Wit & Attitude Quote by Phil Donahue

Donahue’s line is a small masterclass in how fame turns ordinary errands into performative labor. “I tip like crazy” isn’t just generosity; it’s preemptive damage control. He’s describing a world where a meal or a cab ride isn’t a private interaction but a tiny referendum on your character, because the other person has a story to tell and an audience ready to hear it.

The pivot is “They’ll remember me.” That’s the real currency exchange. A tip becomes a down payment on narrative: the waiter who says you were decent, the driver who says you were cheap, the friend-of-a-friend anecdote that metastasizes into reputation. Donahue, a daytime talk titan who traded on public trust and likability, knows how fragile that trust is. You can’t host a culture of confession and then expect anonymity when the check arrives.

“Celebrity can be expensive” lands with a dry, almost managerial pragmatism. He’s not romanticizing fame; he’s itemizing it. The cost isn’t only security details and lost privacy, it’s the constant need to be “worth it” to strangers. Tipping “like crazy” becomes a tax for being recognizable, a way of buying smoother passage through a society that grades celebrities on etiquette as much as on talent.

There’s also a subtle sting: the tip is both kindness and strategy, suggesting how fame distorts even good behavior. When everyone’s watching, even decency starts to look like brand management.