---
title: "2 Benny Quotes By Mike Nichols"
description: "2 Benny quotes by Mike Nichols. Plus more from Mike Nichols and more Benny sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b53/mike-nichols-6630_benny_stand-up-comedy-is-a-very-hard-thing-on_30078.png"
---

> [Stand-up comedy is a very hard thing on the spirit. There are people who transcend it, like Jack Benny and Steve Martin, but in its essence, it's soul-destroying. It tends to turn people into control freaks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-nichols/stand-up-comedy-is-a-very-hard-thing-on-the-spirit-there-are-people/)

[Mike Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-nichols/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b53/mike-nichols-6630_benny_stand-up-comedy-is-a-very-hard-thing-on_30078.png)

> [It's very, very corrupting to the spirit, doing comedy. And you have to be almost a saint, like Jack Benny was, like Steve Martin is, to avoid the corrupting of it, because there's very little work where the actual work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-nichols/it-s-very-very-corrupting-to-the-spirit-doing-comedy-and-you-have-to/)

[Mike Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-nichols/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d10/mike-nichols-6630_actual_it-s-very-very-corrupting-to-the-spirit_1718966.png)

## Other authors on Benny

## More by Mike Nichols

> [Stand-up comedy is a very hard thing on the spirit. There are people who transcend it, like Jack Benny and Steve Martin, but in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-nichols/stand-up-comedy-is-a-very-hard-thing-on-the-spirit-there-are-people/)

[Mike Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-nichols/)

> [It's the hardest thing on earth to like yourself, and then when you do, it's a catastrophe. I mean, the people I know who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-nichols/it-s-the-hardest-thing-on-earth-to-like-yourself-and-then-when-you-do/)

[Mike Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-nichols/)

> [I used to say that winning the Oscar means being back at the Beverly Hills Hotel at 1 A.M. feeling empty. It's the industry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-nichols/i-used-to-say-that-winning-the-oscar-means-being-back-at-the-beverly/)

[Mike Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-nichols/)

> [I'm an enormous fan of 'The West Wing.' It was one of the very few shows I would watch every week.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-nichols/i-m-an-enormous-fan-of-the-west-wing-it-was-one-of-the-very-few-shows/)

[Mike Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-nichols/)

> [The only safe thing in filmmaking is to take a chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-nichols/the-only-safe-thing-in-filmmaking-is-to-take-a-chance/)

[Mike Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-nichols/)

> [I don't expect anything from reviews. Sometimes I am bemused by them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-nichols/i-don-t-expect-anything-from-reviews-sometimes-i-am-bemused-by-them/)

[Mike Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-nichols/)

> [My first memory in the world is my gym teacher ripping my mother's necklace off her neck and throwing it out the window and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-nichols/my-first-memory-in-the-world-is-my-gym-teacher-ripping-my-mother-s/)

[Mike Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-nichols/)

> [Whether something is a success or not has never had much to do with what you do next.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-nichols/whether-something-is-a-success-or-not-has-never-had-much-to-do-with/)

[Mike Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-nichols/)

> [The reason that most British actors are better than most American actors in the end is that they don't make any money. At the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-nichols/the-reason-that-most-british-actors-are-better-than-most-american/)

[Mike Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-nichols/)

> [Fear of comedy is all so much about who you do it with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-nichols/fear-of-comedy-is-all-so-much-about-who-you-do-it-with/)

[Mike Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-nichols/)

> [If you lose a parent, it never goes away. As a kid, I dreamed about my father coming back for 15 or 20 years.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-nichols/if-you-lose-a-parent-it-never-goes-away-as-a-kid-i-dreamed-about-my/)

[Mike Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-nichols/)

> [Nerves provide me with energy... It's when I don't have them, when I feel at ease, that I get worried.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-nichols/nerves-provide-me-with-energy-it-s-when-i-don-t-have-them-when-i-feel/)

[Mike Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-nichols/)

> [Technically, maybe I learned most of all from George Stevens, and among his movies I learned the most from 'A Place in the Sun.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-nichols/technically-maybe-i-learned-most-of-all-from-george-stevens-and-among/)

[Mike Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-nichols/)

> [Jewish introspection and Jewish humor is a way of surviving . . . if you're not handsome and you're not athletic and you're not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-nichols/jewish-introspection-and-jewish-humor-is-a-way-of-surviving-if-you-re/)

[Mike Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-nichols/)

> ['Streetcar' is no longer about the moment at all. There is no Blanche DuBois anywhere; south, north, east or west. We don't have Blanche…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-nichols/streetcar-is-no-longer-about-the-moment-at-all-there-is-no-blanche/)

[Mike Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-nichols/)

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