Jack Benny Quotations

My wife Mary and I have been married for forty-seven years and not once have we had an argument serious enough to consider divorce; murder, yes, but divorce, never.

It's not so much knowing when to speak, when to pause.

Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.

Give me golf clubs, fresh air and a beautiful partner, and you can keep the clubs and the fresh air.

I don't deserve this award, but I have arthritis and I don't deserve that either.

Hors D'oeuvre: A ham sandwich cut into forty pieces.

I don't want to tell you how much insurance I carry with the Prudential, but all I can say is: when I go, they go too.

Give me golf clubs, fresh air and a beautiful woman - and you can keep the golf clubs and fresh air.

There's only five real people in Hollywood. Everyone else is Mel Blanc.

The doctors couldn't find anything wrong with me except that I have a slight stomach pain. Wait till I get my hospital bill! Then I'll really have a pain the stomach!

No matter how often I tell people I'm thirty-nine some of them refuse to believe I'm that old.

When another comedian has a lousy show, I'm the first one to admit it.

Any man who would walk five miles through the snow, barefoot, just to return a library book so he could save three cents - that's my kind of guy.

I'm living in a very modest place. I have a room over-looking beautiful Claridge's Hotel. I thought it was better than paying Claridge's prices and overlooking the dump I'm living in.

I'm an old newspaper-man myself, but I quit because I found there was no money in old newspapers.

I'm happy to be making my first appearance on air professionally. By that I mean I'm finally getting paid, which I know will be a great relief to my creditors.

I was going to buy my girl a Packard car for Christmas, but it took too long to deliver, so I bought her some handkerchiefs.

I was born in Waukegan a long, long time ago. As a matter of fact, our rabbi was an Indian.

I believe in being honest with myself. If there's one thing I hate it's when a comedian is great and won't admit it. I've never met one like that, but if I did, I'd hate them.

Bill Paley is not only the greatest boss I ever had, but he's the most brilliant, honest and warm human being I've ever met. And I'll say that to his face - even if it costs me my job.

I began my show business career playing violin in San Francisco at the corner of Market and Taylor. I understand that there is a theater there now.

The only way I'll ever get hurt in the casino is if there's an earthquake and a slot machine falls on my foot.

I'm like Will Rogers, I never met a man I didn't like... well, Eichmann maybe.

Try saving when your salary is low. So after making more money, you will not be able to do this anywhere

As you may or may not know, in keeping with the high-class tone of Beverly Hills, our police force is probably the most snobbish group of gendarmes in the world. It is said that the Beverly Hills Police Department is so fancy that it has an unlisted number.

Try to save something while your salary is small; it's impossible to save after you begin to earn more.

I must be cheaper now than I was ten years ago in order to get a laugh. It's not funny now if I leave the table and give the waiter a nickel tip, which was a laugh years ago. Today I must maneuver it so that somehow I get the waiter to give me a nickel tip.

Gags die, humor doesn't.

A scout troop consists of twelve little kids dressed like schmucks following a big schmuck dressed like a kid.

I gambled at the crap table all night and finally lost $8, but during that time the house gave me four drinks and two cigars, so it was still a lot cheaper than renting a room.

I went to a meeting for premature ejactulators. I left early.

If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.

I practice three hours daily on my violin so I won't get worse.

When I give concerts, the tickets sell for five dollars to one hundred dollars, but for my concerts the five-dollar seats are down in front... the further back you go, the more you have to pay. The hundred dollar seats are the last two rows, and those tickets go like hotcakes! In fact, if you pay two hundred dollars you don't have to come at all.

Everything good that happened to me happened by accident.

Modesty is my best quality.

I took my girl to dinner, and she laughed so hard at one of my jokes that she dropped her tray.

A rich man is one who isn't afraid to ask the salesperson to show him something cheaper.

When you talk about the world's greatest entertainer you have to say Al Jolson because there was no one like him. Only Judy Garland and perhaps Frank Sinatra got anywhere near him!

I feel responsible for Johnny Ray's success. See many years ago I asked him to be on my show and he asked for a lot of money and I cried. And he stole that from me.

Comedy itself is based upon very old principles of which I can readily name seven. They are, in short: the joke, exaggeration, ridicule, ignorance, surprise, the pun, and finally, the comic situation.

Age is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese. Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.