Sarah Silverman

People are always introducing me as "Sarah Silverman, Jewish comedian." I hate that! I wish people would see me for who I really am — I'm white!

Sarah Kate Silverman (born 1 December 1970) is an American comedian, actress, and writer. Her comedy addresses social taboos and controversial topics, including racism, sexism, homophobia, politics, and religion, sometimes having her comic character endorse them in a satirical or deadpan fashion. She has won two Primetime Emmy Awards for her work on television.

Quotes

1990s

You look like my friend Debbie. That's really weird … do you get that a lot?

• You look like my friend Debbie. That's really weird … do you get that a lot? — It's sad, though, 'cause you know, we're not really friends anymore. But, uh, it's not your fault. Seriously, it was 'cause she's, um … not "born again Christian" … oh! — "pathological liar."
  • Comments to a member of the audience, in "Sarah Silverman-Early Standup (1992)

• Once I was with two men in one night. But I could never do it again—I could hardly walk afterward. Two dinners? That's a lot of food.
  • Penthouse magazine (December 1999)

2000s

I wrote, "I love chinks." And who doesn't?

• I got jury duty … and I didn't want to go, so my friend said, "You should write something really really racist on the form when you return it. Like, you should put 'I hate chinks'." And I said, "I'm not going to put that on there just to get out of jury duty. I don't want people to think that about me." So instead I wrote, "I love chinks." And who doesn't?
  • The Conan O'Brien Show (11 July 2001) In the original joke, Silverman had said "niggers" instead of "chinks", the network asked her to change it from the first to the latter. The network and O'Brien then apologized for airing this statement, Silverman did not, stating that it was plainly satirizing the racist thought process.

• I'm so glad Courtney Love is here; I left my crack in my other purse.
  • To Courtney Love on her Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson (14 August 2005)

• I commend you on all you've done for PETA, wrestling the one-eyed trouser snake with your bare hands, gently cuddling it in your arms, and nurturing it back to health.
  • To Pamela Anderson on the Comedy Central Roast (14 August 2005)

• Everybody blames the Jews for killing Christ, and then the Jews try to pass it off on the Romans. I'm one of the few people that believe it was the blacks.
  • The New Yorker (24 October 2005)

• I didn't lose my virginity until I was twenty-six. Nineteen vaginally, but twenty-six what my boyfriend calls "the real way".
  I always think I should get on it if I want to have kids. Because once you hit thirty it can be difficult to conceive — it can be dangerous. The best time to conceive is when you're a black teenager.
  • Rolling Stone (3 November 2005)

Jesus' words have become so perverted over time — it's been like a game of telephone.

• I don't believe in Jesus or God. But I do believe that fundamentalists in religion or anything else are bad, and that they have more hate than love. Jesus' words have become so perverted over time — it's been like a game of telephone. If he existed, Jesus would fuckin' kill himself.
  • Interview with boyfriend Jimmy Kimmel for Esquire magazine (January 2007)

• Wow! She is amazing. She is 25 years old and she's already accomplished everything she's going to accomplish in her life. It's mind blowing … have you seen Britney's kids? Oh my god, they are the most adorable mistakes you will ever see! They are as cute as the hairless vagina they came out of!
  • MTV Video Music Awards (9 September 2007)

• This song brings me back … I was brutally raped to this song.
  • In response to the DJ playing Motley Crue's "Girls Girls Girls" as her intro. Holllywood Improv

• People who call themselves divas...you are not a diva. I'm pretty sure you're a cunt.
  • Real Time with Bill Maher episode 145, 13 March 2009

• Hey, is it considered molestation if the child makes the first move? I'm gonna need a quick answer on this.
  • 6 July 2009 tweet on Twitter (archived)

Jesus Is Magic (2005)

If my boyfriend and I ever have a kid, we'll just be honest with it. We'll say that mommy is one of God's chosen people, and daddy believes that Jesus is magic!

I love you more than bears love honey,
I love you more than Jews love money.

• I wear this Saint Christopher medal sometimes, because – I'm Jewish, but my boyfriend is Catholic. It was cute, the way he gave it to me. He said if it doesn't burn through my skin, it will protect me. Who cares? Different religions.

• The only time it's an issue, I suppose, would be like if you're having a baby and you've got to figure out how you want to raise it. Which still wouldn't be an issue for us, because we'd be … honest, and just say, you know, like, "Mommy is one of the chosen people … and daddy believes that Jesus is magic!"

• Jesus is magic, you know, because he turned water to wine, and, um … he, um … I think he made the Statue of Liberty disappear in the 80's.

• When that Jesus movie came out, Jews didn't want people to see it. Everybody blames the Jews for killing Christ, and then the Jews try to pass it up on the Romans. I am one of the few people that believe it was the blacks!
  • The movie in question is Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.

• I don't care. Good! I hope the Jews did kill Christ. I'd do it again! I'd fucking do it again in a second.
  • This statement was widely circulated on social media as a way of criticizing Democrats and their political values.

• People are always introducing me as "Sarah Silverman, Jewish comedienne." I hate that! I wish people would see me for who I really am – I'm white!

• I don't care if you think I'm racist. I just want you to think I'm thin.

• The Holocaust would never have happened if black people lived in Germany in the 1930s and 40s … well, it wouldn't have happened to Jews.

• The writers of Sanford and Son were so brave in bringing their program to television. I mean, working with all those black people!

• I dated a guy who was half-black, but he dumped me because I'm such a loser. Wow, I shouldn't say things like that. I'm such a pessimist … he's actually half-white.

• I buy water at the liquor store across the street from where I live. So I'm walking into the door, and standing, loitering, outside the door is a man. And I walk by him to go in, and he says, [in a gruff male voice] "I want pussy!" Now, I don't want to seem conceited or anything, but [flattered smile] he was talking about me!

• I've sued my manager for sexual harassment. And it's real hard, and a big strain on me. Because he hasn't done anything.

• I was raped by a doctor … which is so bittersweet for a Jewish girl.

• I saw my father's penis once. But it was okay, because I was so young … and so drunk.

• A couple nights ago, I was licking jelly off my boyfriend's penis. And I thought, "Oh my God – I'm turning into my mother!"

• I want to get an abortion. But my boyfriend and I are having trouble conceiving.

• On the law that requires women to wait twenty-four hours before they are permitted to have an abortion: I think it's a good law. The other day I wanted to go get an abortion. I really wanted an abortion, but then I thought about it and it turned out I was just thirsty.

• When God gives you AIDS – and God does give you AIDS – make lemon-AIDS!

• I love you more than bears love honey,
  I love you more than Jews love money,
  I love you more than Asians are good at math.
  I love you even if it's not hip,
  I love you more than black guys don't tip,
  I love you like Puerto Ricans need baths.
  • Satirical song

The Sarah Silverman Program (2007-2010)

I was driving and got tired and thought this would be a good place to stop.

• Also, I learned whether you are gay, bisexual, it doesn't matter, you know … because, at the end of the day, they're both gross. But mostly, I learned that elderly black women are wise beyond their years … but younger black women are prostitutes.

• I learned that people in wheelchairs are allowed to have marathons … which, to me, seems like cheating, but what are you gonna say?

• [holds up an egg] This is AIDS. AIDS is as real as an egg.

• If we can send a person to the moon, we can send someone with AIDS to the moon, and then someday we can send everybody with AIDS to the moon.

• I'll be back. I'll be black. I'll be white black.

---

Sarah: If you really are a ghost, why aren't you talking like thi-i-i-s-s?

Ghost: That is a crude stereotype. Talking like that to a ghost is like saying the N-word to a black person.

Sarah: Well, interrupting a Jewish person while she's urinating is like saying the Holocaust never happened, so I guess we're e-e-e-v-e-e-n.

---

Sarah: Oh! Tig! How many lesbians does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Tig: … I don't know.

Sarah: Oh …

[Tig leaves]

Steve: She should know that.

Laura: I think it's three.

---

[After Sarah crashes her car]

Officer Jay: Do you know how many fingers I'm holding up?

Sarah: Uh, this many? [Sarah showing two middle fingers].

---

Police: Do you know why I'm standing here?

Sarah: You got all C's in high school?

Police: Ma'am, are you drunk?

Sarah: Oh no, I was driving and got tired and thought this would be a good place to stop.

[She's in a playground during a kid's birthday party]

2010s

• I'll take this opportunity to answer one of the most repeated questions: why didn't I choose to depict Mohammed having sex? The answer is simple. I don't want to get blown up with explosives. I'm afraid of angering Muslims, but not afraid of angering Jews and Christians. So I chose to depict the Judeo-Christian God instead. It seems extremely obvious to me, but so many people asked.
  • The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee (2010). Referring to a sketch on The Sarah Silverman Program in which her character slept with God.

• I Hope The Jews Did Kill Christ. I’d Fucking Do It Again in a Second.
  • 26 March 2017 Times of Israel.

External links

• Sarah Silverman on IMDb
• The Sarah Silverman Program site on comedycentral.com
• Sarah Silverman Online
• "What I've Learned" interview with boyfriend Jimmy Kimmel for Esquire magazine (January 2007).
• "Questions for Sarah Silverman" in The New York Times Magazine (21 January 2007)