Charles Barkley Quotations

But when I see a story on welfare on television, they only show black people.

My family got all over me because they said Bush is only for the rich people. Then I reminded them, 'Hey, I'm rich'.

The only difference between a good shot and a bad shot is if it goes in or not.

You know it's going to hell when the best rapper out there is white and the best golfer is black.

I know I'm never as good or bad as one single performance. I've never believed in my critics or my worshippers, and I've always been able to leave the game at the arena.

My initial response was to sue her for defamation of character, but then I realized that I had no character.

Sometimes that light at the end of the tunnel is a train.

I'm not a role model... Just because I dunk a basketball doesn't mean I should raise your kids.

Poor people cannot rely on the government to come to help you in times of need. You have to get your education. Then nobody can control your destiny.

Just because you say something doesn't make it controversial, and it doesn't make you a bad person.

The main thing to do is relax and let your talent do the work.

These are my new shoes. They're good shoes. They won't make you rich like me, they won't make you rebound like me, they definitely won't make you handsome like me. They'll only make you have shoes like me. That's it.

Somebody hits me, I'm going to hit him back. Even if it does look like he hasn't eaten in a while.

One thing about being famous is the people around you, you pay all their bills so they very rarely disagree with you because they want you to pick up the check.

I think that the team that wins game five will win the series. Unless we lose game five.

I don't care what people think. people are stupid.

I don't know what that gas is made of, but it can't smell any worse than Ernie Johnson 's gym bag.

I don't think of myself as giving interviews. I just have conversations. That gets me in trouble.

What I try to do is, I just want the fans to enjoy the game.

I think anybody who is racist is an idiot whether they are black or white.

We don't need refs, but I guess white guys need something to do.

I'm not paid to be a role model, parents should be role models.

This place? Nothing positive. OK, I want to say something positive. It's positively a dump.

I know that I'm never as good or bad as any single performance. I've never believed my critics or my worshippers, and I've always been able to leave the game at the arena.

If somebody hits you with an object you should beat the hell out of them.

I'm a mad dog whose only concern is winning.

See, my hope and dream is that people have a good time watching basketball. It's not church. It's not serious.

Any professional league that goes on strike right now - that's just suicide.

Well, all I can say is that people know I'm not saying anything out of malice.

It ain't like we're curing cancer or anything, we're watching basketball.

Kids are great. That's one of the best things about our business, all the kids you get to meet. It's a shame they have to grow up to be regular people and come to the games and call you names.

I love New York City; I've got a gun.

I think you have an obligation to be honest.

Look, I'm in the top 20 of players who ever lived.

One of the worst days of my life was telling Dick Ebersol I was going to TNT.

I never would say a player stinks. Ever. I'll tell you their team stinks, and first of all, they know their team stinks. And the fans know their team stinks.

Where the Red Cross has helped is in determining what families get these homes, ... That's the hard part, picking who gets what.

We were hoping to try for a top five in the points and now we're trying to hold on for a top 10,

We've won some heat races and had some decent finishes but we haven't been able to get the luck to win a feature,

America is divided by economics, and we as Americans, we've got to do a better job of supporting poor people.

I'm so sick and tired of people in the media telling us that because of the war, sports aren't important. Fans need sports. We'd have only crime and war to watch on TV if not for sports.

I think it sucks that in our country [the USA] there is such a double standard education-wise. Which part of the city you live in, or something like that, determines if you'll be successful, and that's not fair.

I don't have time to put up with the politics. Who's a Democrat? Who's a Republican? Who's liberal? Who's conservative? Man, can my daughter just go to a school and not get killed? Can these people get a good job? That's what I'm concerned about.

I don't believe athletes should be role models. . . . We're a one-shot deal, one in a million, so we should be the least likely role models. . . . I think one of the problems in society today is that we don't stress education enough, because we glorify athletes, actors and actresses.

We're not all supposed to think alike.

You can't start a diet in the middle of the week, that's just stupid.

Those Grizzlies are more like pandas.

On his homesickness during the Barcelona Olympics -I miss America. I miss crime and murder. I miss Philadelphia. There hasn't been a brutal stabbing or anything here the last 24 hours. I've missed it.

Jerry Krause must have pictures of his boss's wife having sex with a monkey.

They run like deer, jump like deer and think like deer.

When I speak to kids I tell them, 'Hey, you think your parents are a pain in the ass now, but they're going to get smarter as you get older.'

Any time a little midget does something like this, you gotta give him a 10!.

I’d rather have a gay guy who can play than a straight guy who can’t play.

The word conservative means discriminatory practically. It's a form of political discrimination. What do the Republicans run on? Against gay marriage and for a war that makes no sense. A war that was based on faulty intelligence. That's all they ever talk about. That and immigration. Another discriminatory argument for political gain.

I was a Republican until they lost their minds

Every time I hear the word conservative it makes me sick to my stomach...

They don't let many black people in the governor's mansion in Alabama, unless they're cleaning.

If you can't slam with the best, then jam with the rest

Everybody in New York thinks the Knicks are Playboy bunnies, and I have been telling them for years the Knicks are a rabbit. They're closer to a Playboy bunny this year but for the last few years these guys are like, 'We have a really good team!' And I say, 'You really think that?' And I say, 'No, they don't.' But this is the best team they've had in a while.

Thank God for Jerry Springer's show. I thought only black folks were that screwed up until I watched Jerry Springer.

It's the kind of game that makes you go home and beat your wife.

They always try to make it like jocks discriminate against gay people. I've been a big proponent of gay marriage for a long time, because as a black person, I can't be in for any form of discrimination at all.

I'm never embarassed.

Hakeem couldn't kick your ass cause you were too close, kissing his!

I'm afraid of the skeletons in my closet. I've got a whole cemetery full of them.

There's no medical term for what I've got.

I have nothing against old people; I want to be one myself one day.

Sometimes I have to criticize guys to try to make it fun, I mean, I'm out there trying to bust other people. I want all these guys to do well, but when they do something stupid or don't play well, I try not to kill 'em, I try to make 'em laugh a little bit.

I'm still going to Disney World.

My wife's married. I'm not.

I don't mess with that cat. I'm pretty sure he carries a blade under his jersey.

Only poor people go to jail.

We're just playing basketball. It's not like we're going out to have unprotected sex with Magic.

Christian is going to be the strongest man in the NBA next year, because all he's been doing all summer is carrying around the luggage for 11 guys.

Hey Steve, no offense, but if you couldn't shoot, there would be no reason for you to be alive.

Say, Cuttino. What are those Godawful clothes you're wearing? Man, this ain't Rhode Island anymore. You're in the NBA. The girls have teeth here.

The older I get, the faster I was.

Preseason is just a way to screw fans out of money.

If a guy drew a charge on me, I tried to kick him in the balls.

I can be bought. If they paid me enough, I'd work for the Klan.

I don't hate anyone, at least not for more than 48 minutes, barring overtime.

You can talk without saying a thing. I don't ever want to be that type of person.

Every time I think about changing a diaper, I run a little bit harder and a little bit faster to make sure I can afford a nanny until my daughter's old enough to take care of that herself.

I like to help poor people who got no chance. If rich people don't, who will? Not other poor people, that's for sure.

I'm really disturbed about the gay marriage thing. Because I think gay people should get married, cause it's their own business ... Because as a Black man, I think you've got to be against any form of discrimination.

I just wish all these young black kids would realize how significant it is to stop acting a fool out there, killing each other, not getting their education. You know, people have died to put us in a situation to be successful.

I got pulled over when I was behind the wheel of a Porsche in Philly once for what we call DWB - Driving While Black.

Yeah Ernie, its called defense, I mean I wouldn't know anything about it personally but I've heard about it through the grapevine.

I think the biggest problem is parents are so concerned with being friends with their kids. You're not their friend. You're their parent.

I didnt wear the pink panties because I didnt want America going crazy with excitement.

Every team in the Western Conference has flaws.

The most underrated player in NBA history is Dominique Wilkins. Right behind him is Gary Payton. He never has gotten the respect he deserves. If he doesn't spend the rest of his days in Seattle, I hope he goes someplace where he has a chance to win a title.

If all babies are so cute, how the hell do we have so many ugly people in the world?

White folks are not going to come to see a bunch of guys with tattoos, with cornrows. I'm sorry, but anyone who thinks different, they're stupid.

I don't get into the gun stuff. Some guys have guns who go hunting. Where do we stop (the gun control) at? I'm not a hunter, but we can't say people can't have guns.

I'm not a role model.

Anytime a fan touches you, you have the right to beat the hell out of him

Most sportswriters don't know their ass from a hole in the ground.

I don't listen to the refs. I don't listen to anyone who makes less money than I do.

I don't worry about playing basketball; that comes natural. I just want to have fun. David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Michael Jordanthis is like spring break in the ghetto.