70 Rosie O’Donnell Quotes That Are Hilarious

Rosie O’Donnell born in New York in 1962 made her mark as an actress and talk show host and is famous for “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” and her time on “The View.”

Losing her mom at 10, Rosie turned to humor which made her popular in school.

She started in comedy then moved to film debuting in “A League of Their Own” and starring in several 90s movies.

Even though she had a few flops, she won acclaim on Broadway.

Rosie’s talk show won her an Emmy and after coming out in 2002 she continued acting and advocating for gay rights including organizing cruises for gay families.

She also authored memoirs sharing her life’s ups and downs.

Here is a best collection of quotes by Rosie O’Donnell for you.

---

Top 10 Rosie O’Donnell Quotes

I think what children need is love, security, stability, consistency, and kindness. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I love to be able to support other women comics. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I’d rather sink with my own vision than float with somebody else’s. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I act irrationally, I defy the odds, I engage when others would run. I look for trouble, I seek chaos, it is a burden. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I know I’m a really good mother. I know it. I’m a really good mother. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

When I started out, some women comics were jealous of other women comics, thinking, If she gets The Tonight Show, I can’t. My philosophy always was, If she did, I can too. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I think life is easier if you’re straight. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

You can walk through life believing in the goodness of the world, or walk through life afraid of anyone who thinks different than you and trying to convert them to your way of thinking. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I wish that there were more stringent laws to make guns sold anywhere that they’re legal harder to get. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I couldn’t imagine doing a show where I’d once again have to answer to corporate interests. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

We really did. We got married. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

The teachers in America need to be applauded every day because they save the lives of kids! ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

See Also: Russell Coight Quotes

Best Rosie O’Donnell Quotes

The words of musicals were the moral codes that I lived by. I found meaning and messages in musicals that I didn’t find in churches or school books and it really made me come alive in a way. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I think that the reason for my success is that I am really not aspirational. I am inspirational in that the people at home feel like they can really relate to me. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I’m not asking that people accept homosexuality. I’m not asking that they believe like I do that it’s inborn. I’m not asking that. All I’m saying is don’t let these children suffer without a family because of your bias. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

Are you fat because you’re a lesbian, or are you a lesbian because you’re fat? ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

It takes a lot to become a foster parent. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I do believe it is the first time in history that fire has ever melted steel. I do believe that it defies physics for the World Trade Center Tower Seven, building seven, which collapsed in on itself. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

Maybe compassion is compulsion, creativity is insanity. If this is so, then is craziness a good thing, the source of our humanity? ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I’m sure I will cause tremendous seismic shifts in the culture again. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I’d always admired writers. I’d always loved words on a page. Somehow, words seemed to bypass image and get straight to the heart of things. Somehow, words seemed big enough to contain pain, and sentences could pull broken bits together. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I’m not going to let my life revolve around losing weight. I have other things to do. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I don’t think you choose whether or not you’re gay. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I think that that’s always been a real talent of mine is to be able to spot somebody who has that thing that is so non-definable, that thing that I wish I possessed. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I don’t think it negates your skills as a parent if you’re homosexual. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

The gray has gone away. I am living in bright Technicolor. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I am one of the haunted. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

Humorous Rosie O’Donnell Quotes

When someone comments on my weight, I have to work hard to stand in front of the mirror and say, This is who you are. You’re okay in this lady, and you’re a great, healthy, lovable and loving person. I try to accept myself. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I remember thinking, I don’t know if I can do radio. I never even listen to it. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I don’t care if you want to hunt, I don’t care if you think it’s your right. I say, sorry, you are not allowed to own a gun, and if you do own a gun I think you should go to prison. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I want the same standard applied to homosexuals as is applied to heterosexuals. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I’ve been on every diet in the world. I’ve been on Slim-Fast. For breakfast you have a shake. For lunch, you have a shake. For dinner, you kill anyone with food on their plate. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

Without art there is no hope. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I just want to say something. 655,000 Iraqi civilians are dead. Who are the terrorists? ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I think that once you open the door and allow people in on a certain aspect, it’s very hard to then control how far that ripple effect is. So I think that the person who is known or famous has the ability to decide what they do or don’t want to share. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I believe that God has a plan, and it’s your job to show up with an open heart. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

If you fall in love with someone gay and you’re the opposite gender, it’s not going to work. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

President Bush almost killed me. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I think everyone spins. You would just be an empty vacant shell reporting facts. I mean, you have your life that you bring with you to every moment that happens. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

Top Rosie O’Donnell Quotes

It’s probably my favorite part of my whole showbiz experience, is Broadway. The community of Broadway. That feeling that happens every night. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

Part of the reason why I’ve never said that I was gay until now was because I didn’t want that adjective assigned to my name for all of eternity. You know, gay Rosie O’Donnell. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I think Democracy is threatened in a way it hasn’t been in two hundred years, and if America doesn’t stand up, we’re in big trouble. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I’m going to try really hard not to be bossy, but I’ve only done stand-up comedy and then my own show where you’re the total boss of everything! ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

Well, you know, they use those words so that they can scare people terror and cell. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I think the actions of the president are, in my opinion, the most vile and hateful words ever spoken by a sitting president. I am stunned and I’m horrified. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

Every kid should sit in the velvet at least once in their lifetime. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

And it never, ever was interpreted that the Second Amendment meant individual’s right to bear arms. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

Mass adulation from the multitudes does not penetrate your soul or your core. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

Somebody’s values and their morals are shown best in the way they treat others and their children, and the world in general. It’s not necessarily the way that they respond sexually and emotionally to the person they choose to live with. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I don’t want only a career. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

Funny Rosie O’Donnell Quotes

I went to seven colleges. I was a professional transfer student. I had to drop out ’cause I couldn’t see out the back window. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

To give them what I never had heals me. Some days I look at them and almost start to cry. I think, How can I love them more than I did the day before? But it keeps growing. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

You know what happens to people who lie. They get sick and they get cancer. If they keep lying, they get it again. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

The equality that we are all entitled to, as citizens of this democracy, can’t be avoided by some religious dogma of a President who’s is supposed to believe in the notion of separation of church and state. And he frankly doesn’t. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I don’t think America knows what a gay parent looks like. I am the gay parent. America has watched me parent my children on TV for six years. They know what kind of parent I am. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

Why do you think people don’t think that homosexual parents are good? You don’t know what a homosexual family looks like. I will be the role model for the good gay family. Don’t let these children suffer without families because of your bias. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

We need to make sure that the powers that be know that arts education is as vital and as important as geography and arithmetic. You know, it is a part of the spiritual and the soulful experience and expression of being human and it is a necessity, as necessary as water, as breathing air. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

Quotes by Rosie O’Donnell

Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I was 29 and I really fell in love, I think, for the first time. I was vulnerable in a way I didn’t think I could be. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I know, people were like, It’s all right that she’s gay, but she doesn’t have to look so gay. Trust me – I’m never cutting my hair again! ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I think Oprah who is the height of aspiration and inspiration recognizes something in me that is germane. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

There are some heterosexuals that have heterosexual behavior that is appalling sexually, that is deviant and bad and not really moral and Christ-like and biblical. But those people are never questioned as to whether or not they’re allowed to be a parent. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

Public school teachers in Long Island, New York, saved my life in the ’70s. They were involved and invested and helpful. One took me into her family and loved me back to life. She taught me that love is not formed and families are not formed by blood. That love makes a family. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

My life goal is not to ruin anyone’s existence. I’m a comic. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I know the best moments can never be captured on film, even as I spend nearly half my life trying to do just that. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

My job is mostly to entertain and be funny. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

Don’t fear the terrorists. They’re mothers and fathers. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I took in a foster kid that I wanted to adopt in the state where I live, and I pay taxes, said to me, based on not your morality, not on how good you are as a mother, not on how much you’ve given to foster kids in Florida, based on the facts that you’re in love with a woman, you can’t keep her. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

Anybody that you put on TV five hours a week is at some point is going to say something stupid. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

I’d love to be a dead body in the emergency room and have George Clooney go, This one’s gone! while he puts a sheet on me. ~ Rosie O’Donnell.

---

Short Biography of Rosie O’Donnell

Rosie O’Donnell, born in New York City in 1960, made her mark as a comedian and talk show host, notably with “The Rosie O’Donnell Show.”

Her career expanded into acting, with important roles like Roz Ryan on “The View.”

Full Name	Roseann O’Donnell
Born	March 21, 1962 (age 61 years), Commack, New York in United States
Children	Chelsea Belle O’Donnell, Vivienne Rose O’Donnell, Parker Jaren O’Donnell, Blake Christopher O’Donnell
Parents	Edward Joseph O’Donnell, Roseann Teresa Murtha
Siblings	Maureen O’Donnell, Timothy O’Donnell, Edward O’Donnell
Education	Dickinson College and Boston University
Occupation(s)	Television presenter, comedian, producer, actor and author
Political party	Democratic
Spouses	Kelli Carpenter ​(m. 2004; void. 2004)​, Michelle Rounds ​(m. 2012; div. 2015)​
Relatives	Daniel J. O’Donnell (Brother)
Website	https://www.rosie.com

Known for her candid views, Rosie has won several Emmys, including for her talk show.

She became a mom in 1995, adopting her son Parker with her then-partner Kelli Carpenter.

---

Quick Facts about Rosie O’Donnell

• Rosie O’Donnell kicked off her career in stand-up comedy.
• She first performed stand-up at 16 in a local restaurant.
• Rosie won Star Search five times, leading to her move to LA.
• Made her Broadway debut in “Grease” in 1994.
• Came out as lesbian in 2002, motivated by adoption laws.
• Founded Rosie’s Broadway Kids in 2003 to support arts education.
• Launched a cruise for gay families, documented by HBO in 2006.
• Joined “The View” after Barbara Walters saw the documentary.
• Authored “Celebrity Detox” in 2007, discussing fame’s impact.
• Ranked 18th in Time 100 in 2007 for influencing the world.
• Attempted to start “Rosie Live” TV show in 2008.
• Quit blogging for joy, still runs a website for interesting finds.
• Started Rosie Radio on Sirius XM in 2009.
• Hosted “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” for six years.
• Known for her role in “A League of Their Own” and a Tony-winning performance in “Grease.”
• Active LGBTQ+ rights advocate.
• Authored books from memoirs to children’s books.
• Involved in philanthropy, especially for children’s causes.
• Received numerous awards, including Daytime Emmys and a Tony.
• Speaks out on political issues, advocating for social responsibility.
• Passionate about photography.
• Founded her own production company.
• Guest-starred on shows like “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
• Advocates for foster care system reform.
• Supports various non-profit organizations.
• Renowned for her humor and wit.
• Played roles in films like “Sleepless in Seattle.”
• Survived a heart attack in 2012, now promotes heart health.
• Open about her mental health struggles.
• Engages with fans on social media.
• Supports cancer research initiatives.
• Amplifies marginalized voices.
• Art collector and appreciator.
• Promotes Broadway shows and supports theater actors.
• Close with her siblings, values family.
• Enjoys gardening.
• Advocates for animal rights and responsible pet ownership.
• Supports veteran welfare.
• Known for acts of generosity.
• Appeared in music videos.
• Shared her weight loss journey, promoting health and body positivity.
• Enjoys cooking and experimenting with recipes.
• Fights for stricter gun control laws.
• Appeared in various TV commercials.
• Inspires many with her resilience and positive impact.

---

Famous Shows and Movies of Rosie O’Donnell

• The Rosie O’Donnell Show (1996 – 2002)
• The Flintstones (1994)
• A League of Their Own (1992)
• Tarzan (1999) – Voice role
• Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
• The Rosie Show (2011 – 2012)
• The View (Joined in 1997, with multiple appearances over the years)
• Now and Then (1995)
• Harriet the Spy (1996)
• Exit to Eden (1994)
• The Fosters (2013 – 2018) – Recurring role
• Riding the Bus with My Sister (2005)

---

Top Questions about Rosie O’Donnell