Explore a collection of the most beloved and motivational quotes and sayings about Detroit. Share these powerful messages with your loved ones on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, or on your personal blog, and inspire the world with their wisdom. We've compiled the Top 100 Detroit Quotes and Sayings from 81 influential authors, including Eugene Levy,Eugene Mirman,Rick Snyder,Dax Shepard,Charlie Leduff, for you to enjoy and share.

Detroit is still seen as the tough city, a city that has a reputation for high crime, ... The tough city thing is fine. Its always had a reputation as that ... You know, Gordie Howe, when I was watching hockey, was the toughest guy in the league playing for the Red Wings. He represented that tough aura. By Eugene Levy City Tough Detroit Crime Reputation

One of the best things I found out about Detroit is that bears have started returning to the city. When bears are gentrifying your neighborhood and opening Thai restaurants, that's a poor neighborhood. By Eugene Mirman Detroit City Bears Things Found

But as a practical matter, Detroit's the sports city in the country. By Rick Snyder Detroit Matter Country Practical Sports

I think all males from Detroit have an obsession with cars. By Dax Shepard Detroit Cars Males Obsession

Go ahead and laugh at Detroit. Because you are laughing at yourself. By Charlie Leduff Detroit Ahead Laugh Laughing

Detroit, the heart of the country ... I grew up on 10 Mile, 2 miles better than 8 Mile. By Kristen Bell Detroit Mile Country Heart Miles

Detroit is largely composed, today, of seemingly endless square miles of low-density failure. By Jane Jacobs Today Detroit Composed Failure Largely

Detroit is really a model for how wealthier and whiter Americans escape the costs of public goods they'd otherwise share with poorer and darker Americans. By Robert Reich Americans Detroit Model Wealthier Whiter

'Detroit 1-8-7' - the numbers are police slang for murder - is filmed in that blue-collar Michigan city, providing a flavor of authenticity. Detroit offers a unique visual landscape that tells the story of the city and what it's been through. By Michael Imperioli Detroit Michigan Murder Providing Authenticity

The people in Detroit are poor, but most of them are good. There are things going on here beyond an ordinary person's control. These people are hungry and they have no job. No possibility of a job. They're stuck here. By Charlie Leduff Detroit Poor Good Job People

Very few cities in the NHL have the history or the following of the Detroit Red Wings. By Steve Yzerman Wings Nhl Detroit Red Cities

There ain't no haints in Detroit. By Angela Flournoy Detroit Haints

Remember Motown? Not just the driving music that swept the nation and the world, but the vibrant energy of the Motor City itself, symbolizing the heyday of America. Today, a derelict Detroit is testament to what America has squandered and what it has become. By Gerald Celente Motown Remember America Motor City

People think that Detroit is this barren wasteland. While there are parts that are not as nice as others, the misconception is not true. It is definitely not a thriving community in Detroit, but it is getting there. There is a lot of heart and love in this city. By Steven Yeun Detroit People Wasteland Barren True

That feeling of hopelessness and racism has been looming over Detroit ever since I was a kid. By Robert Hood Detroit Kid Feeling Hopelessness Racism

I'm a Detroit player, they set styles. By Big Sean Detroit Player Styles Set

You see some of the weirdest people in Detroit casinos. By Kevin Hart Detroit Casinos Weirdest People

Everybody has a gun in their car in Detroit. By Jim Harrison Detroit Gun Car

My music is the essence of Detroit. At one time, we were the center of the world, man - Motor City. By Big Sean Detroit Music Essence Motor City

I was born in Detroit, in an all black neighborhood. By Steven Seagal Detroit Neighborhood Born Black

I was born in Detroit. I never really saw myself working in comics, I just fell into it. But it's been one of the best things to happen to a kid from Detroit. By Dwayne Mcduffie Detroit Born Comics Working Fell

The industrial powerhouse of 1950 [Detroit] is now a crime-ridden wasteland with a functioning literacy rate equivalent to West African basket-cases. By Mark Steyn Detroit West African Basketcases Industrial

There's a lot of influences that I have from Detroit that are subliminal. I mean, I spent the first 10 years of my life there. My mom and dad were born and raised there, so a lot of that rubbed off on me. When I get angry, sometimes a Detroit accent comes out. By Lizzo Subliminal Detroit Lot Influences Years

You ingest the automobile in the very air of Detroit. Or at least you did in the 1940s and 1950s. By Edward Herrmann Detroit Ingest Automobile Air

My favorites are Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, but those are a little off in terms of getting Detroit right on the head. But of course, you know, "Dancing In The Streets." You can't forget the Motor City. And we can't forget the Motor City. By David Maraniss Gaye Stevie Marvin Detroit City

Detroit was kind of a random thing where it was like a chance to be in a rock 'n' roll movie. By Edward Furlong Detroit Rock Roll Movie Kind

In Detroit, in a city that in many cases the world has rejected, that's where God shows up. Every example in the Gospels where God shows up, it's always when the seas are the stormiest, where there is discontinuity. By Clark Durant God Detroit Shows Rejected City

It was a time of uncommon possibility and freedom, when Detroit created wondrous and lasting things. But life can be luminescent when it is most vulnerable. By David Maraniss Detroit Freedom Things Time Uncommon

I remember Detroit feeling really unsafe, feeling scared a lot. Our house was broken into, our car was stolen, we had to get a watchdog, we would get beat up in the street, I had my bike stolen. There was just a lot of real anarchy on the streets and sidewalks. By Sufjan Stevens Detroit Feeling Unsafe Stolen Lot

Many of us prefer to live in places abandoned by humans. Less work for us. Detroit is very popular. By G. Willow Wilson Humans Prefer Live Places Abandoned

I'm a Detroit kid who grew up with that assembly line mentality: You go to work to make money. By Kevin Nash Detroit Mentality Money Kid Grew

I was in Vancouver, and I was in what I was told was the poorest neighborhood in North America - which I find very hard to believe because has anyone here ever been to Detroit? By Eugene Mirman Vancouver America Detroit North Told

I grew up in Detroit. I grew up in an environment where you were supposed to be Democrat, where they told you that Republicans were evil people and that they were racist. By Benjamin Carson Detroit Grew Democrat Republicans Racist

Well, there were several things. One was that the industry itself built in Detroit was abandoning the city - taking factories elsewhere, the corporate headquarters elsewhere. By David Maraniss Things Detroit City Taking Industry

I've performed in Auburn Hills, at The Palace, so I haven't really been in downtown Detroit, but I've been able to be here, and I can really see, what the city was. Like, I can feel why Motown started here and how amazing it was. By Jordin Sparks Hills Palace Detroit Auburn Performed

Detroit, my 'great' subject, made me the person I am, consequently the writer I am - for better or worse. By Joyce Carol Oates Detroit Great Subject Made Worse

Michigan is very racially separated and the city of Detroit itself is 84 percent African-American and the surrounding suburbs are 86 percent White. By Kwame Kilpatrick White Percent Detroit Michigan Racially

Well, here you had a city that was selling more cars than ever before, that had this wondrous music being created, that was so vital to the labor and civil rights of this country, and yet it was dying and didn't see it, except for some sociologist at Wayne State University who predicted that Detroit was losing population by a half-million by the end of that '60s decade, and that that trend would continue taking away its tax base. By David Maraniss Decade Wayne State University Detroit

My brother and late sister and I were raised in Detroit; it was where the middle class across racial lines, the middle class was able to develop, build a home, have for the first time retirement benefits, have a job, and yes, their kids began to go to college. By Sander Levin Middle Detroit Class Lines Develop

Detroit, the kookiest damn city he'd ever visited. It was the first time he'd seen abandoned homes and decrepit skyscrapers alongside acres of fresh farmland, all part of some inner-city rejuvenation project to turn the industrial revolution inside out. Hell, maybe even white people would come back to the city. By Daryl Gregory Detroit Visited Kookiest Damn City

The only difference between Detroit and the Third World in terms of corruption is Detroit don't have no goats in the streets. By Charlie Leduff Detroit World Streets Difference Terms

What is happening in Detroit is not good so I don't even want to be a part of that, but there is something on the other side that I may want to be a part of so I don't know yet. By Kwame Kilpatrick Part Detroit Happening Good Side

So, I mean, there's still vast swaths of the city that are suffering from a lack of jobs and poor housing and poor public schools, but they are building momentum - you know, techies, foodies, artists, musicians, all coming to Detroit. So there is this vibrancy. You see it in the newspapers every day - some story about the new Detroit. By David Maraniss Techies Foodies Artists Musicians Poor

Detroit's political leadership is a parasite that has outgrown its host. By Kevin D. Williamson Detroit Host Political Leadership Parasite

It is a tough city to live in (Detroit) but a great city to be around. There is so much promise. There just needs to be a movement to help push the city beyond the automobile industry. The music business needs to learn how to support itself. By Mc Serch Detroit City Tough Live Great

Everyone talks about green cities now, but the concrete results in affluent cities mostly involve curbside composting and tackling solar panels onto rooftops while residents continue to drive, to stop, to eat organic pears flown in from Argentina, to be part of the big machine of consumption and climate change. The free-range chickens and Priuses are great, but they alone aren't adequate tools for creating a truly different society and ecology. The future, at least the sustainable one, isn't going to be invented by people who are happily surrendering selective bits and pieces of environmentally unsound privilege. It's going to be made by those who had all that taken away from them or never had it in the first place. {...} There is no moral reason why they should do and be better than the rest of us - but there is a practical one. They have to. Detroit is where change is most urgent and therefore most viable. By Rebecca Solnit Argentina Cities Drive Stop Talks

Detroit's a great music town. If your interaction with it was mainly musical, I'm sure you have a good opinion of the place. By Jeffrey Eugenides Detroit Town Great Music Musical

It's great to see the people of Metro Detroit coming out to volunteer and help build homes for those affected by the recent Gulf Coast hurricanes. With all the Super Bowl excitement, it's nice for people to participate in an event that will make such a significant impact in people's lives while also being a part of the Super Bowl festivities. By David Daniels Metro Detroit Gulf Coast Super

The story of Detroit's bankruptcy was simple enough: Allow capitalism to grow the city, campaign against income inequality, tax the job creators until they flee, increase government spending in order to boost employment, promise generous pension plans to keep people voting for failure. Rinse, wash and repeat. By Ben Shapiro Detroit City Campaign Inequality Tax

I think Detroit is starting to get it. We consider it a victory for the grassroots, CalCars, and the Internet-led effort. By Felix Kramer Detroit Calcars Starting Internetled Grassroots

Detroit's so bad this year they might lose their bye week. By Dennis Miller Detroit Week Bad Year Lose

Since its founding, Detroit has been a place of perpetual flames. Three times the city has suffered race riots and three times the city has burned to the ground. The city's flag acknowledges as much. Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus: We hope for better things; it shall rise from the ashes. By Charlie Leduff Detroit City Founding Flames Times

Downtown Detroit has more vacant buildings over 10 storeys than any city in the world. By Meg White Detroit Downtown Storeys World Vacant

Detroit 8-1 vs. Baltimore, Chicago. By Wayne Lynch Chicago Baltimore Detroit

I played golf all over Detroit. By Smokey Robinson Detroit Played Golf

There's nowhere like Detroit; it's a modern necropolis: all these art deco masterpieces crumbling away. By Malik Bendjelloul Detroit Necropolis Modern Art Deco

That's one of the most important things to me is that Detroit and Ann Arbor got my back. If you don't have hometown love, then what's the point? By Mayer Hawthorne Detroit Ann Arbor Back Important

Cleveland, city of light! City of magic! By Randy Newman Cleveland City Light Magic

Planning is for the world's great cities, for Paris, London, and Rome, for cities dedicated, at some level, to culture. Detroit, on the other hand, was an American city and therefore dedicated to money, and so design had given way to expediency. By Jeffrey Eugenides London Paris Rome Cities Planning

By 1946, I knew Detroit was the best hockey city in the Original Six. By Ted Lindsay Detroit Original Knew Hockey City

Definitely just growing up in general influenced me; Detroit happened to be where I was. I feel like the city definitely has made an impact on my life and made me who I am. Detroit has an unmistakable soul - nobody can duplicate the soul we bring to the game. From Motown to J Dilla to Eminem to anything. By Big Sean Detroit Growing General Influenced Happened

Some said he shouldn't save Detroit. But President Obama made the tough and right call to save more than a million American jobs in an important, iconic industry. By Harry Reid Detroit Save President Obama American

I think that the Detroit auto industry is important to the United States. It's important for hundreds of thousands of Americans who have their jobs as a result. By John Boehner States Detroit United Important Auto

There's only one movie theater in the entire city of Detroit. The entire city has one open movie theater, and it is in the - it is in the General Motors headquarters complex. By Michael Moore Detroit Entire Movie Theater City

At the end of the day, the Detroiter may be the most important American there is because no one knows better than he that we're all standing at the edge of the shaft. By Charlie Leduff Detroiter American Day Shaft End

I'm the 1st black platinum artist in Detroit, solo artist in Detroit. By Obie Trice Detroit Artist Black Solo Platinum

I kind of grew up with hip hop and of course being from Detroit I'm a Motown man. Music is in our blood. When you're from Detroit, music is in your DNA. By Eric Thomas Motown Detroit Music Man Kind

When people think about Michigan, they usually think about cars. By Sander Levin Michigan Cars People

Hollywood has turned into an emotional Detroit. By Lillian Gish Detroit Hollywood Turned Emotional

I grew up in Detroit. I was a teen father. I lived on welfare for three years. I have a brother serving life in prison, though I believe he's innocent. By Michael Eric Dyson Detroit Grew Father Teen Years

I lived in Detroit until I was six. My older sister was living with us, and she listened to the Ohio Players and Stevie Wonder, so I grew up listening to stuff like that. By Boots Riley Detroit Lived Ohio Players Stevie

I love the people of Michigan. I'm fighting hard for them with the car industry. I'm constantly talking about the car companies moving out and going out Mexico and other places, Sean, and they know I will protect them. I will not let it happen. We're not going to lose our industries anymore. By Donald Trump Michigan Love People Car Sean

There are very few courses around Detroit I haven't played. By Smokey Robinson Detroit Played

Go where you're celebrated, not tolerated. I'm celebrated in Detroit. By Kid Rock Tolerated Detroit Celebrated

Outside the window, broken and abandoned husks dotted the landscape, set against the gray, dishwater sky. Scarred and beaten, the perfect metaphor for the people who lived within its forgotten neighborhoods, Detroit was like an abused kid, just waiting for the day someone would come along and give a fuck about it. The third world city of America. By Keri Lake Window Broken Landscape Set Gray

[S]tart at the turn of the last century, in 1901, with the celebration of Detroit's bicentennial. That was the Detroit that came before--before all the racket that attended the making of the modern world, which happened here first and faster than anywhere else on this planet. By Jerry Herron Detroit Tart Century Bicentennial Turn

I know that's blasphemous when you are from Detroit, but I was never a fan of Motown stuff. I don't care for the production much. By Jack White Detroit Motown Stuff Blasphemous Fan

I was born in Missouri, but I was raised in Detroit. One of my stock and trades is accents. By Denis O'hare Missouri Detroit Born Raised Accents

Canada - they won't like me saying this, but it's really like it's a part of Michigan, that area. By John Varvatos Canada Michigan Area Part

I was just about 6 weeks old when we moved to Detroit. By Eddie Floyd Detroit Weeks Moved

I love Michigan, to be honest. I don't think I'd live nowhere else. It's cheap! This is Detroit. A little bit of nothing gets you a lot of something. By Danny Brown Michigan Honest Love Detroit Cheap

When I came to Detroit I was just a mild-mannered Sunday-school boy. By Ty Cobb Detroit Sundayschool Boy Mildmannered

Michigan, with its delicious American name. How lucky one must be to live there. By Gary Shteyngart Michigan American Delicious Lucky Live

There was a precarious balance during those crucial months between composition and decomposition - what the world gained and what a great city lost. Even then, some part of Detroit was dying, and that is where the story begins. By David Maraniss Decomposition Lost Precarious Balance Crucial

As clear as it is important, the death of Detroit is still mostly ignored. Generally, the slow destruction of a major city would get a fair amount of attention, but the lack of coverage is hardly surprising. After all, the "bad guys" aren't the popular ones. In most circles, condemning taxation, regulation, unionization, welfarism and protectionism is unfashionable. It's necessary to check political correctness at the door and appreciate that the case of Detroit isn't an isolated tragedy. What happened in Detroit could be coming to a city near you. By Dan Greenup Detroit Important Clear Death City

I haven't reached nirvana yet, but I've been to Detroit. By David Letterman Detroit Reached Nirvana

Things were a lot simpler in Detroit. I didn't care about anything but boyfriends. By Madonna Ciccone Detroit Things Lot Simpler Boyfriends

Once Michigan stood proud. In addition to GM, Ford and Chrysler, it was home base for the United Auto Workers, a powerful escalator transporting hundreds of thousands of blue-collar workers into America's middle class. By Kevin O'leary Michigan Proud Ford Chrysler Workers

With four of the top ten most violent cities in America, Michigan will never fully flourish unless our governments can fulfill their basic task: protecting public safety. By Bill Schuette America Michigan Task Protecting Safety

Michigan is my antidote to Manhattan. This is where I come to relax. By Mario Batali Manhattan Michigan Antidote Relax

Personally, I love Toronto. By Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje Personally Toronto Love

I'm not super thin, but I'm thin, for like, Detroit By Lena Dunham Detroit Thin Super

The people of Michigan and the people of our country - we have lost our industries, such a big chunk of our industries and our jobs, and I'm not going to let that happen. It won't happen anymore, believe me. By Donald Trump People Industries Michigan Country Jobs

The city belongs to the black man. The white man was a convenient target until there were no white men left in Detroit. What used to be black and white is now gray. Whites got the suburbs and everything else. The black machine's got the city and the black machine's at war with itself. The spoils go to the one who understands that. By Charlie Leduff Black Man White Detroit Belongs

Seattle, Washington. By Sarah Mayberry Washington Seattle

And that John F. Kennedy uttered the first variation of "ask not what your country can do for you" in Detroit on Labor Day in 1960. So Detroit was really central to Democratic politics United States. Every Democratic candidate would start their fall campaigns in Cadillac Square. By David Maraniss John Kennedy Labor Day Detroit

My mum's American. She's from Detroit. By Rebecca Hall American Detroit Mum

A broken transportation system hits Michiganders in the pocketbook. Every year, our friends and neighbors spend millions of dollars on car repairs after driving on crumbling streets. By Kerry Bentivolio Michiganders Pocketbook Broken Transportation System

I do feel like a Clevelander. Every time, when people ask me, I automatically say, 'My home is Cleveland.' By Kyrie Irving Clevelander Cleveland Feel Time People

Even drunk, I knew any escape plan that involved going to Detroit, Michigan, was a harbinger of doom. By Mat Johnson Michigan Detroit Drunk Doom Knew