The fact that I didn't finish school left me with a lifelong need to prove that I'm smart, prove it to myself, maybe to the world. I [also] needed to be - not the center of attention - but I needed to be able to attract attention when I wanted it, through my stunts and my fooling around physically with faces or postures or voices I would do. Those things are important elements in the drive behind all of this [my career].

I often warn people: "Somewhere along the way, someone is going to tell you, 'There is no "I" in team.' What you should tell them is, 'Maybe not. But there is an "I" in independence, individuality and integrity.

People who say they don't care what people think are usually desperate to have people think they don't care what people think.

I don't consider myself a cynic. I think of myself as a skeptic and a realist.

President George Bush declared a National Day of Prayer for Peace. This was after he had carefully arranged and started the war.

I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.

I believe myself to be a worthwhile and inventive performer in my own right. But I'm not in a league with Lenny [Bruce], certainly not in terms of social commentary.