Victor Borge quotes:
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Santa Claus has the right idea - visit people only once a year.
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I don't mind going back to daylight saving time. With inflation, the hour will be the only thing I've saved all year.
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And now, in honour of the 150th anniversary of Beethoven's death, I would like to play 'Clear the Saloon', er, 'Clair de Lune', by Debussy. I don't play Beethoven so well, but I play Debussy very badly, and Beethoven would have liked that.
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The difference between a violin and a viola is that a viola burns longer.
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(Shortly after Germany forced Denmark to sign a non-aggression pact in 1939) How nice. Now the Germans can sleep in peace, knowing that they will not be invaded by us.
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Mendelssohn never wrote any Water Music. However, he wrote the Scotch Symphony, which is even better, or at least stronger.
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You may not be aware of this but Leonard Bernstein won another award, for explaining the music of Igor Stravinsky... to Igor Stravinsky!
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(Referring to the piano's natural shape) Isn't it a shame when those big fat opera singers lean against the pianos and bend them?
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Laughter is the closest distance between two people.
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If I have caused just one person to wipe away a tear of laughter, that's my reward.
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My father invented a cure for which there was no disease and unfortunately my mother caught it and died of it.
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The oboe sounds like a clarinet with a cold.
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They say that Nero started the fire himself because he needed a suitable backdrop for his concert.
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When an opera star sings her head off, she usually improves her appearance.
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I wish to thank my parents for making it all possible... and I wish to thank my children for making it necessary.
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Humor is something that thrives between man's aspirations and his limitations. There is more logic in humor than in anything else. Because, you see, humor is truth.
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Clarinets, like lawyers, have cases, mouthpieces, and they need a constant supply of hot air in order to function.
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He was happily married - but his wife wasn't.
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(Responding to a sneeze from the audience) Who exploded?
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A Smile is a curve which can set a lot of things straight.
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Beethoven wrote in three flats a lot. That's because he moved twice.
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Did you know that Mozart had no arms and no legs? I've seen statues of him on people's pianos.
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Flint must be an extremely wealthy town: I see that each of you bought two or three seats.
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I know [canned music] makes chickens lay more eggs and factory workers produce more. But how much more can they get out of you on an elevator?
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One afternoon, when I was four years old, my father came home, and he found me in the living room in front of a roaring fire, which made him very angry. Because we didn't have a fireplace.
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Many people have asked me why there are three pedals in these grand pianos. Well the pedal in the middle is there to separate the two other pedals.
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I normally don't do requests. Unless, of course, I have been asked to do so.
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The shortest distance between two people is a smile.
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...the elephant smoked too much.
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Always remember to forget the things that made you sad, but never forget to remember the things that made you glad.
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I do not have a single white note on my piano; my elephant smoked too much.
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I don't mind growing old. I'm just not used to it.
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I learned to play the piano on my mother's knee - that was before we got a piano.
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I only know two pieces; one is 'Clair de Lune' and the other one isn't.
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I wish to thank my parents for making it all possible? and I wish to thank my children for making it necessary.
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In my dreams of Heaven, I always see the great Masters gathered in a huge hall in which they all reside. Only Mozart has his own suite.
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In my youth, I wanted to be a great pantomimist -- but I found I had nothing to say.
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It (the double-clarinet in India) was primarily used for snake charming, since the snake would do almost anything to get the Indians to stop playing it.
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Occasionally, a finger comes up to wipe a tear [of laughter] from the eye... and that's my reward... the rest goes to the government.
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Read (this book), smile, enjoy, and if you happen to learn something along the way, don't get upset.
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That's why I've never thought of retiring because I do it all the time whether on the stage or off. I found that in a precarious situation, a smile is the shortest distance between people. When one needs to reach out for sympathy or a link with people, what better way is there?
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The conductor is a peculiar person. He turns his back on his friends in the audience, shakes a stick at his players in the orchestra, and then wonders why nobody loves him.
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The elephant smoked too much.(explaining why the keys of his piano were so yellow)
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The essence of a general's job is to assist in developing a clear sense of purpose . to keep the junk from getting in the way of important things.
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The first piano was built long after they didn't have any at all.
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There are three Bachs. Johann, Sebastian and Offen.
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There is a bit of Hans Christian Andersen in every Dane.
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Well, all's fair in love, war and fooling the critics.
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What is the difference between a Nazi and a dog?The Nazi lifts his arm.
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What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul. Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.
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When an opera star sings her head off? she usually improves her appearance.
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When I was a little boy and played Liebestraum, my father used to hit me on the head with a newspaper every time I slopped the cadenza . . . I hate Liebestraum.
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You want something by Bach? Which one, Johann Sebastian or Jacques Offen?