Steve Harvey on Success, Marriage and President Obama

Steve Harvey will make an appearance at this year’s ESSENCE Festival and it’s one you don’t want to miss. To get you excited about seeing this ESSENCE Festival alum, we’ve rounded up some of his most compelling quotes from past ESSENCE magazine interviews. Here, Steve shares his insights on topics ranging from his career success to his admiration of President Obama.

On the success of The Steve Harvey Morning Show…
“If you’d asked me then if I saw how big The Steve Harvey Morning Show was going to be, I couldn’t tell you. But I knew I could reach people not as a character but as Steve Harvey, because although I tell jokes for a living, I’ve also lived and I think I can relate to you more than you know.”
ESSENCE, January 2011

On his work ethic..
“My father instilled in me to take care of my family. Show up even when you don’t want to show up.”
ESSENCE, January 2011

On President Obama…
“Every day President Obama sends a beautiful message about how we should treat our women based on how he treats his wife. When people went after his wife during the campaign, he took a stand. Men—young and grown—needed to see him defend her. He defended her for the simple reason that she’s worthy of defending. He treats her with respect, and she treats him with respect. You can’t name a great man in history who didn’t have a great woman standing tall with him. And I’m not talking about men with basketball or record contracts. They’re successful, yes. They’re making their paper, yes. But I’m talking about greatness. Dr. King had a great woman. Barack Obama has a great woman.”
ESSENCE, November 2009

On marriage…
“When my wife, Marjorie, and I got married, she had three children, and I had four [the couple will celebrate their first anniversary this month]. The union of our family has been the greatest thing to ever happen to me. The kids all call me Dad. I tell my boys not to play rough with their younger sister. I try to teach them what I know already: You’re never going to win an argument with a girl, so just let her have what she wants!”
ESSENCE, June 2008

On Black women’s beauty…
“It’s an amazing trick that a Black woman can be struggling to make ends meet and still put on some heels and come into a room and turn heads. Don’t nobody have that walk. Black women have to raise families by themselves, be the sole breadwinner. Black women have to withstand the shortcomings of us Black men and settle for subpar positions to make ends meet. And then to top it all off, you got the nerve to be sexy. How’d y’all manage that?”
ESSENCE, May 2003