Margaret Cho Quotes
page 3

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

Derek Nicoletto, Derek and Margaret Cho / CC BY-SA 2.0

Margaret Cho: 179 quotes0 likes

Margaret Cho Quotes

“Of course, we're there because of weapons of mass destruction that do not exist.”

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

“I slept with a woman on the ship, and afterwards I was thinking, "Am I gaaaay? Am I straaaaight?" And then I realized: I'm just slutty. Where's my parade?”

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

“If you are not a feminist, you do not deserve to live. Do you think you grew out of the ground?”

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

“So I was on the ship, with 800 lesbians. We can't get off. So much drama. "Were you looking at her or her or her or her or her or her or her or her or her or her or her or her? WELL, WERE YOU?!" We all got on the same cycle.”

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

“Might does not equal right…fortunately, the majority holds power by a very small margin. There are certain things the majority has no right to mess with, certain things that are definitely worth fighting for--worth defending and worth offending.”

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

“The only way to push forward instead of wasting away in the purgatorial procrastination of worry is to just not care what the outcomes. I need to just start running downhill with my eyes shut. There are no guarantees that I will be able to survive this world, where the air is rare for minorities like myself. But that suits me just fine. I'm a risk taker that way.”

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

“I love America. I'm not moving. It's cool. I just don't like seeing dead people.”

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

“Feminism is nonnegotiable.”

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

“No matter what these terrorists do, I refuse to be terrorized. All this requires is just a few alterations in our day to day lives. For example, my first instinct when I receive an envelope full of white powder…is to snort it! I just won't do that this time!”

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

“The people I choose to admire are not necessarily popular, not necessarily terribly well known, but they each have something to offer me, a lesson, a cautionary tale, an idea, an inspiration.”

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

“This old fellow came up to me and asked, "Excuse me, are you Japanese?" No, I'm Korean. "Oh, really, that's very interesting, because I was looking at you and I knew you were not Filipino. I have many Filipino friends and you do not look like them because you're very HUSKY!!" Is that supposed to be some kind of a compliment? "Oh, no, it's not bad, you're very strong, very HUSKY!"”

From Her Tours and CDs, Drunk With Power CD

“My association is so painfully close that avoidance is the only way I know to retain my identity. It's ridiculous and embarrassing. I hate feeling this way, because it forces me to see how deeply racism has affected me.”

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

“Prejudice and bigotry rot me from within, and the strains of these viruses are hearty and hard to kill.”

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

“Of course America is responsible for the total body count. We started it, we own it, we sow, we reap, but we are also disconnected from the responsibility of our won dirty acts of war.”

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

“My parents have lived in the United States since 1964 and they have never voted. They don't feel they have a right to. They don't feel this is their country. Even though they are citizens, they pay taxes, they watch the news and keep up with current events, they still don't feel comfortable enough with their American life to fully participate in it…Any attempt to argue is thwarted by dismissal…I guess he doesn't want to explain, because how can you explain something as intangible as invisibility?”

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

“I add to the culture of invisibility becoming complicit with it.”

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

“Body dysmorphia has got to go. Its similar to a disease called "crazy eyes" not the way others look at you, but the way you see yourself. The insanity which we use as our vision….”

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

“Ultimately a government cannot defeat its people, no matter how much power they assume or how corrupt they are. For us, there is only opportunity.”

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

“The terrible thing about invisibility is the lengths we will go to be seen.”

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

“Stop the fantasy we need to be defending freedom, because we don't have freedom in our own country yet.”

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

“With salons all over the West serving up specialties like "Barely Legal", removing all hair from the area to replicate the genitalia of an underage girl, as statutory rape seems all the rage.”

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

“Because even though there is all this talk about multiculturalism in television and the movie industries, I have yet to see any evidence of it.”

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

“Playing it safe is not productive for anyone, because safety requires gays and lesbians to be invisible, and the inhumanity engendered by making people invisible is anything but safe, rather, it puts us all in danger. When we are banned from the places we should be welcomed, where we should not only be allowed but encouraged to speak, where should we go then?”

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

“I love my gay male friends, but when I was a little girl, I always used to wish that I would be constantly surrounded by gorgeous guys, and I am, and I should have been more specific.”

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

“So they cancelled our show, and gave the time slot to Drew Carey, because he's so skinny.”

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

“Trying to fault gays and lesbians for standing up for their rights is backwards and unconscionable. We have no idea how powerful we actually are. We were never considered part of the general, respectable population.”

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

“Swept up in a grand illusion that I might be able to eat, have a roof over my head, own some pretty dresses and realize, in a vastly heady way, that I could make a living doing my art, which was the only dream I ever had, what could I say but "Yes, where do I sign?"”

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, FOLLOWING YOUR DREAMS

“We have no idea what our nation is doing in our name. I don't want to be anyone's captor, anyone's torturer.”

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

“We have a date to rumble with stupidity, ignorance, prejudice, laziness, hatred, and greed.”

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

“The first thing that you lose on a diet is brain mass.”

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

“The only thing that was sort of Asian [as a role model] was Hello Kitty. I don't want to model myself after Hello Kitty.”

She has no mouth.
From Her Tours and CDs, Revolution Tour

“I would be happy to have a gay child. He would be a Boy Scout, and he would teach all the other Boy Scouts how to build a fire with two sticks and a back-handed compliment.”

From Her Tours and CDs, Revolution Tour

“I didn't know if I was going to mention my period on stage, but then I figured, if Richard Pryor had a period, he would talk about it.”

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

“It was hard for me to do the show (All-American Girl) because a lot of people didn't even understand the concept of Asian-American. I was on a morning show and the host said, "Awright, Margaret, we're changing over to an ABC affiliate! So why don't you tell our viewers in your native language that we're making that transition?" So I looked at the camera and said, "Um, they're changing over to an ABC affiliate."”

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

“I knew I was crazy because I was watching Jesus Christ Superstar and the part where Jesus carries the cross up the mountain, I actually said to myself, "Wow! That must be a really good workout! Yeah, because you're doing arms and cardio!"”

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

“Racism is a cancer that is unstoppable if left unchecked.”

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

“[quoting her producer] "The network is concerned. They're concerned about the fullness of your face. They think you're really overweight and you're going to have to do something about it." I didn't know what to say to that. I always thought I was decent looking; I had no idea that I was a giant face taking over America! HERE COMES THE FACE!!”

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

“Then there is Dick Cheney, who essentially said that if Kerry is voted in as president, terrorism will hit America again. How is that? Is Cheney going to make some calls? Apparently he has the hook up.”

From Her Weblog

“San Francisco fucking rules. I am so proud of my home town for legalizing gay marriage, sending gays and lesbians down to the city by the Bay that was built on rock and roll to tie the knot.”

From Her Weblog

“What people need to understand is pussy is the Front Door to Life. Do you get that? Nobody ever thinks about it like that in the dusty ancient cabinet of old white men that think they know everything.”

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

“Whenever you hear the words chink, nigger, beaner, paki, sissy, bull dyke, faggot, cunt, bitch, ho, jap…because through no fault of your own, you happen to be you, and apparently to the person saying it something is wrong with that.”

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

“All I ask for is a chance to have the same kind of forum, the right to speak, the same credibility as thee wrong-ass ignant fools. But the producers of these types of shows think tht I will only talk about tai chi, where to get the best sushi on the West Side, how to feng-shui your office…the fact that the media at large look at my race before they hear my voice = fucked up shit.”

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

“I had a colonic irrigation in this clinic in Santa Monica, because people in Los Angeles cannot do anything for themselves, much less take a shit.”

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

“Whenever anyone has called me a bitch, I have taken it as a compliment. To me, a bitch is assertive, unapologetic, demanding, intimidating, intelligent, fiercely protective, in control — all very positive attributes. But it’s not supposed to be a compliment, because there’s that stupid double standard: When men are aggressive and dominant, they are admired, but when a woman possesses those same qualities, she is dismissed and called a bitch.These days, I strive to be a bitch, because not being one sucks. Not being a bitch means not having your voice heard. Not being a bitch means you agree with all the bullshit. Not being a bitch means you don’t appreciate all the other bitches who have come before you. Not being a bitch means since Eve ate that apple, we will forever have to pay for her bitchiness with complacence, obedience, acceptance, closed eyes, and open legs.”

[Foreword, Bitchfest: Ten Years of Cultural Criticism from the Pages of Bitch Magazine, Lisa Miya-Jervis, Andi Zeisler, New York, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 9780374113438, 7422990M, xv, http://books.google.com/books?id=tmgYKGjl9BcC&pg=PR15]

“I love the word "faggot," because it describes my kind of guy! You see, I am a fag hag. Fag hags are the backbone of the gay community. Without us, you're nothing!”

We have been there all through history guiding your sorry ass through the underground railroad! We went to the prom with you!
From Her Tours and CDs, I'm The One That I Want Tour

“I was working on this movie and the makeup artist was just so ugly! I just wanted to say "Physician, heal thyself!"”

She looked exactly like Aaron Neville, and she was trying her hardest to make me look exactly like Aaron Neville. This one time, she leaned into my face with the mascara wand almost touching my eye and she says, "Whass my name?"
From Her Tours and CDs, Drunk With Power CD

“Because I wasn't Asian enough- they decided to hire an Asian Consultant.”

Because I was fucking it up as an Asian. She would follow me around: "Margaret! Use chopsticks! And when you're done eating, you can put them in your hair. Now you're wearing shoes, which is something we don't do in the house. Now I'm just going to leave this abacus right here..."
From Her Tours and CDs, I'm The One That I Want Tour

“I was on the floor in the emergency room, and the woman came up to me and said "Hi, my name is Gwen and I'm here to wash your vagina!"”

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

“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.
From Her Tours and CDs, Revolution 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!"
From Her Tours and CDs, Revolution Tour

Similar authors

Jimmy Carr photo

Jimmy Carr20

British comedian and humourist None

Jim Carrey photo

Jim Carrey21

Canadian-American actor, comedian, and producer None

Jared Leto photo

Jared Leto12

American actor and musician None

Lady Gaga photo

Lady Gaga56

American singer, songwriter, and actress None

Jenny Han photo

Jenny Han226

American writer None