Don Rickles Death Anniversary Quotes: 15 Memorable Sayings By Great Insult Comedian

Don Rickles, the great insult comedian, died of kidney failure April 6, 2017, at the age of 90.

For more than 50 years, on nightclub stages, in concert halls and on television, Rickles made outrageous comments about people’s looks, their ethnicity, their spouses, their sexual orientation, their jobs and everything else he could think of.

Rickles got his first big break when Frank Sinatra and some of his friends came to see him perform in 1957 in Hollywood, according to most sources; however, Rickles said it was at a show in Miami.

“Make yourself at home, Frank,” Rickles said to Sinatra, whom he had never met before the show. “Hit somebody.” Sinatra laughed so hard, he reportedly fell out of his seat.

Here are a few of his famous and hilarious quotes to remember the comic legend on his first death anniversary, compiled from Brainy Quotes, Mental Floss and IZ Quotes.

1. "The old days were the old days. And they were great days. But now is now."
2. "You throw your best punch, otherwise don't do it."
3. "Whatever you do to gain success, you have to hang in there and hope good things happen. Always think positive."
4. "Famous people are deceptive. Deep down, they're just regular people. Like Larry King. We've been friends for forty years. He's one of the few guys I know who's really famous. One minute he's talking to the president on his cell phone, and then the next minute he's saying to me, 'Do you think we ought to give the waiter another dollar?'"
5. "I was nice to the people in the Philippines for the two and a half years I was there, because I knew eventually I'd have to kiss up to them so my grandchildren could have toys."
6. "If I have learned anything, it is to keep my wife happy by sending her lavish gifts. Other men can learn from my success and send their wives and girlfriends fresh flowers for birthdays, anniversaries, and of course, Valentine's Day."
7. "Show business is my life. When I was a kid I sold insurance, but nobody laughed."
8. "Struggling is hard because you never know what's at the end of the tunnel."
9. "An insult comic is the title I was given. What I do is exaggeration. I make fun of people, at life, of myself and my surroundings."
10. "You can't study comedy; it's within you. It's a personality. My humor is an attitude."
11. "The thing I love about Vegas is that it's a melting pot. It's like working Ellis Island."
12. "I've never had a writer, and I'm proud of that. Everything I've per­formed has been from my own head."
13. "You know, every night when I go out on stage, there's always one nagging fear in the back of my mind. I'm always afraid that somewhere out there, there is one person in the audience that I'm not going to offend!"
14. "If I were to insult people and mean it, that wouldn't be funny, there is a difference between an actual insult and just having fun."
15. "Everything I've ever done in my whole career, people might not know, I've never written anything down on paper."