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.

Good taste is the enemy of comedy.

Not only should we laugh about Hitler. We must laugh about him. Especially in Berlin.

I was in the army, and to me it was like a newsreel.

My movies were not reaping the kind of emotional rewards that I wanted. I wanted them to be appreciated and they weren't. I didn't want the reviews to say, "Mel Brooks has made another movie," and you get the title somewhere in the second paragraph.

I love gentiles. In fact, on of my favorite activities is Protestant spotting.

Anybody can direct, but there are only eleven good writers.