Quotable: Mel Brooks

Mel Brooks is a member of the short list of entertainers with the distinction of having won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony award. Three of his films (Blazing Saddles, The Producers and Young Frankenstein) ranked in the Top 20 on the American Film Institute's list of the Top 100 comedy films of all-time. --Wikipedia


1. Bad taste is simply saying the truth before it should be said.

2. I've been accused of vulgarity. I say that's bullshit.

3. If presidents can't do it to their wives, they do it to their country.

4. If you're quiet, you're not living. You've got to be noisy and colorful and lively.

5. Life literally abounds in comedy if you just look around you.

6. Hope for the best, expect the worst. Life is a play. We're unrehearsed.

7. He who hesitates is poor.

8. If God wanted us to fly, He would have given us tickets.

9. Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.

10. Rhetoric does not get you anywhere, because Hitler and Mussolini are just as good at rhetoric. But if you can bring these people down with comedy, they stand no chance.