Harvey Fierstein Quotes & Sayings

Political movements always belong to the young. — Harvey Fierstein

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. — Harvey Fierstein

There comes a time in every Salome's life when she should no longer be dropping the last veil. — Harvey Fierstein

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

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. — Harvey Fierstein

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

Anyone with a smart phone is a potential eyewitness cameraman capturing and transmitting stories at speeds that turn Reuter photos and traditional reporting into, well ... yesterday's news. — Harvey Fierstein

State-sanctioned marriage is a civil contract, period. A contract is not a judgment of moral value. It is a legal agreement between two parties that testifies to a meeting of minds between those consenting entities. It is not a religious act or rite and so has nothing to do with Adam and Eve or Steve or even Harvey. — Harvey Fierstein

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

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

I have a lot of faith in President Obama. The thing that seems to be true of him is that he doesn't speak when you would expect him to speak. He's very measured in his response to things. He likes to get all the facts first before he shoots his mouth off. It makes me crazy; it makes a lot of people crazy. — Harvey Fierstein

I've been dating since I was 15 years old, and I just don't seem to do it well. — Harvey Fierstein

I am thinking about how it feels to be a no one in the life of someone you love. — Harvey Fierstein

You really, really, really have to love what you are going to do in theater because it is an unmerciful life. It's six days a week. It's eight performances a week. And that's doing the exact same thing over and over and over again. — Harvey Fierstein

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

I often say that if you want to really want to understand the contract of marriage, just ask anyone who has been divorced. The marriage contract is one of property rights. Or maybe you can look in the Bible to see what Adam had to say about divorce, since Eve was his second wife. — Harvey Fierstein

Somebody should talk to Dan Quayle and tell him natural blondes don't have dark grey stripes on the sides. — Harvey Fierstein

Of course people are afraid. But honestly facing that fear, seeing it for what it is, is the only way of putting it to rest. — Harvey Fierstein

With Russia about to hold the Winter Games in Sochi, the country is open to pressure. American and world leaders must speak out against Mr. Putin's attacks and the violence they foster. The Olympic Committee must demand the retraction of these laws under threat of boycott. — Harvey Fierstein

There are easier things in life than being a drag queen. But I ain't got no choice. Try as I may, I just can't walk in flats. — Harvey Fierstein

As the book writer for one big smash and one big smelly flop, I always wondered if anyone knows just what goes into making a great musical. When a show is a hit, the critics trip over themselves not knowing who to laud and applaud the loudest. It's that marvelous score, those urbane lyrics, that irreplaceable star. But only when a show is a flop, does anyone notice the book writer. And then it's always our fault. — Harvey Fierstein

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. — Harvey Fierstein

I have great faith in the United States. It's the only country I would ever live in. — Harvey Fierstein

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

It's through sheer will that I can sing. — Harvey Fierstein

There are times when I don't take roles because I don't want to be perceived a certain way. — Harvey Fierstein

When I went into 'Fiddler,' I wondered about the response I'd get - the backlash because I'm openly gay. There was none. I toured Canada and America, and not one single review suggested that I played the role gay or that I seemed anything but Tevye. — Harvey Fierstein

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. — Harvey Fierstein

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

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. — Harvey Fierstein

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

Nothing binds a people to their leader like a common enemy. Voters don't change governments during war. — Harvey Fierstein

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

I have the world's worst taste in men, so now I simply have wonderful relationships of the friend kind, but trying to settle down with somebody? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm beyond that. — Harvey Fierstein

See, an ugly person who goes after a pretty person gets nothing but trouble. But a pretty person who goes after an ugly person gets at least cab-fare. — Harvey Fierstein

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! — Harvey Fierstein

To work all the time is to be incredibly lucky. — Harvey Fierstein

How time flies when you're doin all the talking. — Harvey Fierstein

When a politician like Marco Rubio is willing to sacrifice his career defining immigration reform legislation solely to insure that gays and lesbians are denied equal protection under the law, we have to admit that we're under attack. This is not pragmatic politics at work. These are the policies of bias, exclusion and unfairness. — Harvey Fierstein

Just because I said that's what I want doesn't mean that's what I want. I mean, that's what I want but that doesn't mean that I'm necessarily ready for it. — Harvey Fierstein

Accept no one's definition of your life, define yourself. — Harvey Fierstein

Theater is my temple and my religion and my act of faith. Strangers sit in a room together and believe together. — Harvey Fierstein

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

There's nothing I need from anyone except love and respect, and anyone who can't give me those two things has no place in my life. — Harvey Fierstein

I guess a drag queen's like an oil painting: You gotta stand back from it to get the full effect. — Harvey Fierstein

Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life, but define yourself. — Harvey Fierstein

I really am a theater person. That means you put something out there, and you let it go. Tomorrow night is a new performance. — Harvey Fierstein

Please, people, do not f- with depression. It's merciless. All it wants is to get you in a room alone and kill you. Take care of yourself. — Harvey Fierstein

I actually may do a musical next year ... not one that I've written; one that I may star in. Plus my concert and other people's work and all of a sudden you've got a very full life. — Harvey Fierstein

I just want to be loved, is that so wrong?! — Harvey Fierstein

To me, if a heterosexual has a right to do it, then I have a right to do it. And if it's important to the gay youth - who are now setting the agenda - then its important to me. — Harvey Fierstein

The real point is that you cannot harbor malice toward others and then cry foul when someone displays intolerance against you. Prejudice tolerated is intolerance encouraged. Rise up in righteousness when you witness the words and deeds of hate, but only if you are willing to rise up against them all, including your own. Otherwise suffer the slings and arrows of disrespect silently. — Harvey Fierstein

Now, I ain't saying you should only date sane men (I don't want to kill off all the fish in the poluted sea), but at least find one who's willing to fight on his own. — Harvey Fierstein

Change your mind as often as possible. Just because you thought something yesterday doesn't mean you have to think it today. Don't ever become a prisoner of your own opinion — Harvey Fierstein

I just don't like politics. My rule is if I can put a spotlight on something, I'll do that. — Harvey Fierstein

Movies are all about plot. Theater, even if it's story heavy, it's about ideas. — Harvey Fierstein

So, did I work with Warhol? I worked with him less on that play then I did on other things. He actually did a portrait of my rabbit and some other stuff. Warhol was definitely ... Warhol. — Harvey Fierstein

CBS really wants me on TV. That's their aim. My aim is to have an all-gay sitcom someday, with heterosexuals as token guest stars. Let them be the next-door neighbors for a change. — Harvey Fierstein

The world is full of more interesting things than my voice. — Harvey Fierstein

My father was brought up in an orphanage in the Catskills. He was a factory worker. And because his family wasn't there for him, family was everything. We could disagree inside the house, but outside the house it was us against the world. So when I became a drag actor, he looked sideways but said okay. — Harvey Fierstein

Never be bullied into silence. — Harvey Fierstein

Beware of anyone who says they know. Trust me, they don't, or they wouldn't have to say they did. — Harvey Fierstein

A thing of beauty is a joy till sunrise. — Harvey Fierstein

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

I was exposed to a mix of cultures, lots of different religions and beliefs. I was a spiritual kid and went to Indian powwows and Buddhist temples. But over a period of time, with reading and thinking, I started to feel it was all so absurd: The whole idea of life after death is ridiculous. — Harvey Fierstein

How often are the perpetrators of hate-crimes discovered to be self-loathing? Valued individuals do not strike out against strangers. — Harvey Fierstein

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. — Harvey Fierstein

I got a lovely check today from being a writer that I earned by sitting at home. That's rewarding. — Harvey Fierstein

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. — Harvey Fierstein

(...) When things get too good... I get out. Well. I guess to a degree we all do. But most pull out; ride off into the sunset with a wave and a wink and a "Heigh-o-Silver." But not me. I am a pusher. I nudge and kvetch and cry and demand until I leave my partner no possible alternative but for him to run for his life. (...) — Harvey Fierstein

When we excuse homophobia as a matter of opinion instead of treating it as a destructive social illness, we invite fear to explode into violence ... If we are ever to scrape the black rot of prejudice from the heart of our nation, we must stop excusing those who give it expression and even excuse. The next time someone dares to say, "Just because I don't approve of homosexuality doesn't make me a bigot," we must all answer back, "Yes, it does. Not only does it make you a bigot, it makes you a criminal, a danger to me, my family, my community, my city, and my country. — Harvey Fierstein

In no way be bullied into silence. Hardly ever permit on your own to become made a sufferer. Acknowledge no one's definition of one's lifetime; define oneself — Harvey Fierstein

I do believe we're all connected. I do believe in positive energy. I do believe in the power of prayer. I do believe in putting good out into the world. And I believe in taking care of each other. — Harvey Fierstein

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. — Harvey Fierstein

Is a gay play a play that has sex with other plays? — Harvey Fierstein

The next time you feel you have to say, "I love you" to someone, say it to yourself - and see if you believe it. — Harvey Fierstein

(...) I've always thought of myself as a kind person. Not saintly but generously thoughtful (in a bitchy sort of way). (...) — Harvey Fierstein

When I write stuff and I help cast it, I turn away good people all the time. I may turn them down because this one's too tall and that one doesn't have a high enough voice or this one looks to old to match up with that one - there's a billion reasons not to hire somebody. — Harvey Fierstein

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

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. — Harvey Fierstein

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

While we dance in the streets and pat ourselves on the back for being a nation great enough to reach beyond racial divides to elect our first African-American president, let us not forget that we remain a nation still proudly practicing prejudice. — Harvey Fierstein

Time will tell us what we did and didn't do. — Harvey Fierstein

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

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

A musical takes two to five years. You have to love it to put in the years. — Harvey Fierstein

You may feel powerless as a child, but the world will one day be yours. And you're responsible for it. So, seize the day and take charge of it. — Harvey Fierstein

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

As soon as I started writing, other writers stopped wanting me acting in their shows - maybe they thought I was going to rewrite them. — Harvey Fierstein

In London they don't like you if you're still alive. — Harvey Fierstein

The great thing about suicide is that it's not one of those things you have to do now or you lose your chance. I mean, you can always do it later. — Harvey Fierstein

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. — Harvey Fierstein