Bob Newhart Quotes (26 Quotes)

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

I'm very open to the up-and-comers.

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 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.

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.

This stammer got me a home in Beverly Hills, and I'm not about to screw with it now.

I don't have a stack of scripts.

But CBS decided it wanted to concentrate more of the show on my job as a psychologist. ... I think one of the reasons for the change is that some CBS officials heard the word condominium and thought the show was about sex.

Laughter gives us distance. It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it and then move on.

People stayed home on Saturdays to watch CBS, ... I don't know why or how the networks abandoned Saturday nights. Maybe cable has had something to do with that. I don't know, but I do know that at one time Saturdays were big for the networks.

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.

That meant I could go home at night, ... Doing stand-up comedy, you're on the road an awful lot.

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'.

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.

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.

I've been a very lucky actor.

But it comes off as innocence, which carries through the picture.

The group was really supposed to be a one-shot deal, ... But it was obvious by the audience's reaction that they loved the group. That convinced us to bring them back.

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.

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.

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.

Funny is funny is funny.

That idea came from my wife (Virginia), ... You know, 'Dallas' had done the thing about one season being nothing more than a dream. We managed to keep it a secret until we actually shot the show. You should have heard the audience when they saw me and Suzanne in bed.

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.

Comedians are never really on vacation because you're always at attention... that antenna is always out there.

All I can say about life is, 'Oh God, enjoy it!'