"Both my brothers became physicians and I, of course, wandered into a business where the undisciplined are welcome."

"It seems that entertainment is what most excites us and what we value above everything else."

"I do talk less now because the sound of my voice saying over and over the things I said years ago embarrasses and depresses me. Why do I say the same things over and over?"

"Talent can be developed, gift is God-given. But artists have both."

"I hate pride, but if I were going to be proud of anything it would have to be something I'd done myself. Race pride is kind of stupid."

"Half the pictures directed by men of reputation fail."

"My Irish derivation has nothing to do with me. Why should it?"

"My professional life in Hollywood has been filled with joy and laughter."

"All in the Family was intellectual; it was art."

"Vulgar and obscene, the papers run rumors daily about people in show business, tales of wicked ways and witless affairs."

"In a capitalist society, persons who create capital, like Michael Eisner, are given the staggering rewards."

"Those offers come in now and again. They're not knocking down my door. I'm only an old character actor, and I'm not needed."

"The wages of pedantry is pain."

"I enjoyed in every way my 12 years of playing Archie, and I wasn't personally sad about finishing a long job."

"The reviewer is a singularly detested enemy because he is, unlike the hapless artist, invulnerable."

"Millions of people thought Archie was a happy hero."

"We don't really need reviewers, just first-night reporters who will tell us faithfully whether or not the audience liked the show."

"Some people thought we were presenting Archie as a false character. President Nixon thought we were making a fool out of a good man."

"Nations have come under the control of haters and fools."

"Even a true artist does not always produce art."

"One irreducible residual of 38 years in the business is the number of lasting, loving friendships I have made."

"I have heard show business characterized as a refuge for childlike persons in flight from all things harsh and real."

"Conventional show-biz savvy held that Americans hated to be the objects of satire."

"It was a lack of system that made the '30s Depression as inevitable as all others previously suffered."

"Sheer flattery got me into the theater. Flattery always works with me, particularly the flattery of women."