Mel Brooks Quotes

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

Townspeople: A black sheriff? Blinkin: He's Black?! Ahchoo: Why not? It worked in Blazing Saddles.

In every classic comedy duo, from Laurel and Hardy to Abbott and Costello to Martin and Lewis, in order for the exchange to work, the quality of the straight man had to be as dynamic as that of the funny guy. Carl was the best at this. I could use a single question as a springboard to unplanned exposition and tangents that would be as much of a surprise to Carl as they were to the audience. Carl was a gifted partner: While he deferred the punch lines to me, he knew me well enough to follow along and cross paths enough to set me up for more opportunities. He also knew he could throw me a complete curveball and I’d swing for the fences. We were a great ad-libbed high-wire act, and like the best high-wire acts, ours was dependent upon complete trust and respect for each other. Carl once said, “A brilliant mind in panic is a wonderful thing to behold.

Lizzie” or a “Flivver.

If I cut my finger, that’s tragedy. Comedy is if you walk into an open sewer and die.

Hope for the best. Expect the worst. The world's a stage. We're unrehearsed. No way of knowing which way it's going. Take your chances, there are no answers. Hope for the best. Expect the worst.

I have always been a huge admirer of my own work. I'm one of the funniest and most entertaining writers I know.

President Skroob: What the hell, it works on Star Trek!

Dark Helmet: What's the matter Colonel Sandurz... chicken?!'''

Sheriff Bart: Since I am your host and you are my guest what are your hobbies? What do you like to do in your free time?
Jim "The Waco Kid": Oh you know, play chess...screw.
Sheriff Bart: (Quickly) Let's play chess!

But let’s get back to Melvin Kaminsky.

Humor is just another defense against the
universe.

Lead Tenor Stormtrooper: Springtime, for Hitler, and Germany Winter, for Poland and France!

They make us live in the crap, and now they're taking the crap away? No!

Failure is vital. It is an incredibly important quotient in the equation of a career. After you wipe away your tears, it’s not a bad experience and under the right circumstances it will make you better, both as a person and as an artist. I think it’s important to fail, especially between the ages of twenty and thirty. Success is like sugar. It’s too good. It’s too sweet. It’s too wonderful and it burns up very quickly. Failure is like corned beef hash. It takes a while to eat. It takes a while to digest. But it stays with you.