Sarah Silverman regrets using racial slurs in her old comedy routines.

The 54-year-old comedian admits that she made a mistake using racial slurs and blackface on 'The Sarah Silverman Program', her TV sitcom that ran from 2007 until 2010.

Sarah told Rolling Stone magazine: "I felt like the temperature of the world around me at the time was 'We are all liberal so we can say the n-word. We aren't racist, so we can say this derogatory stuff.'

"I was playing a character that was arrogant and ignorant, so I thought it was OK. Looking back, my intentions were always good, but they were f****** ignorant."

Sarah actually received criticism for apologising for her controversial comedy sketches. But the actress thinks she was right to apologize.

She said: "I don't think of myself as being PC out of fear. Some people got mad at me for apologising. I only did that because I was sorry.

"That's a really great rule of thumb: Only apologize when you're sorry. Always apologize when you're sorry."

Earlier this year, Sarah admitted that she was consciously "ignorant-arrogant" in the early years of her career.

The comedian feels she learned some invaluable lessons from her past mistakes.

Sarah told the Guardian newspaper: "Some comics are like, 'Never apologize.' My rule is, 'Always apologize when you're sorry and never apologize when you're not.' It's so simple - I felt sorry."

Sarah feels proud that she's evolved and matured during her stand-up career.

She said: "I like being a part of the world around me, learning new stuff and being changed by it.

"Comics who are still doing that thing or voice or personality they had when they got famous, that's such a bummer. To be the same person creatively as you were 20 years ago doesn't feel like success to me."

A number of new comics have been influenced by Sarah's "ignorant-arrogant" era - but she doesn't feel any bitterness towards them.

Sarah said: "I've seen legendary comics feel so frustrated by seeing the next generation take their influence and go further. I saw how it ate at them - and that's no way to live. You should be thrilled that you touched people."