Don Rickles Quotes

I grew up to always respect authority and respect those in charge.

Authority is not a quality one person 'has', in the sense that he has property or physical qualities. Authority refers to an interpersonal relation in which one person looks upon another as somebody superior to him.

Nobody is strong-minded around a President…

The first day of 'Liberty,' I was hanging around waiting for Ford to come in. Everybody told me how tough he was and not to say anything, or he'd single you out and get on you the whole shoot. But as he walked in, I got up and saluted him.

You don't talk to Richard Petty unless he talks to you.

Xavier McDaniel made me respect him. I thought I could do anything I wanted to. He grabbed me one time and almost choked me out. He said, 'You're going to do this. You're going to go get coffee. You're going to go get doughnuts.' It's a game of respect.

I bow before the authority of special men because it is imposed upon me by my own reason.

Learn to obey before you command.

For years it never occurred to me to question the judgment of those in charge at the studio.

Must! Is must a word to be addressed to princes? Little man, little man! Thy father, if he had been alive, durst not have used that word.

Woe to him that claims obedience when it is not due; woe to him that refuses it when it is.

I think I'm a natural-born leader. I know how to bow down to authority if it's authority that I respect.

I don't mind how much my Ministers talk, so long as they do what I say.

We all learn submission because we all have 'bosses', whether we're presidents of companies or not. The easiest place to learn it is in family.

And I particularly like the whole thing of being boss. Boss and employee... It's the slave quality that I find very alluring.

Since when have we Americans been expected to bow submissively to authority and speak with awe and reverence to those who represent us?

In 1600, when Shakespeare's audience at the Globe heard 'Hamlet' for the first time, every one of them knew very well what it meant to be handed a cup of wine by a figure of authority and told to drink.

It is much safer to obey than to rule.

It's my old girl that advises. She has the head. But I never own to it before her. Discipline must be maintained.

It is a great delusion in those whose understanding has been darkened by self-love, to think that there is any obedience in the subject who tries to draw the superior to what he wishes.

My parents made it clear that I should never display even the slightest disrespect to individuals who had the power to let me skip a half grade or move into more challenging classes. While it was all right for me to know more about a topic than my sixth-grade teacher had ever learned, questioning her facts could only lead to trouble.

It's all about who's where on the food chain. When I'm the story editor, I expect my writers to follow my vision. When I'm working for another editor, I'm obliged to follow their vision.

He who demands does not command.

I always remember I'm the monkey and he's the organ-grinder.

He was in charge of everything and I was to be wherever he wasn’t.