Quotes from Oscar Levant

I have no trouble with y enemies. But my god damn friends... they are the ones that keep me walking the floors at night.

I'm a self-made man. Who else would help?

You can't possibly hear the last movement of Beethoven's Seventh and go slow. (Oscar trying to talk his way out of a speeding ticket)

The only difference between the Democrats and the Republicans is that the Democrats allow the poor to be corrupt, too.

I don't drink. I don't like it. It makes me feel good.

[Madame Nhu was] the Sandra Dee of South Vietnam. If I were cast on a desert island with her, I would quickly make friends with the natives.

There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.

Happiness isn't something you experience; it's something you remember.

Strip away the phony tinsel of Hollywood and you'll find the real tinsel underneath.

I've given up reading books. I find it takes my mind off myself.

I have given up reading books; I find it takes my mind off myself.

I am no more humble than my talents require.

My psychiatrist once said to me, 'Maybe life isn't for everyone'.

Schizophrenia beats dining alone.

I could never have a mistress, because I couldn't bear to tell the story of my life all over again.

Behind the phony tinsel of Hollywood lies the real tinsel.

George, if you had to do it all over, would you fall in love with yourself again?

Once Dwight Eisenhower makes up his mind, he's full of indecision.

There are two sides to every question: my side and the wrong side.

I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin.

There is a thin line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.

Underneath this flabby exterior is an enormous lack of character.

Every time I look at you I get a fierce desire to be lonesome.

Epigram: a wisecrack that has played Carnegie Hall.