Quotes from Jerry Lewis

I have some very personal feelings about politics, but I don't get into it because I do comedy already.

People hate me because I am a multifaceted, talented, wealthy, internationally famous genius.

I have a loyalty that runs in my bloodstream, when I lock into someone or something, you can't get me away from it because I commit that thoroughly. That's in friendship, that's a deal, that's a commitment. Don't give me paper - I can get the same lawyer who drew it up to break it. But if you shake my hand, that's for life.

I've had the greatest respect for my work in this country by Americans. Critics have no brains.

I am probably the most selfish man you will ever meet in your life. No one gets the satisfaction or the joy that I get out of seeing kids realize there is hope.

I never got a formal education. So my intellect is my common sense. I don't have anything else going for me. And my common sense opens the door to instinct.

This is the pain pacemaker. I've got a battery under my skin. From that battery are two electrodes that go into the spine where they cut bone away to accommodate it. Now I put on the power here. If I have the pain, the stimulator starts. It's tingling, like when your foot falls asleep, you know?

I turned down 'Some Like It Hot.' See how smart I am? I felt I couldn't bring anything funny to it. The outfit was funny. I don't need to compete with the wardrobe.

If you're an old pro, you know how well you're doing when you're doing it, and your inner government spanks you if you're not doing well.

I've had great success being a total idiot.

I get paid for what most kids get punished for.

Every man's dream is to be able to sink into the arms of a woman without also falling into her hands

Pity? [If] you don't want to be pitied because you're a cripple in a wheelchair, stay in your house!

When I awoke on Wednesday afternoon, I understood how an amputee must feel.

He watched me breathe. He knew my breath.

If you knock even the most hateful human being, you will come out of the encounter looking less than heroic. People almost always side with the one being attacked.

When we reached the car that was waiting to take us back to the Copa, Dean actually spoke to me for the first time in weeks. "You did that good, pal," he said. "Thanks," I said, and then we were quiet. Very quiet.

That never stops. That's what drives you: the joy and excitement of doing what you love.

Pity? You don't want to be pitied because you're a cripple in a wheelchair? Stay in your house!

My Judaism has always been a great pride with me.

I expect people that come to the studio to work to come with the same energy I come with. If I see less than that, I get very strong about, if you want to do this, come with a sense of pride, come with eagerness and anxiety.

If you're an old pro, you know how well you're doing when you're doing it, and your inner government spanks you if you're not doing well.

When I was young, I wasn't disciplined at all.

You can't hold comedy back, because it needs to be exposed.