You have to have a certain persona to be a star, you know, and I don't have that. I'm a banana.

Then I got out of the service, and I was going to be a Shakespearean actor.

And I went to New York and died; for 10 years I walked those pavements. I can't think of New York without feeling uncomfortable and feeling like a failure.

You have to have a certain persona to be a star, you know, and I don't have that. I'm a banana.

I went to the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago.

I'm not a star.

I got canceled in the middle of making the pilot.

I wish there was something that - I get all those wonderful letters and wonderful acknowledgments, and I wish I could be more appreciative of what I do. But it's hard for me.

Although in Abbott and Costello, and straight man was first. That's a very interesting concept.

I mean, we had on our show, we had marriages, divorces and other stuff going on. And that was just me.

They say it's good but I didn't know what I was doing until I got into the suit and they put the moustache on me, and somehow, when I got all the drag on, it came out. It was the most amazing thing. I'm truly extraordinary.

But there's a lot of 50's and a lot of boomers and a lot of kids in their 30's that grew up with us.

And it's tough traveling. You know, the hotels and the airports and all that. That part, eating and getting around to the hotel room and then going on.

I played Hamlet, I played Chekhov and Ibsen and all the classics.

You asked what is the secret of a really good sketch. And it is a sketch is a small play. It's got a beginning, and a middle and an end. It should have a plot; it should have the characters, conflict. It is a little play. And in it, will be funny stuff.

Funny is when you're serious.

Anything for the quick life, as the man said when he took the situation at the lighthouse.

When I forget who I am, I remind myself by finding my stride. I remember that I am strong, free, and loved, and that with God's help I can weather whatever comes.

The army taught me to sign my name very quickly, and that's stood me in good stead the rest of my life.

I don't mind going into a liberal lion's den. That's where you test yourself.

Negativity sells. I have been labelled a rebel. If I had been one, would I have got married at 23? Would I have been a straight A student?

Know guns know peace know safety. No guns no peace no safety.

As my career has gone on, I guess I've become more well known. I'm playing to fuller halls in general, which is a nice feeling. When you're doing that, you're going to have a certain number of people who are not just the hardcore classical fanatics, and this makes me very happy.

With few exceptions, the leading women in philanthropy, notably Melinda Gates, are the wives or daughters of rich and powerful men.

Manic depression is a type of depression, technically, and it's the opposite of uni-polar. Manic depression is also called bi-polar disorder. Some people don't like to call it that because they think it makes it sound too nice, when the reality is if you have manic-depression you have manic-depression.

When I was younger, I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do, but I told a lot of lies in school. I told my friends once that I was playing John Travolta's daughter in a movie. I also told people that I had this romantic affair with Jonathan Taylor Thomas over a summer.

There are no client conflicts, only bad explanations.

I like pushing the envelope. I like pushing myself and the audience, whether it's a TV show or live. I like to throw people over the edge of the cliff and scare the wits out of them, but then pull them back and make them safe.

I used to worry about what life was for - now being alive seems sufficient reason.

Then I started graduate school at UCLA. I got a part time research assistant job as a programmer on a project involving the use of one computer to measure the performance of another computer.

Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.

What I like about the third movie is you get to see a side of Carlisle you haven't seen before. You actually get to see what his vampire capabilities are because there's some great battle sequences. It's my favorite book. Carlisle is holding on to that humanity. He doesn't want to be a vampire.

I loved working with 'The Avengers' cast and we had a great time, but it was a job, and they had other commitments during that job, so they would go off and do other things.

Hate has no place in the house of God.

I always knew that I wanted to live with books, even as a child, because we traveled a lot. Home was the book to which I came back every evening.

Austerity is devastating these communities. The working poor, public sector workers, the disabled, and the vulnerable are the hardest hit by this bankrupt and ideologically driven policy.

My favorite type of music to sing is country, and my favorite type of music to listen to is country.

You have to struggle a bit, hustle a little, and be willing to go bankrupt. Once you're willing to do that, everything opens up and you get the freedom. My joke is that next year, I'll make the first film that costs zero dollars.

It is not the business of generals to shoot one another.

Probably the only type of cosmetic surgery I'd consider is having my bust reduced. It's alright for my current role in 'The Marquise' because it's a costume drama, which means boned corsets and a bit of cleavage, but it's a drag otherwise.