Joseph James Rogan / b. 1967 / Newark, New Jersey, USA / Comedian, Television Host, Podcaster
Note: None of the following quotations is specifically sourced; most presumably derive from Rogan’s long-running and highly popular podcast.
Comedy
It’s painful for me to watch someone who isn’t funny. It’s horrifying to sit in the back and watch some guy who just totally sucks.
Economics
You have to be disciplined, and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don’t save, then you’re forever dependent on the system.
Experience
The more you experience, the more you learn; the more you learn, the more you can appreciate.
Friends
It’s in the darkest moments that we find our true friends.
Greatness
Greatness and madness are next-door neighbors, and they often borrow each other’s sugar.
Happiness
The key to happiness doesn’t lie in numbers in a bank account but in the way we make others feel and the way they make us feel.
The key to being happy isn’t a search for meaning. It’s to just keep yourself busy with unimportant nonsense, and eventually, you’ll be dead.
If you’re always striving to achieve something, you’re not really enjoying what you have.
The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.
The ego-driven mindset will never be happy because it constantly needs validation from the external world.
You’re not gonna be happy because you’re successful. You’re gonna be successful because you’re happy.
Hate
The time you spend hating on someone robs you of your own time. You are literally hating on yourself and you don’t even realize it.
Honesty
When someone comes along and expresses him or herself as freely as they think, people flock to it. They enjoy it.
Humility
If you are the greatest, why would you go around talking about it.
Life
The quickest way to become an old dog is to stop learning new tricks.
Life is about the journey, not the destination.
Be the kind of person your dog thinks you are.
One of the most fascinating lessons I’ve absorbed about life is that the struggle is good.
People want their 15 minutes and are willing to do anything to get it.
Live your life like you’re the hero in your own movie.
To really appreciate life you got to know you’re going to die.
Work hard, challenge yourself, and learn new things, and in the process, you’ll become a better version of yourself.
We’re all gonna die. You’re gonna die, I’m gonna die. It’s a part of life. Get used to it.
It’s an incredibly exciting thing, this one, meaningless life of yours.
The most important thing is to be authentic and true to yourself.
Your attitude has a giant effect on how you live your life.
Live your life with passion, because if you’re not passionate about what you’re doing, then you’re not really living.
Life is strange. You keep moving and keep moving. Before you know it, you look back and think, ‘What was that?
Morality
Treat everyone as if they were you. If we really are all one, then I am you, and you are me.
Be cool to people. Be nice to as many people as you can. Smile to as many people as you can, and have them smile back at you.
Kindness is one of the best gifts you can bestow . . . and it’s free.
Perspective
If you ever start taking things too seriously, just remember that we are talking monkeys on an organic spaceship flying through the universe.
Reality
The problem with the world is that we’ve lost our understanding of what’s real.
Rogan on Rogan
I had a sense of who I was before I got famous.
There’s a never-ending ocean of techniques to study and learn, and I’m just trying to find my own way through it.
There’s a lot of guys that just get comfortable with their position and rest on their laurels. I had to earn my way.
I’m obsessed with the idea of making things. I can’t help it.
It’s hard to stay mad when there’s so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I’m seeing it all at once, and it’s too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that’s about to burst.
Self-Awareness
The people I know that have the most self-awareness, they’re constantly checking themselves on their own bulls**t.
The people I respect the least are people that have no self-awareness, that don’t have the ability to look at themselves honestly.
Self-Improvement
The best way to improve oneself is to surround oneself with people who are smarter and more accomplished than we are.
Skepticism
Don’t let the force of an impression when it first hits you knock you off your feet; just say to it: Hold on a moment; let me see who you are and what you represent. Let me put you to the test.
Success
The universe rewards those who take bold chances.
There’s a direct correlation between positive energy and positive results in the physical form.
I love a success story, but even more than a success story, I like a dude who f***s his life up and then gets it back together again story.
We define ourselves far too often by our past failures. That’s not you. You are this person right now. You’re the person who has learned from those failures.
If you ever have the opportunity to speak with someone who has achieved a high level of success, you’ll find out that their early life was one marked by hardship and the simple act of overcoming adversity.
The person who is best prepared for an opportunity is the one who is going to get it.
You are not going to get good at something just by doing it a few times. You have to practice it.
Success is not about how much money you make; it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives.
The more information you have, the better decisions you can make.
Strive to become the best version of yourself, not in the eyes of others, but in your own eyes.
The ultimate thing is to be able to say, “I made it, I’m successful, and I’m happy.” But the only way you can do that is to push the boundaries and try new things.
The Universe
The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.