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Daily Inspiration Quote by Whoopi Goldberg

"And I don't believe that I have to stay on one side of the fence or the other. I don't believe that there is any good career move or bad career move. I believe there are only the things that make me happy"

About this Quote

Whoopi Goldberg is giving you a career philosophy that doubles as a cultural critique: the fence itself is the scam. In an industry obsessed with branding - comedian or serious actor, film or TV, prestige or paycheck - she refuses the binary. The line lands because it sounds almost naive ("no good career move or bad career move") while actually being battle-tested. Goldberg could only say this with credibility because she has made the kinds of lateral, zigzag choices that supposedly "confuse the market" and still remained unmistakably Whoopi.

The subtext is about power. For most performers, "career move" is coded language for other people's approval: agents, studios, audiences, critics. Goldberg reframes it as an internal metric, swapping the industry scoreboard for a private one. That shift is quietly radical, especially for a Black woman whose career has unfolded under extra scrutiny and narrow expectations about what roles are "appropriate", what tones are "palatable", what lanes are "smart."

It's also a defense against the fear economy of Hollywood. If you accept that every choice must optimize a trajectory, you end up living in permanent audition mode, performing even your decisions. Goldberg's insistence on happiness isn't self-help fluff; it's an exit strategy from a system that punishes drift and rewards compliance. The wit is in the blunt certainty: she doesn't argue, she declines the premise.

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TopicCareer
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APA Style (7th ed.)
Goldberg, Whoopi. (2026, January 15). And I don't believe that I have to stay on one side of the fence or the other. I don't believe that there is any good career move or bad career move. I believe there are only the things that make me happy. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/and-i-dont-believe-that-i-have-to-stay-on-one-156250/

Chicago Style
Goldberg, Whoopi. "And I don't believe that I have to stay on one side of the fence or the other. I don't believe that there is any good career move or bad career move. I believe there are only the things that make me happy." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/and-i-dont-believe-that-i-have-to-stay-on-one-156250/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"And I don't believe that I have to stay on one side of the fence or the other. I don't believe that there is any good career move or bad career move. I believe there are only the things that make me happy." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/and-i-dont-believe-that-i-have-to-stay-on-one-156250/. Accessed 7 Feb. 2026.

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Whoopi Goldberg (born November 13, 1949) is a Actress from USA.

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