Quotes By Harvey Fierstein

How time files when you's doin' all the talking.

Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.

Well, I always looked at Mulan as a movie about a lesbian coming out.

I don't believe in the afterlife, so I do think when somebody passes, it's worthy of note.

I'm sure there's going to be some material from This Is Not Going To Be Pretty. I usually use that song to just introduce myself to the audience, although the patter in between the song is always different.

And I believe that you never be limited in what you do, so I like to do movies, I like to do television.

Also, if you want to reach people, theatre is not always the best way to do it.

What looks absolutely fabulous in rehearsal can fall flat in front of an audience. The audience dictates what you do or don't change.

Pork was in 1971, and I stopped hanging out at The Factory by like 1973.

But actually just yesterday we raised the key of one of my songs two steps up, so my voice is obviously responding. It's a muscle, and the more you use it, the more you use it right, the more you should get out of it. So yes, I sing.

Always admit when you're wrong. You'll save thousands in therapy... and a few friendships too.

It would be nice to redefine ourselves - at the moment we are drowning in diversity. That's not a bad thing, its just going to take a while before we refocus.

But I'm not adverse to the idea of Torch Song as a musical. It would just be different. Because the play will always be there exactly as it was, and in a musical you could tell a lot of the story through songs.

Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.

It's a lot of fun to play someone you don't normally think of yourself as.

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.

I actually pray everyday, but I don't believe in God.

A child's kiss is magic. Why else would they be so stingy with them?

Actually, I think the average voice is like 70 percent tone and 30 percent noise. My voice is 95 percent noise.

Art has the power to transform, to illuminate, to educate, inspire and motivate.

I am thrilled - I can't stress that enough - thrilled when I see kids getting active.

My play Safe Sex was picked apart because critics thought it was untrue. It was a play in which no one had AIDS, but the characters talked about how it was going to change their lives.

You know, I always got offered other stuff. Not the romantic leads, obviously. But very often it's a role that's underwritten, where the character has no personality at all. And they need a character actor who can fill it in.

Political movements always belong to the young.

I got the regular call, that they were doing a Broadway musical of Hairspray, and would I come and audition. I was familiar with the movie, because at the time it came out my lover wrote for Premiere magazine, and we had to see everything.

It's a wonderful world. You can't go backwards. You're always moving forward. It's the wonderful part about life. And that's terrific.

In Torch Song, I did that character almost non-stop from 1978 until I made the movie in 1987. Then I had some failure, which also colors how you react to doing other things.

Theater has to resonate in your heart in a way that movies don't.

If you deny yourself commitment, what can you do with your life?

I burned out on AIDS and did no AIDS work for a couple of years. I was so angry that people were still getting this disease that nobody can give you - you have to go out and get it!