I just want to be a professional. I couldn't live without acting.
I was born in Brooklyn, delivered by a Chinese doctor on a table in a boarding house on Sept. 23, 1920.
I'm a ham who wants to be a small part of anything.
I think without a doubt there will never be a voice like Judy Garland.
I didn't ask to be short. I didn't want to be short. I've tried to pretend that being a short guy didn't matter.
The audience and I are friends. They allowed me to grow up with them. I've let them down several times. They've let me down several times. But we're all family.
If you listen, you'll learn. If you talk over each other, you don't accomplish anything.
I was a thirteen-year-old boy for thirty years.
This is the kind of world I was born in, one in which I had only one reason for existence: pleasing others.
Always get married in the morning. That way if it doesn't work out, you haven't wasted the whole day.
All I want is to live a peaceful life, to regain my life and be happy.
I didn't want to be short. I've tried to pretend that being a short guy didn't matter. I tried to make up for being short by affecting a strut, by adopting the voice of a much bigger man, by spending more money than I made, by tipping double or triple at bars and restaurants, by dating tall, beautiful women.
God bless the universe, God bless Japanese, Chinese, Indians, all of them, and let's have peace.
I was a gnomish prodigy - half-human, half-goblin, man-child, child-man.
I just want to make sure that I give the animators everything they need, so they have plenty of choices to match their animation.
Show me a man with a million dollars, and I'll show you a million guys trying to take it away from him.
You always pass failure on your way to success.
I'm 5 feet 3, but I was 6 feet 4 when I married Ava.
If Barbra Steisand wants to make a picture called 'My Pink Fingernail,' the studios will go, 'Gee, Barbra, what a wonderful idea! Money is no object! Take two years in preproduction and write the music, and you'll direct.'
I'm the only man in the world with a marriage licence made out to whom it may concern.
Joe Louis was one of my closest friends.... I'm a great boxing fan. I used to go to the American Legion Stadium in Hollywood, every Friday night for 15 years. Down the aisle would come Lupe Velez, Johnny Weismuller, Mae West. All at ringside.
All the muddy waters of my life cleared up when I gave myself to Christ.
Yeah, a few of the films I made were so bad they didn't get released - they escaped.
There are people who think they know everything about everything. What they don't know is that every moment is a learning moment.
I buy women shoes and they use them to walk away from me.
Judy Garland was a different type of entertainer. She was a dancer, a singer, and an incurable romantic.
I tried to make up for being 5 ft. 3 in. by affecting a strut and adopting the voice of a much bigger man... dating tall, beautiful women... But nothing I could do, after Ava had left me, would add a single inch to my height.
A lot of people have asked me how short I am. Since my last divorce, I think I'm about $100,000 short.
I was about six years old when I did 'Orchids and Ermine.' They dressed me in a suit, put a mustache under my nose, a cigar in my mouth, a cane in my hand, and a hat on my head.
Don't break me up - I wouldn't offend any person, be they black, Asian or whatever.
When I say I do, the justice of the peace replies, 'I know, I know...'
Everything is about looking for happiness and God. That was a sentiment shared by my dear friend Ronald Reagan.
I came from a poor family. My father was from Glasgow, Scotland; my mother's brothers were brakemen on the railroad. We didn't have anything but mush for breakfast.
My money was stolen from me. I was eventually stripped of the ability to make even the most basic decisions... my daily life became unbearable.
Love wears off too quickly.
I made all these great musicals with Judy Garland. It was all about me going into a barn and saying: 'Let's put on a show.' That's what me and Judy did.
Sometimes the transition from being in control of your life to having absolutely no control is swift, but other times it is so gradual that you wonder exactly when it truly began.
I always say, 'Don't retire - inspire.'
I don't drink. I don't smoke. I don't drink coffee. Starbucks is not going to make any money on me.
I keep going because if you stop, you stop. Why retire? Inspire.
To those seniors, and especially elderly veterans like myself, I want to tell you this: You are not alone, and you having nothing to be ashamed of. If elder abuse happened to me, it can happen to anyone. I want you to know that you deserve better.
Love lasts only for months, sometimes only for minutes. But if you like somebody, it's for a lifetime!
When I was nineteen years old, I was the number-one star for two years. When I was forty, nobody wanted me. I couldn't get a job.
I don't regret anything I've ever done. I only wish I could have done more.
Everyone who worked on 'The Fox and the Hound' is important. We're all lucky to be in a business that we love.
I've been stealing scenes all my life.
You've got to recognize, there will never be another you. It has nothing to do with ego; it happens to be the truth. There will never be another person the same. There'll never be another you.
