The first time I got up in front of an audience was terror, abject terror, which continued for another four or five years. There still is, a little bit.

This stammer got me a home in Beverly Hills, and I'm not about to screw with it now.

I think you should be a child for as long as you can. I have been successful for 74 years being able to do that. Don't rush into adulthood, it isn't all that much fun.

One of the first things you ever learn as a stand-up is don't show fear.

When you're going for a joke, you're stuck out there if it doesn't work. There's nowhere to go. You've done the drum role and the cymbal clash and you're out on the end of the plank.

The giant superstars are people whose talent is so enormous that their death wish can't destroy it.

More and more, as I get older, people come up to me and say, 'Thank you for all the laughter.' And my standard answer is, 'It was my pleasure.' But that's the truth.