Milton Berle

If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.

As quoted in One Door Closes, Another Door Opens (1995) by Arthur Pine and Julie Houston

Milton Berle (born Mendel Berlinger; July 12, 1908 – March 27, 2002) was an American comedian and actor.

Quotes

• All I can say is at 82, if I had it to live over again, I'd live it the same, sweet — or not so sweet — way. At 82, I feel like a 20-year-old. But unfortunately, there's never one around.
  • At his 82nd birthday party, as quoted in "Uncle Miltie's Birthday Bash" by the Associated Press, The Journal-News (July 13, 1990), p. 3
• I took over the Moran and Mack spot and wowed them. The theater owner's report to the booker of the entire circuit was a glowing review. A week later I was booked on a bigger circuit. I kept working and polishing my act until the GIANT door opened for me and there was the big time ... the Palace Theater [sic] on Broadway.
  P.S. If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.
  • As quoted in One Door Closes, Another Door Opens (1995) by Arthur Pine and Julie Houston, p. 109

Quotes about

• I think that anyone who is full of life loves repetition. For example, a child. You put a child on your knee and tell the child a story, the child will say, "Do it again." You blow smoke through your nose or through your ears, and the child will say, "Do it again." And God is full of life, and every morning He says to the sun, "Do it again," and every evening He says to the moon and stars, "Do it again," and every time a child is born into the world, He asks for a divine encore and says, "Do it again." And, Milton, for sixty years you've entertained us, and you've made us laugh, and we say to you, "Milton, do it again."
• Fulton J. Sheen, October 13, 1973, addressing a banquet commemorating Berle's 60th year in show business; as quoted in Milton Berle: An Autobiography (1974), p. 325