230 Quotes by Bob Newhart

The giant superstars are people whose talent is so enormous that their death wish can’t destroy it.

There are a lot of questions I keep asking myself about why I do comedy. I guess I laugh to keep from crying. And I guess if you ever get me crying, I might not stop. This is the way I look at tragedy or else I’ll cry.

Doormen are kind of invisible, people don’t know their names. They just say, Thank you, or Good morning. I’d never thought about doormen before. They’re a vanishing breed. More electronic doors are being introduced.

I’m very open to the up-and-comers.

The problem is that we live in an uptight country. Why don’t we just laugh at ourselves? We are funny. Gays are funny. Straights are funny. Women are funny. Men are funny. We are all funny, and we all do funny things. Let’s laugh about it.

It was a decision to work clean. I just prefer to work that way. I have no problem with comedians who don’t work that way. There was a temptation in the early ’70s to reconsider. I decided against it.

When you’re going for a joke, you’re stuck out there if it doesn’t work. There’s nowhere to go. You’ve done the drum role and the cymbal clash and you’re out on the end of the plank.

I’m most proud of the longevity of my marriage, my kids, and my grandchildren. If you don’t have that, you really don’t have very much.

I was influenced by every comedian I ever saw work. That’s the only way you learn how to do it.