Stephen Merchant Quotes

You have to expect the raps when you have achieved popularity as a writer.

I am already so popular that anyone who vilifies me becomes more popular than I am.

Know that the amount of criticism you receive may correlate somewhat to the amount of publicity you receive.

The higher your profile becomes, the more aware you are that people out there might hate you.

If you live for fame, men may turn against you.

Funny thing, as you become famous, people write less nice things about you.

I am Sobralia's biggest idol now; people love and support me a lot there. There are always some people to criticize you, but that's okay - 99.9 percent of the people there support me.

There is a price for popularity. Critics look for your weaknesses, your flaws, anything that makes the work seem like a fluke and not seem worthy of all the attention it's getting.

People demonize me; people idolize me; everything I say and do has been scrutinized.

All the criticism and all of the praise, it doesn't - it's not worth the salt that goes on my bread, because TV is fickle. You can be loved one day and hated the next day. One day, you're getting an award. And the next day, you're getting a death threat.

What good are fans? You can't eat applause for breakfast. You can't sleep with it.

Hollywood has given me a great, warm hug.

If you're going to be honest with yourself, you have to admit that you go into show business wanting people to talk about you and wanting everyone to know who you are. But that also means there are going to be a whole bunch of people who don't like you. No matter who you are.

People who have achieved a public voice find it a mixed bag.

I sold a million books because I have a lot of fans, not because people hate me.

That's a funny thing, fame. People definitely do treat you differently. When you begin to be successful, people say, 'Don't go changing.' Well, that's easy to say, but the fact is, you don't change at all - other people do.

You pick up some fans and a handful of haters along the way.

But I think, if you're in the spotlight, people are going to say bad things, and that's just the way it is.

If we're a hit, let 'em say anything they want.

Fame didn't happen to me in my 20s, it has been a gradual thing which probably makes it easier to deal with.

Before I entered politics, when I used to appear in public everyone would applaud; now half of the people applaud, and half of them boo.

I've seen my name on marquees and bowed to standing ovations. I've also been called a fraud, a mental case, a heretic. People all over the country wait in line to hug me or curse me.

Give me a celebrity, I'll give you your haters. Some people shine, and some people don't like when they shine. Ask Barack Obama - he'll tell you.

You think the end of my freshman year, from nobody really knowing who I was to skyrocketing onto the scene in the national championship game, there's nothing but good things to say after that. Then you get into the spotlight and it turns to hate.

Being a public figure a lot of people will really love what you do, but you know there is also a ton of people who will hate on it.