Penn Jillette Quotes

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Penn Jillette

Profession : Entertainer

Birth : March 5, 1955

I've been fired from a situational comedy with a script they wrote specifically for me because of my voice.

Penn Jillette

People still seem to think that they should vote themselves money. They seem to think there is stuff which they think is the government's job, when it's really the individual's job.

Penn Jillette

The reason I'm an I.B.M.-type guy today is that I really needed a laptop back in 1986, and I just couldn't wait for the Powerbook.

Penn Jillette

I think voting for the lesser of two evils in game theory always leads to more evil.

Penn Jillette

'Psycho' is fascinating philosophically, because the point of 'Psycho' is that everything that's bad happens because of love.

Penn Jillette

When 9/11 hit, the second thing I said to myself was, 'This really is what religious people do.' Those people flying the plane were very good, very pious, truly faithful believers. There's no other way to paint them. Of course, they are extremists by definition, but they certainly aren't going against Islam in any real way.

Penn Jillette

Direct confrontation, direct conversation is real respect. And it's amazing how many people get that.

Penn Jillette

Freedom means the freedom to be stupid, and that's what I want.

Penn Jillette

Having a Hummer is stupid. It's stupid to waste that much gas. It's stupid to waste that much money on gas. It's stupid to parade your insecurities on public roads. Hummers are stupid-looking.

Penn Jillette

The secret truth of 'Celebrity Apprentice' is that it isn't very hard... 'Celebrity Apprentice' is easy like junior high is easy. All the arithmetic, the creative writing and the history are super simple, but like junior high, you do that easy work surrounded by people who are full-tilt, hormone-raging bug nutty.

Penn Jillette

In my private life, I'm not around any drugs or alcohol.

Penn Jillette

I believe the fast track to atheism is reading the Bible. I've read it three times all the way through. It's a big part of our culture, a big part of our history. I don't just read things I agree with.

Penn Jillette

Bacon is so good by itself that to put it in any other food is an admission of failure. You're basically saying, 'I can't make this other food taste good, so I'll throw in bacon.'

Penn Jillette

Democracy without respect for individual rights sucks. It's just ganging up against the weird kid, and I'm always the weird kid.

Penn Jillette

The first thing I said to myself on 9/11 was, 'There go our civil rights.' I found out by comparing notes later that George Carlin and I both said that at the exact same time. That's the first thing that popped into our head.

Penn Jillette

I am a huge fan of proselytizing. I am a huge fan of speaking your mind. The only way we can share the universe... is by talking very strongly about what we believe.

Penn Jillette

I like movies that are scary, but I don't want them to be dirt dumb. I want a movie that gets my blood racing, makes me laugh, but also gives me something to think about, with maybe a little sexy thrown in. Hollywood doesn't make movies like that.

Penn Jillette

The vast majority of people who have guns never hurt anybody.

Penn Jillette

Tolerance is you saying something crazy and me smiling and saying, 'That's nice.'

Penn Jillette

My tolerance for crazy people is, I think, high a tolerance as you're ever going to find. I love being around David Allen Coe. I would have loved to hang out with Tiny Tim. I can listen to Sun Ra on a tape-recording rant.

Penn Jillette