I wasn't really a performer by temperament. Tom Lehrer performertemperament Change image and share on social
Irreverence is easy - what's hard is wit. Tom Lehrer easyhardirreverence Change image and share on social
My last public performance for money was in 1967. For free, it was 1972, with the exception of two little one-shot, one-song things. But that's just for friends, out of friendship for the people involved, and also because it was fun. Tom Lehrer exceptionfreefriend share on social
It is sobering to consider that when Mozart was my age he had already been dead for a year. Tom Lehrer agedeadmozart Change image and share on social
If, after hearing my songs, just one human being is inspired to say something nasty to a friend or, perhaps to strike a loved one, it will all have been worth the while. Tom Lehrer friendhearhuman Change image and share on social
I figure I wrote 37 songs in 20 years, and that's not exactly a full-time job. It wasn't that I was writing and writing and writing and quit. Every now and then I wrote something, and every now and then I didn't. The second just outnumbered the first. Tom Lehrer figurefulljob share on social
Life is like a sewer: what you get out of it depends on what you put into it. Tom Lehrer dependlifeput Change image and share on social
The real issues I don't think most people touch. The Clinton jokes are all about Monica Lewinsky and all that stuff and not about the important things, like the fact that he wouldn't ban landmines. Tom Lehrer banclintonfact Change image and share on social
I was immersed in popular songs of the time, of the '30s and '40s. I was writing songs, making fun of the attitudes of those songs, in the musical style of the songs themselves; love songs, folk songs, marches, football. Tom Lehrer 30s40sattitude share on social
When you're in a public profession like I was, and you stop doing it like I did, people think you're either crazy or dead. Tom Lehrer crazydeadpeople Change image and share on social
