Harvey Fierstein

“I'm sure there's going to be some material from This Is Not Going To Be Pretty. I usually use that song to just introduce myself to the audience, although the patter in between the song is always different.”

“I actually pray everyday, but I don't believe in God.”

“I got a lovely check today from being a writer that I earned by sitting at home. That's rewarding.”

“There are times when I don't take roles because I don't want to be perceived a certain way.”

“Time will tell us what we did and didn't do.”

“Nothing binds a people to their leader like a common enemy. Voters don't change governments during war.”

“Anyone with a smart phone is a potential eyewitness cameraman capturing and transmitting stories at speeds that turn Reuter photos and traditional reporting into, well... yesterday's news.”

“I was exposed to a mix of cultures, lots of different religions and beliefs. I was a spiritual kid and went to Indian powwows and Buddhist temples. But over a period of time, with reading and thinking, I started to feel it was all so absurd: The whole idea of life after death is ridiculous.”

“How time files when you's doin' all the talking.”

“Movies are all about plot. Theater, even if it's story heavy, it's about ideas. Theater has to resonate in your heart in a way that movies don't.”

“And I believe that you never be limited in what you do, so I like to do movies, I like to do television.”

“Also, if you want to reach people, theatre is not always the best way to do it.”

“Art has the power to transform, to illuminate, to educate, inspire and motivate.”

“To work all the time is to be incredibly lucky.”

“It's a wonderful world. You can't go backwards. You're always moving forward. It's the wonderful part about life. And that's terrific.”

“I just don't like politics. My rule is if I can put a spotlight on something, I'll do that.”

“I burned out on AIDS and did no AIDS work for a couple of years. I was so angry that people were still getting this disease that nobody can give you - you have to go out and get it!”

“In Torch Song, I did that character almost non-stop from 1978 until I made the movie in 1987. Then I had some failure, which also colors how you react to doing other things.”

“I have the world's worst taste in men, so now I simply have wonderful relationships of the friend kind, but trying to settle down with somebody? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm beyond that.”

“So, did I work with Warhol? I worked with him less on that play then I did on other things. He actually did a portrait of my rabbit and some other stuff. Warhol was definitely... Warhol.”