Desi Arnaz Quotes

Making a television show is not like making Coca-Cola or Bacardi rum. The human element in our business prevents us from finding a successful formula every time.

When I get in the sun I get very tanned. You can't tell me from the native fishermen in Hawaii or Mexico.

The straw hat is the typical hat Cubans use. It's cool and keeps the sun away from your face.

I received my Greetings from Uncle Sam in May 1943. I applied for the Air Force.

A single prop that does not look real to an audience can louse you up. The same is true of the smallest flaw in setting up the motivation in a story line.

The thing I remember about New York was how little I felt. I arrived with one small bag and $15.

I could have stayed home and been kept by my wife.

Mother came to New York to keep house for me.

I was an only child, but I did have a hell of a lot of cousins.

I learned a lot from Xavier Cugat.

Since I was very young I have always worked hard at whatever I have had to do.

I didn't know anything about acting, much less about acting in a comedy.

My Latin temper blows up pretty fast, but it goes down just as fast. Maybe that's why you seldom hear of ulcers in Latin America.

Joe McCarthy and his Senate hearings were like witch-hunts.

The success of I Love Lucy is something that happens only once in a lifetime, if you are fortunate enough to have it happen at all.

An audience is so important. I would never have had the guts to dub in that big a laugh.

Real intellectuals like to escape once in a while from their world of intellect.

No one could ever argue with me about people in show business being kind of nice.

It was easy for viewers to identify with our show. The characters were believable.

The way the Army does things is sometimes a little strange.

I was the only male of the Arnaz family in my generation.

Everyone seemed to be doing well except me and my career. And my accent was no helping me any.

If you don't know what to do, don't do anything.

An actor who is good at comedy can also be very good at drama, but not necessarily vice versa.

Al Jolson was one of the greatest entertainers who ever lived.

One of my biggest problems with comedy was that I did not understand some of the jokes.

I don't think anyone can tell you what it is that makes you a star.

American people have the ability to laugh at themselves. It is one of the things that makes this country the great country that it is.

In 1934 there were very few Cubans in Miami.

Motion-picture studio floors used to be all wooden and not smooth at all. This was difficult when moving a camera around on a dolly.

Good things do not come easy. The road is lined with pitfalls.

The Spanish and Cuban people have the same kind of wakes the Irish do. They go on for two or three days and drink a lot of booze and eat a lot of food.

The custom of my grandfather's day is still going strong in Latin America. American girls do not seem to understand it.

It's really amazing that two people from such different backgrounds and geographical origins ever got together. That was perhaps part of the attraction.

I learned a lot in those first years in Miami, while struggling just for survival, by observing my father's fortitude.

Drinking intensifies all your pressures and your needs.