Don Rickles Quotes

Some people call me a legend and the last of the greats, and I appreciate it.

In the 45 years I've worked in casinos, I dreamed of being honored by an organization like the American Gaming Association, especially since I don't even have a hunting license.

To my knowledge, I was the first guy really to do what I do. And then later on different comedians started trying doing it.

I have to have energy because I have a lot of expenses. A couple of cars, couple of dogs and a big estate.

It's very sweet to have people say nice things about you, and I always accept that.

Frank Sinatra enjoyed my humor, so I could say almost anything to him. I mean, within reason.

Everything I've ever done in my whole career, people might not know, I've never written anything down on paper.

So many young people think the big sex act is the whole movie, but that's not the case. You need to be able to talk and laugh and cry together.

I've got an accountant who's been with me forty years. If he makes a mistake, he dies.

No matter where you go in this world, you will always find a Jew sitting in the beach chair next to you.

I don't get into politics. I know [Donald] Trump, but I don't follow that. That's just an aside for him when he has nothing else to say. He never involved me in any of that stuff.

The old days were the old days. And they were great days. But now is now.

In the old days, that was my ad-lib for hecklers in the joints I worked. It stuck with me. I hardly say it now, say, to fans, even though people do send me hockey pucks.

Yeah, I make fun of blacks, and why not? I'm not a black.

When I first went to Vegas, there were just high-rollers and gamblers and the wise guys treated you great.

Room service is great if you want to pay $500 for a club sandwich.

Alan King, a comedian I adored, was considered society, and I was considered the Jewish kid from the neighborhood.

Al Capone's my uncle. The old days were a lot different. The Latin Casino was the big time. When I got there I figured that I was doing pretty good, because remember, I started in nothing but after hours joints. I can't even name them now, but that's how I got noticed.

Regis Philbin is very successful in his own right. We have a new thing where he have chairs and we sit and talk to each other about my career and his career. It works pretty well if I do say so.

I always say that comedians and actors were all kind of shy when they were young. I was very, believe it or not, kind of embarrassed as a child. But my mother was a very strong lady and she was the one that kept it going when I thought it would be over for me as a performer. She was always my inspiration and she was a big influence on me.

I can sit all day in a comfortable chair and watch ball games, but I don't need a blanket.

Smartphones. Who cares? Smartphones. I only have dummy phones.

I was a mother's boy.

I've never had guys sit me down and say this is what you've got to do. It's my personality that makes me one of a kind, and I believe that.

My father when walked into a room, you could tell that everybody loved him. They really did. He was quite a man. My mother was more into the show biz atmosphere than he was.

I do situations and make fun of authority and life.

It's tough having the last name Rickles. Luckily, my kids handled it great.

I'd like to think my performance is today. I never try to - it's so, as you know, watching me, I have a beginning, middle and ending. But every night the show changes and I relate to an audience and I relate to the young people.

Some people say funny things - but I say things funny.

I never went out looking for glory.

When you stand alone and sell yourself, you can't please everyone. But when you're different, you can last.

I have my own gym. When you do jokes and they sell, you get a gym.

Showbiz is great if you're successful.

I still have drive, but everything is relative.

That I walk around calling people 'dummy' and 'hockey puck'. I do have a different life apart from being sarcastic on stage. I might kibitz around with my friends, but I'm nothing like the person who does stand up. Nothing like that.

You've got to be able to sell yourself.

You lose your energy, you lose that excitement and it gets the audience up.

Who am I to judge is what I say. I'm 90 years old, for crying out loud, and I don't sit in any chariot.

Women were afraid of me, they were scared to death. But I always say be yourself, if you're funny then let your sense of humor go there. I mean there's no sense hiding what you feel.

I always rib people, but nobody ever gives me a hard time. I don't know why. Maybe they're afraid of what I might say. There's probably a lesson in that somewhere, but I don't know what it is.

What I do is, I make fun of people and I make fun of myself and things around us and exaggerate things. And I'm never mean-spirited. See, the word insult means some guy who's a real unkind human being. But I don't do that, because otherwise I wouldn't be headlining all these years, thank god, and all these people showing up to see me.

Famous people are deceptive. Deep down, they're just regular people. Like Larry King. We've been friends for forty years. He's one of the few guys I know who's really famous. One minute he's talking to the president on his cell phone, and then the next minute he's saying to me, Do you think we ought to give the waiter another dollar?

My style is my personality. It's always been that way. Being a wiseguy and having fun. It's always been that way for me, when I was in high school, and in the Navy. It's not something I rehearse.

When you talk about George Burns you're talking about a living legend . . . well, a legend, anyhow.

I'm always watching films. The Academy pretty much sends me every film that's ever been done. I enjoy watching them, especially with the people I know.

I don't care if the average guy on the street really knows what I'm like, as long as he knows I'm not really a mean, vicious guy. My friends and family know what I'm really like. That's what's important.

I would describe myself as a guy that's very normal but has the tendency to rib people, but never in a mean-spirited way.

It takes many years to be a great comedian.