The Surprising Inspiration Behind Mr. T’s ’I Pity the Fool’ Catch Phrase

It’s been nearly 35 years since we first heard Mr. T say “I pity the fool” as Clubber Lang in Rocky III, and the phrase has stuck with him ever since. Based on characters Mr. T has played, you might think that when you hear him say ”I pity the fool,” something bad is about to happen to whichever fool is being pitied. But Mr. T sees it differently. On Conan, he explained what it means to him.

“When you pity someone, you’re showing them mercy. I didn’t start this pity stuff, it was in the bible. You’ll find pity so many times in the Bible and fool so many times, so I put ‘em together. Pity the fool,” Mr. T said. He added, “Lotta guys in the Bible [were] asking for pity. And then a lot of them were saying, I did a foolish act. So I put ‘em together.”

But just because it’s biblical doesn’t mean it’s free for all to use. Mr. T has “I pity the fool” trademarked, and he explained what will happen if it’s used in a commercial or elsewhere.

“My people gonna be on ‘em,” Mr. T said. “Oh yeah. That’s part of Mr. T’s retirement fund.”

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