"Bush's power has been wielded with arrogance, calculation, and disdain for dissenting views. The Constitution's careful separation of powers has been breached, and its checks and balances circumvented. Behind closed doors, schemes have been hatched, with information denied to the legislative branch and policy makers shielded from informing the people or Congress. In fact, there appears to be little respect for the role of Congress. There is virtually no attempt to build consensus through the hard work of reaching across the aisle to find common ground. Real consultation does not exist."
-- Sen Robert Byrd, (D-WV), Losing America: Confronting a Reckless and Arrogant Presidency", p. 21, as quoted on Meet The Press.

I finally have eyebrows back and hair on my legs again."
-- Harvey Fierstein, on what it means to no longer be doing eight shows per week as Edna Turnblad in Hairspray, as quoted by Cindy Adams.


Photo from The Guide to Musical Theatre

It's hard to open and hard to close.
-- Elaine Stritch, At Liberty , HBO

"I could do it. I'm a really good camper. I can sleep on the ground. There are many, many good people who have gone to prison. Look at Nelson Mandela."
-- Martha Stewart, to ABC News after her sentencing to prison yesterday.  
  

Image from SaveMarthaStewart.com
 

"I've never made it a secret that my alcoholism is and will always be a lifelong struggle. I seek help and support on a daily basis. I have good days and bad days, and I am constantly learning new things in my effort to cope with this journey. Rehabilitation is not a dirty word, and I don't believe it is anything to be ashamed of anymore."
-- Liza Minnelli, quoted by Liz Smith, today. 

"My parents taught me to be a lady and not say anything bad about some stupid son of a bitch."
-- Liza Minnelli, discussing her botched wedding to David Gest, as quoted by Michael Musto.


Image from Maurice Heerdink

"Birds do it. Bees do it. Even educated fleas do it. Let's do it, let's fall in love."
-- Cole Porter


photo from River Walk Jazz

"Under pressure, people admit to murder, setting fire to the village church or robbing a bank, but never to being boring."
-- Elsa Maxwell


Photo from Clan Maxwell Society of the U.S.

"Here with stars in my eyes -- something that I dreamed about when I was 9 years old. There are others that deserve it, but let everybody get their own."
-- Isabel Sanford, 1917-2004, regarding her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, last January.


Photo by The Business of Acting

Summertime
And the living is easy
Fish are jumpin'
And the cotton is high

Oh, your daddy's rich
And your mama's good lookin'
So hush little baby now
don't you cry

One of these mornin's
You're gonna rise up singin'
Then you'll spread your wings
And take to the sky

But til that mornin'
Ain't nothin' can harm you
With your daddy
And your mammy
standin' by

-- George Gershwin and Dubose Heyward, Porgy and Bess

"There is a time for work. And a time for love. That leaves no other time."
-- Coco Chanel


Photo from Elmundo.es

"Tax cuts for wealthy thugs like me are criminal... I put my tax cut in my sock and buried it away. In November, let's sock it to them."
-- Paul Newman, at a fund-raiser for Kerry-Edwards, yesterday.


Photo by Ohio Veterans

Money will buy a pretty good dog but it won't buy the wag of his tail.
-- Josh Billings

"Noel Coward always said, 'I read the obituaries every day to see who's not coming to lunch."
-- Elaine Stritch, At Liberty, HBO

"A man who has shown guts and determination and political skill in his own race for the presidency of the United States. A man whose life has prepared him for leadership and whose character brings him to exercise it. I am pleased to announce that with your help, the next vice president of the United States will be Senator John Edwards of North Carolina..."
-- Senator John Kerry, today.

There is still no cure for the common birthday.
-- John Glenn

"The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest."
-- President Thomas Jefferson

"It's like the prostitute once said, 'It's not the work, it's the stairs'."
-- Elaine Stritch, At Liberty

"To grasp the full significance of life is the actor's duty, to interpret it is his problem, and to express it his dedication."

"The only reason I'm in Hollywood is that I don't have the moral courage to refuse the money."

"I don't think it's the nature of any man to be monogamous. Men are propelled by genetically ordained impulses over which they have no control to distribute their seed."

-- Marlon Brando, 1924-2004

"Exercise daily. Eat wisely. Die anyway."
-- Anonymous, as quoted by Liz Smith