Happy Birthday, Bob Newhart! 10 of His Best Quotes

Bob Newhart turns 85 today, and we’ve rounded up 10 of the legendary comedian’s best quotes on life, comedy, and aging gracefully.

1. “I still feel 30, except when I try to run.”

2. “I think you should be a child for as long as you can. I have been successful for 74 years being able to do that. Don’t rush into adulthood—it isn’t all that much fun.”

3. “The problem is that we live in an uptight country. Why don’t we just laugh at ourselves? We are funny. Gays are funny. Straights are funny. Women are funny. Men are funny. We are all funny, and we all do funny things. Let’s laugh about it.”

Bob Newhart Snags His First Emmy

4. “I don’t like country music, but I don’t mean to denigrate those who do; and for the people who like country music, denigrate means ‘put down.’”

5. “People with a sense of humor tend to be less egocentric and more realistic in their view of the world and more humble in moments of success and less defeated in times of travail.”

6. “People have told me, ‘My dad passed on, but I have great memories of watching your shows with him.’ It doesn’t get any better than that.”

7. “Comedians are never really on vacation because you’re always at attention… that antenna is always out there.”

8. “The first time I got up in front of an audience was terror, abject terror, which continued for another four or five years. There still is, a little bit.”

9. “Laughter gives us distance. It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it and then move on.”

10. “I’ve been told to speed up my delivery when I perform. But if I lose the stammer, I’m just another slightly amusing accountant.”