I care about money, very much. I want it. I don’t ever want to be without it. My mother once said about me, ‘Elaine has to have money.’ – Elaine Stritch
This age thing is all up to you. It’s like happiness is up to you. You just have to understand what it is before you get it. – Elaine Stritch
I love New York. I went to New York to become an actress, and I did it. And I won all the awards known to man. And I’m happy. And I came home. I came, I saw, I conquered. And it feels great. – Elaine Stritch
I find it easier to abstain than do a little bit of anything. I’m not a ‘little bit’ kind of dame. I want it all, whatever I do. – Elaine Stritch
I compare Stephen Sondheim with humor, because humor is unanalyzable. You can’t analyze humor. You just have to get through it. – Elaine Stritch
There will always be ladies who lunch. Always. And apparently they live a long time. – Elaine Stritch
What I want to understand is what I am talking about on the stage. What I don’t want to understand is what the government is talking about when the government tells me about taxes. – Elaine Stritch
There’s something about it that makes sense, Lent. You give something up, and everything’s more joyful. – Elaine Stritch
I always say, ‘If you can’t give a reason for the banana peel being in the alley, then don’t have the comic slide over it.’ Do you understand what I mean? First explain how the banana peel got there quickly. And then there’s a reason for all the comedy. – Elaine Stritch
When the hospital sends for me, when the ambulance comes and I ease my way out of the world, I’d rather be in Detroit, Michigan, than Lenox Hill. – Elaine Stritch
I tell the truth, and it has gotten me into a lot of trouble. My dad used to say to me, ‘If you tell the truth all day long, you will end up in jail.’ – Elaine Stritch
The people in New York – their humor is on a level that goes, uh, very deep, you know? – Elaine Stritch
I have not had any of that surgical stuff. I am too curious to find out exactly how I progress every day of my life naturally. That is what fascinates me. – Elaine Stritch
I like glasses so I can go out without my makeup. Just grab your coat and get your hat and go. – Elaine Stritch
I don’t have a great talent for explaining myself in acting because I can’t explain it. – Elaine Stritch
Honestly, this is a big thing to say, but I don’t think I’ve ever been bored. If I even get an inkling of it, I split. – Elaine Stritch
I love Birmingham, Michigan. It’s lovely – you know, it’s very similar to the Hamptons. – Elaine Stritch
Let me tell you about those convents. All that crap about extending the pinkie finger while sipping tea is a myth. Convent schools are breeding grounds for great broads and occasionally one-of-the-boys. Convent schools teach you to play against everything, which is what I’m still doing. – Elaine Stritch
I don’t wear a wig. I’d feel terrible onstage with a wig. I hate to be so ‘Actors Studio’-ish, but I like to feel it’s me out there. – Elaine Stritch
My biggest dream was to get out of Michigan – to discover life beyond the Sacred Heart Convent. – Elaine Stritch
When I want to do something badly enough, I do it, but there is a practical side of me that thinks I should be paid fairly. – Elaine Stritch
