You're always a little disappointing in person because you can't be the edited essence of yourself.

My brothers went to work at 12 and put themselves through school and brought the family out of ruin into food and clothing.

Sir, I have seen your film and it is vulgar! Madame, my film rises below vulgarity.

Everything starts with writing. And then to support your vision, your ideas, your philosophy, your jokes, whatever, you've gotta perform them and/or direct them, or sometimes just produce them.

You want to be as smart as you can about being stupid.

Feeling different, feeling alienated, feeling persecuted, feeling that the only way to deal with the world is to laugh - because if you don't laugh you're going to cry and never stop crying - that's probably what's responsible for the Jews having developed such a great sense of humor. The people who had the greatest reason to weep, learned more than anyone else how to laugh.

These men both publicly and privately have done so much for me. Without Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick I would be living in a little motel just around the corner here, trying to make ends meet.