Art Linkletter Quotations

I like what I'm doing. Today at 88, I wouldn't think of quitting because I can't think of anything else I would rather do. And now with my lectures on all the charitable things that I do, just as you do, I think that what I'm doing matters

Sometimes I'm asked by kids why I condemn marijuana when I haven't tried it. The greatest obstetricians in the world have never been pregnant.

I stand fearlessly for small dogs, the American Flag, motherhood and the Bible. That's why people love me.

My philosophy is to do the best you can for somebody. Help. It's not just what do you for yourself. It's how you treat people decently. The golden rule. There isn't big anything better than the golden rule. It's in every major religion in one language or another.

The four stages of man are infancy, childhood, adolescence, and obsolescence.

I've learned it's always better to have a small percentage of a big success, than a hundred percent of nothing.

One of the wonderful things about going to a small college is you can get into everything.

A finished product is one that has already seen its better days.

The depths of the Depression. You didn't ask what the job was, what the pay was, you didn't ask about stock options, or - you said yes

Yes, I backed the hula hoop. And I had a lot of other people come to me with ideas that turned out well

I grew up poor. I never had any money. I was a hobo, you know, ride the freights

In the Top 40, half the songs are secret messages to the teen world to drop out, turn on, and groove with the chemicals and light shows at discotheques.

Radio was so important to everybody back then; there was no TV. Columbia Square was the epitome of radio. Everything was modern. It was beautiful.

People find gold in fields, veins, river beds, and pockets. Whichever, it takes work to get it out.

Diplomacy: the art of jumping into trouble without making a splash.

A poor old man held the winning ticket on a half million dollar lottery. Hearing the old man might be surprised at the shock, the local pastor was asked to break the news gradually. The pastor made a customary call, and while visiting casually asked the old man what he would do with a half million dollars if he had it. The old man replied, "why, I'd give half of it to you." Whereupon the pastor dropped dead.

Troubadours travelled from town to town. They didn't really sing too good, which is the main reason they kept going.

A traveling show visited a country town and one of the acts was advertised as a striptease. A small boy begged his mother for a quarter to buy a ticket, but the mother refused, telling her son that if he went to that show he would see something awful. Well, the boy sneaked in the show and the first thing he saw was something awful - his own dad sitting on the front row.

No one can keep from aging, but there is no need to grow old.

If you don't go far enough back in memory or far enough ahead in hope, your future will be impoverished.

Committees are to get everybody together and homogenize their thinking.

Posterity is the patriotic name for grandchildren.

The only meaningful contact is one that involves a genuine, giving personal interaction. You may want another person to help you in business, but you must also be willing to help him and to spend time getting to know his interests and needs... It has to be real and heartfelt, or it's best not to try to establish the relationship at all.

Kids do say the darndest things

My age now, like my age 20 years ago, marks the year in which I was born. That's all.

I eat a lowfat diet, think positively, get exercise every day.

Being alive at 87 is quite an accomplishment if you're curious, interested, seeing the fun out of life, doing things, having a purpose.

Children have an unerring instinct for knowing when they are being patronized. They go immediately on the defensive against head-patting adults who treat them like strange beings.

And keep a sense of humor. It doesn't mean you have to tell jokes. If you can't think of anything else, when you're my age, take off your clothes and walk in front of a mirror. I guarantee you'll get a laugh.

If anything is worth trying at all, it's worth trying at least 10 times.

The two best interview subjects are children under 10 and people over 70 for the same reason: they say the first thing that comes to their mind. The children don't know what they're saying and the old folks don't care.

A preacher was operated on for a hernia. As this was about the time of the first world war he was given ether. As he was coming out of the anesthetic a fire broke out in the building next door. As the flames began to show through the hospital windows the nurse pulled the shades down. She didn't want the preacher to think his operation had been a failure.

Each generation has been an education for us in different ways. The first child-with-bloody-nose was rushed to the emergency room. The fifth child-with-bloody-nose was told to go to the yard immediately and stop bleeding on the carpet.

Just smiling goes a long way toward making you feel better about life. And when you feel better about life, your life is better. With an optimistic, positive attitude toward life, the possibilities for your second prime are tremendous.

Do a little more than you're paid to. Give a little more than you have to. Try a little harder than you want to. Aim a little higher than you think possible, and give a lot of thanks to God for health, family, and friends.

Things turn out best for the people who make the best out of the way things turn out.