The dining room in my old house was truly magnificent, but by far the worst room for conversation. I'd get up from the table, a very long table, and somebody would always say, Paul, I never got to talk to you.

Food was a constant topic of conversation in our household.

Someday I'm going to go onstage in a dress if I want to.

If I ever completely lost my nervousness I would be frightened half to death.

I feel now it's useless to keep hoping. The way things are today, we live in a world that needs laughter, and I've decided if I can make people laugh, I'm making a more important contribution.

My sisters said, Why do you make those faces? You make yourself so ugly.

The dining room in my old house was truly magnificent, but by far the worst room for conversation. I'd get up from the table, a very long table, and somebody would always say, Paul, I never got to talk to you.

I have this beautiful antique silver wine decanter that I bought at an auction. I always pour wine from that.

I can't even get three weeks off to have cosmetic surgery.

I don't understand why people don't remember my name.

An actor shouldn't undergo psychoanalysis, because there are a lot of things you're better off not knowing.

My table seats eight, so that's my maximum. Having a small number of guests is the only way to generate good conversation. Besides, your whole house doesn't get wrecked that way.

My dad was a ham, too. He could sell those women anything. Of all his sons, I was the only one he could trust to sell as well as he could. I was proud of that.

Learning lines is on my mind until I do know them. I'll read the paper or paint the house to keep from starting to memorize. I've never found an easy way.

I have an ulcer. It has an IQ of 185.

The doctor's name was Sylvia. I told her she'd have a problem with me because Sylvia was my mother's name.

If I hadn't become a celebrity, I'd probably be an alcoholic.

A room is like a stage. If you see it without lighting, it can be the coldest place in the world.

It was the worst moment of my life. The producer came up and talked me back into going on stage.

A closet full of wire hangers can be the most dangerous place in the world.

Politicians... talk in generalities and lies, and I think they've caused all our grief. They're so awful, they're really funny. I hate thinking this because my dad loved politics.

I wish I had the nerve not to tip.

I don't know who the hell Paul Lynde is, or why he's funny, and I prefer it to be a mystery to me.

I sang in the choir for years, even though my family belonged to another church.

I may find something that looks interesting and then go on to alter the recipe by adding spices, things of my own. I also look for time-saving recipes, dishes that can be prepared ahead and stored.

If I'm not working, I don't know what to do.

When I said I didn't have a cent, I didn't. I used to get annoyed with people who said they were broke when they had five dollars.

Sandwiches are wonderful. You don't need a spoon or a plate!

I was obsessed with being rich and famous.

My following is straight. I'm so glad.

Comedy is exaggerated realism. It can be stretched to the almost ludicrous, but it must always be believable.

I'm Liberace without a piano.

I laughed all the way through Love Story.

The whole romantic part of my life was a wipeout. I didn't even own a belt.

I often go on a liquid fast a couple of days a week. I never take just water. Instead, I'll have maybe six glasses of vegetable and fruit juices a day.

My father was adamant in his disapproval of my interest in show business.

Mothers don't want to pinch me or put me in their purse.

My kitchen is not a place to live in. I made it white so I can tell instantly if it's not clean-and I like it clean enough to be able to eat off the floors-or the tables, for that matter.

I think basically an actor is a salesman.

I don't always prepare such rich meals. Sometimes I'll just serve a simple quiche, salad and dessert for dinner. During the week I try to eat lightly.

I just use my muscles as a conversation piece, like someone walking a cheetah down 42nd Street.

Food was a constant topic of conversation in our household.

A sudden silence in the middle of a conversation suddenly brings us back to essentials: it reveals how dearly we must pay for the invention of speech.

Don't knock the weather; nine-tenths of the people couldn't start a conversation if it didn't change once in a while.

What I think we need to do to engage the American people in a conversation about entitlement reform is to have a bipartisan group of people who come together and put every solution on the table, every alternative on the table. And then we ought to engage in a long conversation with the American people so they understand the choices.

It was impossible to get a conversation going, everybody was talking too much.

If you're interested in how people behave, if you're interested in the way they talk about themselves, the way the conceive of themselves, it's very hard to ignore drugs nowadays, because that is so much part of the conversation.

No animal should ever jump up on the dining-room furniture unless absolutely certain that he can hold his own in the conversation.

Wit is the salt of conversation, not the food.