Jerry Lewis

“I have a loyalty that runs in my bloodstream, when I lock into someone or something, you can't get me away from it because I commit that thoroughly. That's in friendship, that's a deal, that's a commitment. Don't give me paper - I can get the same lawyer who drew it up to break it. But if you shake my hand, that's for life.”

— Jerry Lewis

“This is the pain pacemaker. I've got a battery under my skin. From that battery are two electrodes that go into the spine where they cut bone away to accommodate it. Now I put on the power here. If I have the pain, the stimulator starts. It's tingling, like when your foot falls asleep, you know?”

— Jerry Lewis

“I've had great success being a total idiot.”

— Jerry Lewis

“I never got a formal education. So my intellect is my common sense. I don't have anything else going for me. And my common sense opens the door to instinct.”

— Jerry Lewis

“I have some very personal feelings about politics, but I don't get into it because I do comedy already.”

— Jerry Lewis

“I turned down 'Some Like It Hot.' See how smart I am? I felt I couldn't bring anything funny to it. The outfit was funny. I don't need to compete with the wardrobe.”

— Jerry Lewis

“I am probably the most selfish man you will ever meet in your life. No one gets the satisfaction or the joy that I get out of seeing kids realize there is hope.”

— Jerry Lewis

“People hate me because I am a multifaceted, talented, wealthy, internationally famous genius.”

— Jerry Lewis

“I've had the greatest respect for my work in this country by Americans. Critics have no brains.”

— Jerry Lewis

“Every man's dream is to be able to sink into the arms of a woman without also falling into her hands.”

— Jerry Lewis

“If you're an old pro, you know how well you're doing when you're doing it, and your inner government spanks you if you're not doing well.”

— Jerry Lewis