[After a fan tells him how excited he is to meet the famous Groucho Marx] I have known him for years...
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[After a fan tells him how excited he is to meet the famous Groucho Marx] I have known him for years and I can tell you, it's no pleasure.
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You're only as young as the woman you feel.
You're only as young as the woman you feel.
People are most likely to listen to reason when in bed.
People are most likely to listen to reason when in bed.
From the moment I picked your book up until I put it down, I was convulsed with laughter. Some day I...
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From the moment I picked your book up until I put it down, I was convulsed with laughter. Some day I intend reading it.
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She got her good looks from her father--he's a plastic surgeon.
She got her good looks from her father--he's a plastic surgeon.
The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made.
The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made.
[on Charles Chaplin] The greatest compliment I ever got was from Chaplin. He came up to me and said,...
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[on Charles Chaplin] The greatest compliment I ever got was from Chaplin. He came up to me and said, "I wish I could talk like you on the screen". I said, "I think you're doing alright". He had made $50 million by that point. He was the best comedian we ever had.
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Military justice is to justice what military music is to music.
Military justice is to justice what military music is to music.
[on Margaret Dumont] She was a wonderful woman. She was the same off the stage as she was on it -- a...
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[on Margaret Dumont] She was a wonderful woman. She was the same off the stage as she was on it -- always the stuffy, dignified matron. And the funny thing about her was she never understood the jokes. At the end of Duck Soup (1933) Margaret says to me, "What are you doing. Rufus?". And I say, "I am fighting for your honor, which is more than you ever did." Later she asked me what I meant by that.
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[about Charles Chaplin] He was a strange little man--this Charlie Chaplin. The first time I met him ...
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[about Charles Chaplin] He was a strange little man--this Charlie Chaplin. The first time I met him he was wearing what had formerly been a white collar and a black bow tie. I can't quite explain his appearance, but he looked a little like a pale priest who had been excommunicated but was reluctant to relinquish his vestments.
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Marriage is a wonderful institution. But who wants to live in an institution?
Marriage is a wonderful institution. But who wants to live in an institution?
[on Samson and Delilah (1949) starring Hedy Lamarr and Victor Mature] Well, there's just one problem...
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[on Samson and Delilah (1949) starring Hedy Lamarr and Victor Mature] Well, there's just one problem. No picture can hold my interest where the leading man's tits are bigger than the leading lady's.
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Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
I'd have liked to have gone to bed with Jean Harlow. She was a beautiful broad. The fellow who marri...
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I'd have liked to have gone to bed with Jean Harlow. She was a beautiful broad. The fellow who married her was impotent and he killed himself. I would have done the same thing.
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I've been around so long, I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin.
I've been around so long, I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin.
[Feuding with Warner Bros. Pictures, which had objected to the use of "Casablanca" in an upcoming Ma...
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[Feuding with Warner Bros. Pictures, which had objected to the use of "Casablanca" in an upcoming Marx Brothers movie] I just don't understand your attitude. Even if you plan on re-releasing your picture, I am sure the average movie fan could learn in time to distinguish between Ingrid Bergman and [Harpo Marx]. I don't know whether I could, but I certainly would like to try. You claim that you own "Casablanca" and that no one else can use that name without your permission. What about "Warner Brothers"? Do you own that, too? You probably have the right to use the name "Warner", but what about "Brothers"? Even before us there had been other brothers--the Smith Brothers, the Brothers Karamazov . . .
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[after a visit to W.C. Fields' home] He had a ladder leading up to his attic. Without exaggeration, ...
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[after a visit to W.C. Fields' home] He had a ladder leading up to his attic. Without exaggeration, there was $50,000 worth of liquor up there. Crated up like a wharf. I'm standing there and Fields is standing there, and nobody says anything. The silence is oppressive. Finally, he speaks: "This will carry me for twenty-five years".
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I was so long writing my review that I never got around to reading the book.
I was so long writing my review that I never got around to reading the book.
I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury.
I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury.
A moose is an animal with horns on the front of his head and a hunting lodge wall on the back of it.
A moose is an animal with horns on the front of his head and a hunting lodge wall on the back of it.
I've always been terrified of dying broke or of being a failure. I've never taken a bit of success f...
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I've always been terrified of dying broke or of being a failure. I've never taken a bit of success for granted. When it came, I was always sure it wasn't going to last.
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My mother loved children--she would have given anything if I had been one.
My mother loved children--she would have given anything if I had been one.
A woman is an occasional pleasure, but a cigar is always a smoke.
A woman is an occasional pleasure, but a cigar is always a smoke.
Alimony is like buying hay for a dead horse.
Alimony is like buying hay for a dead horse.
Quote me as saying I was misquoted.
Quote me as saying I was misquoted.
Military intelligence is a contradiction in terms.
Military intelligence is a contradiction in terms.
[on resigning from the Friars Club] I do not care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as...
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[on resigning from the Friars Club] I do not care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members.
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Politics doesn't make strange bedfellows--marriage does.
Politics doesn't make strange bedfellows--marriage does.
[on the passing of his brother Harpo Marx] Having worked with Harpo for 40 years, which is longer th...
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[on the passing of his brother Harpo Marx] Having worked with Harpo for 40 years, which is longer than most marriages last, his death left quite a void in my life. He was worth all the wonderful adjectives that were used to describe him. He was a nice man in the fullest sense of the word. He loved life and lived it joyously and deeply, and that's about as good an epitaph as anyone can have.
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One of the best hearing aids a man can have is an attentive wife.
One of the best hearing aids a man can have is an attentive wife.
There's one way to find out if a man is honest: ask him. If he says "Yes", you know he is crooked.
There's one way to find out if a man is honest: ask him. If he says "Yes", you know he is crooked.
If you want to see a comic strip, you should see me in the shower.
If you want to see a comic strip, you should see me in the shower.
[in the late 1960s, on how it felt to be an elder statesman of comedy] Like an old jerk.
[in the late 1960s, on how it felt to be an elder statesman of comedy] Like an old jerk.
Because we were a kid act, we traveled at half-fare, despite the fact that we were all around 20. Mi...
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Because we were a kid act, we traveled at half-fare, despite the fact that we were all around 20. Minnie insisted we were 13. "That kid of yours is in the dining car smoking a cigar," the conductor told her, "and another one is in the washroom shaving." Minnie shook her head sadly. "They grow so fast . . . "
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It looks as if Hollywood brides keep the bouquets and throw away the grooms.
It looks as if Hollywood brides keep the bouquets and throw away the grooms.
Why should I care about posterity? What's posterity ever done for me?
Why should I care about posterity? What's posterity ever done for me?
[Telegram to Judy Garland after losing the Best Actress Award to Grace Kelly] Dear Judy, This is the...
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[Telegram to Judy Garland after losing the Best Actress Award to Grace Kelly] Dear Judy, This is the biggest robbery since Brink's.
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Wives are people who feel that they don't dance enough.
Wives are people who feel that they don't dance enough.
[asked in 1975 if he'd seen any recent movies] I saw Jaws (1975). But I think it would have been fun...
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[asked in 1975 if he'd seen any recent movies] I saw Jaws (1975). But I think it would have been funnier if a guppy had swallowed the boat instead of a shark.
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Behind every successful man stands a woman. And behind her stands his wife.
Behind every successful man stands a woman. And behind her stands his wife.
He [Groucho's father] had absolutely no training, and if you had ever seen one of his suits, you'd r...
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He [Groucho's father] had absolutely no training, and if you had ever seen one of his suits, you'd realize what an accurate statement that is. You see, Pop never used a tape measure. He didn't believe in it. He said he could just look at a man and tell his size, with the result that frequently he'd make a pair of pants with one trouser leg seven or eight inches longer than the other.
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[on Harry S. Truman's upset defeat of Thomas E. Dewey in the 1948 Presidential elections] The only w...
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[on Harry S. Truman's upset defeat of Thomas E. Dewey in the 1948 Presidential elections] The only way a Republican will get into the White House now is to marry Margaret Truman.
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When I heard about [the Broadway play] "Hair", I was kind of curious about the six naked primates on...
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When I heard about [the Broadway play] "Hair", I was kind of curious about the six naked primates on stage. So I called up the box office and they said tickets were $11 apiece. That's an awful price to pay. I went into the bathroom at home and took off all my clothes and looked in the mirror for five minutes. And I said, 'This isn't worth $11'.
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Sex at my age is like trying to shoot pool with a rope.
Sex at my age is like trying to shoot pool with a rope.
[After being advised he should wear a frock coat and a painted mustache for every broadcast of "You ...
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[After being advised he should wear a frock coat and a painted mustache for every broadcast of "You bet your life"] The hell I will, that character is dead.
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There has never been a good comedian that didn't have a good straight man. Audiences don't *think* t...
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There has never been a good comedian that didn't have a good straight man. Audiences don't *think* the straight man means anything, but it's very important.
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The husband who wants a happy marriage should learn to keep his mouth shut and his checkbook open.
The husband who wants a happy marriage should learn to keep his mouth shut and his checkbook open.
Those are my principles, and if you don't like them . . . well, I have others.
Those are my principles, and if you don't like them . . . well, I have others.
Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and ap...
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Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies.
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In America you can go on the air and kid the politicians, and the politicians can go on the air and ...
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In America you can go on the air and kid the politicians, and the politicians can go on the air and kid the people.
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I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and...
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I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.
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I started smoking as soon as I went on the stage. I'd make cigars out of the Morning World when I wa...
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I started smoking as soon as I went on the stage. I'd make cigars out of the Morning World when I was a kid. Eventually I smoked Havanas. A cigar makers' organization once said that I was the most famous cigar smoker in the world. I don't know if that's true, but once while visiting Havana, I went to a cigar factory. There were four hundred people there rolling cigars, and when they saw me, they all stood up and applauded.
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[when told that a swimming pool was off-limits to Jews] My son is half-Jewish; can he wade in up to ...
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[when told that a swimming pool was off-limits to Jews] My son is half-Jewish; can he wade in up to his knees?
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Jerry Lewis hasn't made me laugh since he left Dean Martin.
Jerry Lewis hasn't made me laugh since he left Dean Martin.
[on Bob Hope] Hope? Hope is not a comedian. He just translates what others write for him.
[on Bob Hope] Hope? Hope is not a comedian. He just translates what others write for him.
While shooting elephants in Africa, I found the tusks very difficult to remove. But in Alabama, the ...
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While shooting elephants in Africa, I found the tusks very difficult to remove. But in Alabama, the Tuscaloosa...
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The only game I like to play is Old Maid...provided she's not TOO old.
The only game I like to play is Old Maid...provided she's not TOO old.
