Directing Is A Terrible, Anxious Process. It's

My Liveliness Is Based On An Incredible Fear Of Death. In Order To Keep Death At Bay, I Do A Lot Of "yah! Yah! Yah!" And Death Says, "all Right. He's Too Noisy And Busy. I'll Wait For Someone Who's Sitting Quietly, Half Asleep."

When I Was A Little Boy, I Thought When I Grew Up I Would Talk Yiddish. I Thought Little Kids Talked English, But When They Became Adults, They Would Talk Yiddish Like The Adults Did. There Would Be No Reason To Talk English Anymore, Because We Would Have Made It.

The Audience. They See The Name Mel Brooks, They Want Something Really Funny. They Don't Want To Be Moved; They Don't Want To Be Taught Any Lessons. [...] I Get More Letters For twelve Chairs and life Stinks Than I Get From Any Other Movies, Because People Actually Agree With The Philosophy, Or Were Moved, Or They Love The Movie.

I Love [nikolai] Gogol's Great Eye For Idiot Behavior. Gogol Said That Life Is So Tragic, So Stupendously Sad That We'd Better Laugh A Lot And Enjoy Ourselves. You Either Get A Sense Of Humor Going Or You Go Under.

Humor Is Just Another Defense Against The Universe.