(The Nutty Professor) was a labor of love. It was a total film. It was the most productive, creative work of my life.

Comedy is a man in trouble. And without it, there's no humor.

Don't you understand how dramatic it is to be a comic? To be a fool, to get people to laugh at this show-off? Milton Berle could take Laurence Olivier and stick him under the table if he wanted to. And so could I.

When I was onstage doing the work, adrenaline killed the pain because I never hurt in front of an audience.

People hate me because I am a multifaceted, talented, wealthy, internationally famous genius.

I never tell an audience what they can expect. I never have and I never will. I'm an entertainer for 75 years.

I don't want to be remembered. I want the nice words when I can hear them.