Mel Brooks Quotes

Everybody certainly has the right to defend themselves. That's not to say that they should defy common sense by avoiding or diffusing confrontation. And that's very, very important.

You had to know how to fight or you had to know how to avoid a fight. I didn't enjoy fighting, so I learned how to avoid them.

Everyone has different ways of defending themselves.

Obviously I'm not a violent person; I don't like violence, but I would definitely go into defending myself if the situation arose.

Our first responsibility in the midst of violence is to prevent it from destroying us.

I wasn’t being non-nonviolent, I was just protectin’ my family.

I always think that the ability to fight and defend oneself is a skill that every man should have but endeavour never to use, you know?

I'm not a violent person, but I'm a capable person. I'm never looking for a fight. But I'm always ready for one.

Fighting's not me - it's just something that I do.

Well, I'm not a violent person. You have to back off. People sometimes will try you and try you until you try not to, but you have to react. Normally, I just walk away.

I'm not aggressive by nature and it was tough for me to make the transition to directing.

It makes sense for people who are good at fighting to go out and do it-because if they're good at it, that means the fewest number of other people die.

Opponents confront us continually, but actually there is no opponent there. Enter deeply into an attack and neutralize it as you draw that misdirected force into your own sphere.

My tongue is what I used instead of my fists because I was a small and cowardly young man. Amusing people with stories and being bizarre with words was my way of getting out of fixes.

I don't really try to tell people whether they should fight. It's definitely not for everybody.

Over the years, during television interviews, whenever the host or the reviewer or whoever gets cynical and nasty with me, I will behave accordingly. I will defend myself.

I don't even call it violence when it's in self defense; I call it intelligence.

My dad always used to tell me that if they challenge you to an after-school fight, tell them you won't wait-you can kick their ass right now.

My M.F.A was in directing, and all the films I've made, for film school and after, I've written, directed and shot.

If you can't protect yourself with talk, you won't be alive to protect yourself with guns.

When your life is being threatened there's an instinctive urge to fight. You fight for the time you have, for your relationships.

Back when I was maybe 19, guys would go, 'I can kick your butt!' So I had a few showdowns. To my advantage, I learned martial arts, and what you really learn is not to fight.

Every time that we've ever fought, we fought to keep from bein' destroyed. We've never started a war.

No I don't miss fighting, I still got my wits about me and there are a lot of people who do it and get beat up, and I don't want to be one of them, I have children to raise.

Yes, I am physical but never go looking for fights. I have been in my share of them but never looked for them.