I find joy in making people laugh. It’s a gift.

Acting is a great way to express yourself, but it also teaches you a lot about others.

You can’t force comedy. It has to come naturally.

The characters I play often have a sense of innocence and quirkiness that I find appealing.

I went to North Hollywood High. I’m the original Val girl.

I started out in the 1970s doing the Wife, the Bimbo, and the Ditz, and if I somehow get a serious role, they all wanna know the same thing: When are you going back to comedy?

Comedy is about finding the humanity in absurd situations.

Acting is a collaboration, and you’re always learning from your peers.

I can’t imagine not doing comedy. It’s the thing I’m best at.

People don’t always realize how hard we work to make something look effortless.

I like playing roles that are unexpected, where I get to break the mold.

In the end, it’s about the chemistry between actors. That’s what makes the performance real.

If you’re going to play a character, you’ve got to own it. You can’t fake it.

I had to learn to walk again, talk again, think again.

You can be funny in different ways—whether it’s physical comedy or just your delivery.

I just go out there and do my thing. It’s worked for me so far.

Comedy can be the most powerful tool to make people think, even though they’re laughing.

I have always felt that the weirder, the better.

Sometimes the best thing you can do is not try too hard to be funny.

’30 Rock’ is one of the best things on TV, I think.

The more bizarre, the better, in my world.

People have a tendency to see me as this quirky character, and I’m perfectly fine with that.

I’ve always been a big fan of funny people and funny characters.

You have to be prepared to take a lot of chances in this business.

I enjoy the creative process, but I like that it doesn’t define who I am.

The Academy not only knew I existed, they thought I was good!

My acting career has been a series of fortunate accidents.

In some ways, it’s harder to be a comic actress than a dramatic one.

I had been nominated for an Academy Award for my performance as Sandy Lester, Dustin Hoffman’s neurotic, struggling actress girlfriend, in ‘Tootsie.’ Under Sydney Pollack’s direction, ‘Tootsie’ had been a runaway hit starring Dustin as an unemployed actor who pretends to be a woman in order to land a role in a soap opera.

There were symptoms that I saw, and though I went to many doctors and had many tests, no one diagnosed MS.

I do Pilates a lot. I don’t do a lot of cardiovascular stuff.

Being funny is one of the easiest things in the world for me.

I think my comedic timing is a lot like how I think, very quick and offbeat.

Going to dancing school, or being in a play, is a very familial feeling. You’re around friends.

In addition to having a good partnership with a good doctor, you have to do some of the work yourself. Go online, read about it, and find out what you can tolerate.

I recently saw the movie about Ray Charles, and there’s a scene where he falls down and the mother doesn’t help him. She says, I don’t want anyone to treat you like a cripple. I’ve fallen down before, and Molly will say, get up and just go.

I don’t mind playing the goofy girl. It’s who I am.

I’ve always been able to find humor in the most unexpected places.

I have a disease, but I also have a lot of other things.

There’s always going to be somebody worse off than me.

My doctor said, for want of a better word, now that we’ve got medicines out here that can help, let’s put you on one of them and say we’re treating MS.

I guess I’m a character actress. I’ve always known I wasn’t going to play the ingenue.

It’s interesting to play characters that are not necessarily sympathetic, but still lovable in their own way.

I go to my physical therapist to keep fighting it and one of them told me if you don’t use it, you lose it, but I know we’re on television so I won’t say what I would often say.

If there’s ever a woman who’s smart, funny, or witty, people are afraid of that, so they don’t write that. They only write parts for women where they let everything be steamrolled over them, where they let people wipe their feet all over them.

Please, people, don’t drink and vote. We’ll all pay for that.

There’s nothing like the feeling of a great performance—when you know it’s working.

Any movie I’ve ever made, the minute you walk on the set they tell you who’s the person to buy it from.

I’m not one of those actresses who talks a lot about the process. I just go in and do the work.

You have to lift your head up out of the mud and just do it.

If you get a diagnosis, get on a therapy, keep a good attitude and keep your sense of humor.

To me, the best kind of humor is when it’s rooted in reality.

I’ve always had a sense of humor, even when things weren’t going my way.

I have an enormous fondness for delicious food. It’s very comforting.

I understand how hard it is to talk to people about MS. You don’t want pity or random advice.

I have one brother who is a surgeon, there’s me, and my other brother builds boats.

I learned that it’s important to be professional, but also to have fun on set.

I love comedy. It’s what I grew up doing, and it’s the thing that feels most natural to me.

I’m wondering if they haven’t reported all the people with MS, because if all of the cases were reported, the government would have to step in and give more financial aid to us.

Sandy: Boy, you must really think I’m stupid or something. Jeff: Ahh, no one would call you stupid, to your face.

I have been off the motorcycles for about 20 years now, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still do it.

I’ve been lucky to have played some quirky characters, but I also love the roles where I get to show a little more depth.

I did a lot of weird things in my career, but it was all about having fun and not taking myself too seriously.

I remember when we did our first read-through, Sonny [Bono] looks at the script and he goes, “Okay, I’ll see you guys later. Chai-ay-oh!” And I said, “It’s ciao! Aren’t you Italian? C-i-a-o doesn’t spell ‘chai-ay-oh.'” Sonny’s dead, so he won’t be embarrassed if I tell that story.

I plan to live to be 120!

My mother was a role model.

You can’t just expect a career in this business to go the way you want. It’s about resilience.

It’s really hard to explain what it’s like to be in a movie, but when you’re there, you’re just part of the team.

I’ve always had this American-pie face that would get work in commercials… I’d say things like, ‘Hi, Marge, how’s your laundry?’ and ‘Hi, I’m a real nice Georgia peach.’ Sometimes this work is one step above being a cocktail waitress

Oddly enough, MS has made my life so much better than it was before. I now appreciate what I have and I am not running around like a rat in a maze.

Elvis used to have parties at his house – and I’ve told this story a million times – but they weren’t really parties, because there was no chips or dip. Just Elvis and his boys watching TV, and him making funny comments, and everybody laughing at them. Is that a party? Not really. But that’s Hollywood.

I think people see me as funny, and I’m okay with that. I like making people laugh.

The best thing about acting is the collaboration. You get to work with so many talented people, and you learn a lot.

Seventy-five percent of MS sufferers are women.

No matter how bad the truth is, it doesn’t tear you apart inside like dishonesty.

Speed bumps, I was thinking, you know, you’re driving along, everything’s OK, and then there’s a speed bump to go, ‘Slow down.’ Go over it real slowly, and you hit the pedal, and you keep going, and I just thought it was kind of a nice metaphor for life.

I’m lucky that I was able to make a living doing what I love.

I’ve always been a character actress, and that’s okay. I’m not a glamorous, lead role kind of person.

I’ve always been this insane. Isn’t that interesting?

When you hear the word ‘disabled,’ people immediately think about people who can’t walk or talk or do everything that people take for granted. Now, I take nothing for granted. But I find the real disability is people who can’t find joy in life and are bitter.

God is in all – I believe in God, yes. And I believe God is in us.

I never took acting seriously. I took it as seriously as I could without getting too crazy about it.

I like to think that I’m a nice person, but I’m not going to be pushed around by anyone.

Take a step back, evaluate what is important, and enjoy life.

I refused David Letterman’s proposal of marriage for obvious reasons, but thanks for asking.

You have to find out what’s right for you, so it’s trial and error. You are going to be all right if you accept realistic goals for yourself.