Murphy: "I've always had confidence. It came because I have lots of initiative. I wanted to make something of myself."

Murphy: "Every now and then, when I think about it, I think, 'What would I even talk about onstage?' It's never been, 'I wonder if I'm funny. I wonder if I can come up with jokes.' It's more, 'What would it be like without the leather suit and the anger?'"

Murphy: "The advice I would give to someone is to not take anyone's advice."

Murphy: "I've made 30 movies and for the most part my movies work. In a business where success is an exception and not the rule, I've mostly been successful."

Murphy: "I'm not performing anymore. I reveal myself to the audience. I reveal myself. That's the show now."

Murphy: "Making movies is time-consuming and it's boring. You spend most of your time waiting between takes. It's like a big machine that moves slowly."

Murphy: "If you have a flop movie, so what? And if you have a hit movie, it's 'so what,' too - it's on to the next movie."

Murphy: "I think I have enough of a sense to know what works for me and what doesn't, without going into some big thing and analyzing what I do. I'm in a position that allows me to do what I want to do, and I do it."

Murphy: "I'd like to produce, direct, write, score, and star in a film in exactly the way Chaplin did. I'll do that before I'm thirty."

Murphy: "You know, making a movie is a collaborative effort and sometimes all the ingredients don't work out. I know that every now and again I am going to make a movie that won't work.

Murphy: "I'm relaxed about my career. I've been making movies for over 20 years, so I've earned at least the right to relax."

Murphy: "If you interact with anyone, ultimately, all people are the same. However they're dressed, when you're in the house with a person, they're going to be a regular human being."

Murphy: "I only want to do what I really want to do; otherwise, I'm content to sit here and play my guitar all day."

Murphy: "Ultimately, when I go back to the stage, I want to be able to do everything. I want to be able to do music and comedy and all that stuff; that's what all this stuff is leading to."

Murphy: "You know why they think I'm reclusive? I don't do the Hollywood stuff. I've never been on the circuit."

Murphy: "The studios gotta start making more stuff where black folks get quality stuff. But I can't trip about that because I've been making movies for 35 years, and I've played everything from an old lady to a donkey, so I can't be on here talking about, 'They don't give us enough roles' and diversity."

Murphy: "I'm the artist when I'm doing music that I am when I'm acting. I'm everything."

Murphy: "I'm 42 and the age of a guy who has kids, so I guess I'm playing right where I'm supposed to be. I'm comfortable with that, but in the same breath I'd do something edgy. If someone came to me and offered me an edgy and funny story, then I'd do it."

Murphy: "If I don't die in a plane crash or something, this country has a rare opportunity to watch a great talent grow."

Murphy: "There's a bunch of places in the world I haven't been to, 'cause I can only be on a plane for a little bit. I'm like, 'How long is it to get there? Two days on a plane? What? No.'"

Murphy: "I haven't read a newspaper in 20 years. I don't look at the computer or anything. You have to have a filter on what you let in."