In my work, there's a tremendous amount of rejection and waves of fertile and fallow times.

A man has to be Joe McCarthy to be called ruthless . . . all a woman has to do is put you on hold.

People don't want to be bothered, if they're not being pressured to change. You have to push people. You have to be the agitator that makes the pearl.

[On husband Phil Donahue:] The man does not know the meaning of the word tidy. He asked me one day, 'Where are my shoes?' So I asked him, 'Where are my shoes?' I don't know what it is about men. They think that women have radar attached to our uteruses.

As much success came to him, my father stayed true to his promise. He built the hospital to help the most helpless children with catastrophic illnesses.

Fame lost its appeal for me when I went into a public restroom and an autograph seeker handed me a pen and paper under the stall door.

I think that there's got to be a comic gene in some way, but it's so much about it is how you grow up.