Bob Newhart

“Well, my career choice made a difference because I never would have met my wife, Jenny. I met her through comedian Buddy Hackett. He set us up on a blind date and then we got married.”

“I don't think too much about age. Maybe if you're hurting, aching and arthritic, then you think about it a lot. But I don't.”

“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.”

“I don't think of myself as an American Master. I've just been making a living.”

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

“I certainly don't delude myself that there aren't certainly more important things to do in life than make people laugh, but I can't imagine anything that would bring me more joy.”

“I am one of the great wasters of time. I have made it an art form. I can get up at 8 o'clock in the morning, be out of the house by 8:30 and back by 5 P.M., and I'll be going all day long and accomplish absolutely nothing. It's an amazing talent.”

“When I started, I was doing all the good comedians I'd ever seen. Then I developed my own voice. My routines are my natural way of looking at the world.”

“I think the thing about it is when you grow up in Chicago there's such a thing as putting on airs, you know? And you just learn not to put on airs. Don't act like, 'Oh boy, I'm somebody.' They'll slap you down.”

“I'm glad you can't talk on your cells while the plane is in the air. That would drive me crazy.”

“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've been told to speed up my delivery when I perform. But if I lose the stammer, I'm just another slightly amusing accountant.”

“The acting is better when you know your material is being judged.”

“I know Chuck Lorre personally, and am familiar with his work going back to 'Roseanne' and 'Cybil.'”

“I found the most difficult thing when you became successful - when I had the record album, it won Album of the Year - that you were cut off from the source of your material. Your material was everyday people, and you were kind of cut off from that, and you had to work at it.”

“People have told me, 'My dad passed on, but I have great memories of watching your shows with him.' It doesn't get any better than that.”

“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 was very political when JFK ran.”

“More and more, as I get older, people come up to me and say, 'Thank you for all the laughter.' And my standard answer is, 'It was my pleasure.' But that's the truth.”

“It's kind of hard coming from 'Saturday Night Live,' which is a sketch-driven show, to a movie.”