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. — Mike Nichols Copy Share Image
The only safe thing is to take a chance. Play safe and you are dead. Taking risks is the essence of good work, and the difference between safe and bold can only be defined by yourself since no one else… — Mike Nichols Copy Share Image
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… — Mike Nichols Copy Share Image
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… — Mike Nichols Copy Share Image
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… — Mike Nichols Copy Share Image
I'm an enormous fan of 'The West Wing.' It was one of the very few shows I would watch every week. — Mike Nichols Copy Share Image
I don't expect anything from reviews. Sometimes I am bemused by them. — Mike Nichols Copy Share Image
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… — Mike Nichols Copy Share Image
Whether something is a success or not has never had much to do with what you do next. — Mike Nichols Copy Share Image
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… — Mike Nichols Copy Share Image
If you lose a parent, it never goes away. As a kid, I dreamed about my father coming back for 15 or 20 years.… — Mike Nichols Copy Share Image
Nerves provide me with energy... It's when I don't have them, when I feel at ease, that I get worried. — Mike Nichols Copy Share Image
