For me, it's that I contributed,… That I'm on this planet doing some good and making people happy. That's to me the most important thing, that my hour of television is positive and upbeat and an antidote for all the negative stuff going on in life.

About Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( də-JEN-ər-əs; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, actress, television host, writer, and producer. She began her career in stand-up comedy in the early 1980s, gaining national attention with a 1986 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. She starred in the television sitcoms...

More quotations from Ellen DeGeneres

I don't understand the sizes anymore. There's a size zero, which I didn't even know that they had. It must stand for: 'Ohhh my God, you're thin.

—Ellen DeGeneres

I'm a godmother, that's a great thing to be, a godmother. She calls me god for short, that's cute, I taught her that.

—Ellen DeGeneres

I was coming home from kindergarten—well they told me it was kindergarten. I found out later I had been working in a factory for ten years. It's good for a kid to know how to make gloves.

—Ellen DeGeneres

Stuffed deer heads on walls are bad enough, but it's worse when they are wearing dark glasses and have streamers in their antlers because then you know they were enjoying themselves at a party when they were shot.

—Ellen DeGeneres

People always ask me, 'Were you funny as a child?' Well, no, I was an accountant.

—Ellen DeGeneres

History

6 Feb 2023 Added
26 Oct 2026 Wording changed

Previous wording

For me, it's that I contributed, ... That I'm on this planet doing some good and making people happy. That's to me the most important thing, that my hour of television is positive and upbeat and an antidote for all the negative stuff going on in life.