Larry King quotes: radio and TV personality Larry King’s best soundbites.
“There is nothing in your destiny, nothing in your future that you cannot accomplish.”
“The secret of success is an absolute ungovernable curiosity.”
“Successful people who cannot express themselves well? I can’t think of one.”
“If you have talent, I believe that talent will win out. In other words, if you’re a good broadcaster, if you’re a funny comic, you’ll be heard. If you know how to do a broadcast, if you’re a good newsman, if you can see an event and describe it, you’re going to be heard and you’re going to be seen. So there’s always room. Now with cable and satellite and internet, it’s endless. You could blog, you could be your own talent.”
“Those who have succeeded at anything and don’t mention luck are kidding themselves.”
“You make your own luck. Luck is the residue of design.”
“You can’t have happiness without having had unhappiness, because how else would you know what’s happy?”
“If you do something, expect consequences.”
“What you want in an interview is four things: you want someone who can explain what they do very well, who can have a sense of humor and hopefully is self-deprecating, who has a bit of a chip on their shoulder, and passion. If you have passion, a chip on the shoulder, a sense of humor, and you can explain what you do very well, it doesn’t matter if you’re a plumber or a singer or a politician. If you have those four things, you are interesting.”
“You cannot talk to people successfully if they think you are not interested in what they have to say or you have no respect for them.”
“I never learned anything while I was talking.”
“I remind myself every morning: nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I’m going to learn, I must do it by listening.”
“I never think of access or good will. I just want a good interview. I want guests to be informative and entertaining. I’ve never been concerned about someone’s liking me tomorrow.”
“Let’s not become so worried about not offending anybody that we lose the ability to distinguish between respect and paranoia.”
“These are the richest people on earth that I’m dealing with. Their conception of money is totally different than yours or mine. They’ll pay three million a hand at blackjack and have five hands going.”
“It’s the best thing I do. There’s no bigger kick for me than helping someone get their heart back.”
“I have never understood the Iowa caucus.”
“The Kardashians can be famous for being famous. What do they do? I can’t figure it out.”
“When I was five years old I would lie in bed, look at the radio, and I wanted to be on the radio. I don’t know why.”
“I’m sort of the comic relief after a hard day at work. My message is that it’s okay to relax.”
“Basically, what it comes down to is I love what I do. I don’t do it for fame. I don’t do it for money. I just love it.”
“If they asked me, I did two shifts. I did sports, I did news, because I loved it.”
“I’m having as much fun today as I did when I made $55 a week, because it is as much fun.”
“I never forgot being poor, and I never stopped thinking how fortunate I am.”
“I’ve got a nice car. I love my job. I’ve got a bagel store, and I have breakfast every morning with friends I grew up with. I’ve been in movies, I’ve written books – I don’t know how that all happened.”
“The names are bigger, the show is worldwide, but I get a royal pass into life in the broadcasting business.”
“Let’s not take the dirt from the front face just because it’s easier.”
“All of my life doing interviews, comedy has been my favorite thing, comedians are my favorite people.”
“I’m not offended. Lenny Bruce taught me that everything’s funny. You can make everything funny. I don’t think that assassinations are funny, I don’t think you can make fun of ISIS, but almost everything is funny. And If we can’t laugh at ourselves, who can we laugh at? So I don’t mind ethnic humor. I like ethnic humor. I like dialect jokes. Laughter is a very subjective thing. If it’s funny to you, it’s funny. And a lot of things are funny to me.”
“I don’t wish anybody ill, I really don’t. I’ve got a lot of faults, but I was never jealous or envious or… it’s a waste of time.”
“If I do something caring for a friend, I have no doubt in my mind they would do it for me.”
“I like to put a stake in people, because I know people helped me.”
“Getting your house in order and reducing the confusion gives you more control over your life. Personal organization somehow releases or frees you to operate more effectively.”
“I’ve had bad days and good days in my life, but I’ve never had a day when I didn’t enjoy that red light going on. Whether on the radio, or on television, there’s still a little bump every time it goes on. And if you can spend a life, if you can get paid well for doing something you absolutely love, well you can’t beat that.”
“When you reach a certain age, and people see you on television, they look at you and think, ‘Wow! Everything must be great!’ Well, everything isn’t always great. You can be hailed on the street corner, but you still have to go home and take out the garbage.”
“My biggest fear is death, because I don’t think I’m going anywhere. And since I don’t think that, and I don’t have a belief… I’m married to someone who has the belief, so she knows she’s going somewhere.”
“I’m 80 years old, and I don’t know what I’m going to be when I grow up.”
“I want to be frozen on the hope that they’ll find whatever I died of and bring me back.”
“I’ve had a great ride. I’ve got no complaints.”
After reading Larry’s lessons, check out Barbara Walter’s tips.
