Merv Griffin

“I get a kick out of watching people solve puzzles.”

“I'm a workaholic. I love every minute of it, and I'm a little bit of a perfectionist.”

“I will not be a common man. I will justify my existence.”

“You can't be a personality and just lay back and be a bunch of questions. You have to be a firebrand.”

“I love the game of business. I'm a player.”

“You've got to have fun. If you're not having fun, what's the point?”

“I don't think I have ever been bored in my life.”

“I saw 'Wheel of Fortune' as a kid's game, Hangman.”

“I had this idea for a quiz show, and I ran it by my wife. She said, 'Merv, that is the stupidest idea I have ever heard.'”

“If you don't love it, you're not going to be good at it.”

“I don't want to be remembered as a talk-show host. I want to be remembered as a creator.”

“The first rule of my speaking is: listen.”

“I'm a big believer in dreams. Unfortunately, dreams are my main source of exercise.”

“The two most important things in show business are sincerity and being able to fake it.”

“The word 'retirement' is not in my vocabulary. They aren't going to get rid of me that way.”