I started to make harder jokes before anyone else did. And the producers would get anxious. They'd say, 'That's a little bit hard-edged, isn't it?' And I'd say, 'Let's just try it and see how the audience reacts. If they don't like it, let's cut it out.' And the audience roared with laughter, so I learned you could do this harder humor and people loved it.

I don't want to hurt people.

The really good idea is always traceable back quite a long way, often to a not very good idea which sparked off another idea that was only slightly better, which somebody else misunderstood in such a way that they then said something which was really rather interesting.

If you want to know who your friends are, have a major failure.

When people say 'I'm not a prude, but ...' what they mean is 'I am a prude, and ...'.

Laughter is a force for democracy.

Laughter destroys any divisions between people.