what we are doing individually, then it is as if we are never there in the first place. Silence = Nonexistence.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, INVISIBILITY

Thinking , Silence

“This land is your land, but this land isn't my land - that is what so many of us thought. This 2nd class citizenship has sunk in so deeply that we have barely an awareness of it.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, INVISIBILITY

“We were taping the episodes of the show. I guess they had decided they could now fit my face onto a TV screen, and they wouldn't have to letterbox it.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Tours and CDs, I'm The One That I Want Tour

“I don't know how to find our voice. It catches in my throat when I try to use it. If I do manage to get something out, its met with very vocal opposition from all kinds of surprising sources.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, INVISIBILITY

“A Korean reporter once asked me, "Do you think your Korean parents are ashamed because you talk about what you talk about on stage?" I said, "I don't think they're ashamed because they're Korean. I think any parents would be ashamed."”

Margaret Cho

From Her Tours and CDs, I'm The One That I Want Tour

Thinking , Parent

“Do I look like a happy-ending to you?”

Margaret Cho

From Her Tours and CDs, Beautiful Tour

Happiness

“I want morning-after pills more than over the counter; I want morning-after pills with my check at dinner. I want morning-after pills on my hotel pillow when I go to bed at night.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Tours and CDs, Assassin CD

Night

“[About Christian Groups] They have no rights to call themselves "Christians", because they have no Christianity to them; they have no kindness, no compassion, no charity. I want Jesus to come back and say: "THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!"”

Margaret Cho

Source: From Her Tours and CDs, Assassin CD

“I try every day to challenge myself further, and I believe in doing this I slay the monster (within) bit by bit. That's why being political is an essential part of my life. In the end, its all I have.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, ACTIVISM

Life , Parting

“I am admittedly insecure about my racial identity, an attitude that has much improved since my younger days when I absolutely abhorred it. Any attention paid to me being different was incredibly shameful…but the mirrors became too much…what a disappointing reality check!”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, HATING ONESELF

Disappointment , Reality

“Our nation bringing slaves from Africa was the biggest hate crime of all. Then, when the slaves were freed, there wasn't anywhere for them to go. Then came the reign of terror by the KKK that never really ended. Then there is the fact that none of this stuff is taught in American History, at least not in detail.”

Margaret Cho

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, RACISM AND CIVIL RIGHTS

Hate , History

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