Harvey Fierstein
I don't believe in the afterlife, so I do think when somebody passes, it's worthy of note.
I got a lovely check today from being a writer that I earned by sitting at home. That's rewarding.
I have to work really hard, eight shows a week, to get a nice check as an actor. But when I write a play, and it's a - knock wood - hit, the checks come in for many years.
You may feel powerless as a child, but the world will one day be yours. And you're responsible for it. So, seize the day and take charge of it.
As soon as I started writing, other writers stopped wanting me acting in their shows - maybe they thought I was going to rewrite them.
I really am a theater person. That means you put something out there, and you let it go. Tomorrow night is a new performance.
I just don't like politics. My rule is if I can put a spotlight on something, I'll do that.
I have great faith in the United States. It's the only country I would ever live in.
When a politician like Marco Rubio is willing to sacrifice his career defining immigration reform legislation solely to insure that gays and lesbians are denied equal protection under the law, we have to admit that we're under attack. This is not pragmatic politics at work. These are the policies of bias, exclusion and unfairness.
How often are the perpetrators of hate-crimes discovered to be self-loathing? Valued individuals do not strike out against strangers.
Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.Collection: Life
Change your mind as often as possible. Just because you thought something yesterday doesn't mean you have to think it today. Don't ever become a prisoner of your own opinionCollection: Mean
How time flies when you're doin all the talking.Collection: Talking
Please, people, do not f- with depression. It's merciless. All it wants is to get you in a room alone and kill you. Take care of yourself.Collection: People
The next time you feel you have to say, "I love you" to someone, say it to yourself - and see if you believe it.Collection: Believe
While we dance in the streets and pat ourselves on the back for being a nation great enough to reach beyond racial divides to elect our first African-American president let us not forget that we remain a nation still proudly practicing prejudice.Collection: African American
There's nothing I need from anyone except love and respect, and anyone who can't give me those two things has no place in my life.Collection: Gay
Is a gay play a play that has sex with other plays?Collection: Sex
The real point is that you cannot harbor malice toward others and then cry foul when someone displays intolerance against you. Prejudice tolerated is intolerance encouraged. Rise up in righteousness when you witness the words and deeds of hate, but only if you are willing to rise up against them all, including your own. Otherwise suffer the slings and arrows of disrespect silently.Collection: Hate
Never be bullied into silence.Collection: Inspirational
I guess a drag queen's like an oil painting: You gotta stand back from it to get the full effect.Collection: Queens
Nothing binds a people to their leader like a common enemy. Voters don’t change governments during war.Collection: War
I just want to be loved, is that so wrong?!Collection: Want
In no way be bullied into silence. Hardly ever permit on your own to become made a sufferer. Acknowledge no one's definition of one's lifetime; define oneselfCollection: Silence
CBS really wants me on TV. That's their aim. My aim is to have an all-gay sitcom someday, with heterosexuals as token guest stars. Let them be the next-door neighbors for a change.Collection: Stars
A thing of beauty is a joy till sunrise.Collection: Joy
As the book writer for one big smash and one big smelly flop, I always wondered if anyone knows just what goes into making a great musical. When a show is a hit, the critics trip over themselves not knowing who to laud and applaud the loudest. It's that marvelous score, those urbane lyrics, that irreplaceable star. But only when a show is a flop, does anyone notice the book writer. And then it's always our fault.Collection: Stars
I often say that if you want to really want to understand the contract of marriage just ask anyone who has been divorced. The marriage contract is one of property rights. Or maybe you can look in the bible to see what Adam had to say about divorce since Eve was his second wife.Collection: Divorce
With Russia about to hold the Winter Games in Sochi, the country is open to pressure. American and world leaders must speak out against Mr. Putin's attacks and the violence they foster. The Olympic Committee must demand the retraction of these laws under threat of boycott.Collection: Country
There are easier things in life than being a drag queen. But I ain't got no choice. Try as I may, I just can't walk in flats.Collection: Queens
When a politician like Marco Rubio is willing to sacrifice his career defining immigration reform legislation solely to insure that gays and lesbians are denied equal protection under the law, we have to admit that we’re under attack. This is not pragmatic politics at work. These are the policies of bias, exclusion and unfairness.Collection: Sacrifice
State sanctioned marriage is a civil contract period. A contract is not a judgment of moral value. It is a legal agreement between two parties that testifies to a meeting of minds between those consenting entities. It is not a religious act or rite and so has nothing to do with Adam and Eve or Steve or even Harvey.Collection: Religious
Of course people are afraid. But honestly facing that fear, seeing it for what it is, is the only way of putting it to rest.Collection: People
Anyone with a smart phone is a potential eyewitness cameraman capturing and transmitting stories at speeds that turn Reuter photos and traditional reporting into, well... yesterday’s news.Collection: Smart
Somebody should talk to Dan Quayle and tell him natural blondes don't have dark grey stripes on the sides.Collection: Dark
To make positive change requires lasting commitment, lasting commitment requires measurable targets, measurable targets requires detailed action plans, detailed action plans requires a goal you desire, desire requires a positive attitude to change your life, and the option to change your life requires WORK. Byron Pulsifer, from Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained If you deny yourself commitment, what can you do with your life?Collection: Attitude
It’s a lot of fun to play someone you don’t normally think of yourself as.Collection: Fun
Movies are all about plot. Theater, even if it’s story heavy, it’s about ideas.Collection: Stories