Quotes by Bob Newhart

• I've been a very lucky actor.
• 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.
• It's getting harder and harder to differentiate between schizophrenics and people talking on a cell phone. It still brings me up short to walk by somebody who appears to be talking to themselves.
• Jack Benny was, without a doubt, the bravest comedian I have ever seen work. He wasn't afraid of silence. He would take as long as it took to tell the story.
• Laughter gives us distance. It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it and then move on.
• The first time I got up in front of an audience was terror, abject terror, which continued for another four or five years. There still is, a little bit.
• The only thing I have never done is a Broadway play. I'm not sure I have the discipline necessary to do a Broadway play. I know it holds a fascination for certain actors.
• When I started out in 1960, I thought it might possibly last a couple of years. I never expected it to last 42. I take great satisfaction in that longevity.
• I was never a Certified Public Accountant. I just had a degree in accounting. It would require passing a test, which I would not have been able to do.
• This stammer got me a home in Beverly Hills, and I'm not about to screw with it now.
• Funny is funny is funny.
• I'm very open to the up-and-comers.
• Comedians are never really on vacation because you're always at attention... that antenna is always out there.
• 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 don't have a stack of scripts.
• I don't know how many sacred cows there are today. I think there's a little confusion between humor and gross passing for humor. That's kind of regrettable.
• I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down'.
• I think you should be a child for as long as you can. I have been successful for 74 years being able to do that. Don't rush into adulthood, it isn't all that much fun.
• I was influenced by every comedian I ever saw work. That's the only way you learn how to do it.
• All I can say about life is, 'Oh God, enjoy it!'
• The most important step of all is the first step. Start something