Article image

12 Funny Quotes From the Women of ‘SNL’

The women of Saturday Night Live are among the funniest comedians to ever grace our television screens. Whether impersonating a celebrity or performing a zany original character, these hilarious and talented performers ensure that every Saturday night is an absolute laugh riot.

From season 1 legends such as Gilda Radner to more modern talents including Tina Fey and Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live has produced countless comedy icons whose work has brightened our lives. Their clever and hysterical insights have helped make the world a happier and more lighthearted place.

In celebration of these women’s brilliant comedic minds, we’ve compiled a list featuring some laugh-out-loud quotes from their time on the show and beyond. Here are 12 funny quotes from the ladies of Saturday Night Live.

I’d much rather be a woman than a man. Women can cry, they can wear cute clothes, and they’re the first to be rescued off sinking ships.
Gilda Radner

Share Quote

To say I’m an overrated troll, when you have never even seen me guard a bridge, is patently unfair.
Tina Fey

Share Quote

People think I’m an overnight success. No. It’s just that you all found me overnight.
Leslie Jones

Share Quote

Telling me to relax or smile when I’m angry is like bringing a birthday cake into an ape sanctuary. You’re just asking to get your nose and genitals bitten off.
Amy Poehler

Share Quote

Dan, there's an old saying: Behind every successful man, there's a woman — a loving, caring, giving woman. But you wouldn't know anything about that, Dan, because there's no old saying about what's behind a miserable failure.
Jane Curtin

Share Quote

Watching toddler TV gives you the impression you are going to run across a lot more treasure chests in life than you actually do.
Rachel Dratch

Share Quote

If you asked me to seriously kiss someone on a screen, I would be very uncomfortable. But I will lick any part of your face.
Kate McKinnon

Share Quote

If my kids write my epitaph, it will read “Here lies Mother, who always seemed to want a Nap.”
Ana Gasteyer

Share Quote

My panic attack is having a panic attack. It’s called a panic-anic attack; it’s worse.
Kristen Wiig

Share Quote

The three words every woman really longs to hear: I’ll clean up.
Molly Shannon

Share Quote

I talk about how I’m a people-pleaser and I’m really jolly, but there’s a side of me that comes out late at night like a wolf.
Melissa Villaseñor

Share Quote

Just a heads-up to my kids: Tonight Mommy’s gonna put on a lot of wigs and do a lot of weird voices, so it’s just going to be like a typical day at home.
Maya Rudolph

Share Quote

Featured image credit: Allan Tannenbaum/ Archive Photos via Getty Images

Author image
About the Author
Bennett Kleinman
Bennett is a staff writer at Optimism as well as a freelance comedy writer. He's based in New York City.
Play more header background
Play more icon
Daily Question
Who said, "You exist only in what you do"?

More Inspiration

happiness theme icon

In art and dream may you proceed with abandon. In life may you proceed with balance and stealth.

separator icon
Patti Smith
motivation theme icon

Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.

separator icon
Helen Keller
hope theme icon

Above all, don't fear difficult moments. The best comes from them.

separator icon
Rita Levi-Montalcini
love theme icon

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

separator icon
Alan Watts
wisdom theme icon

Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.

separator icon
Pope John Paul II
happiness theme icon

Act as if someone just said there’s no reason to be afraid.

separator icon
Phoebe Waller-Bridge
motivation theme icon

The best friend is he that, when he wishes a person's good, wishes it for that person's own sake.

separator icon
Aristotle
hope theme icon

I learned that you have to push away the demand of people's expectations by believing in your instincts.

separator icon
Stefano Pilati
love theme icon

Do not whine... Do not complain. Work harder. Spend more time alone.

separator icon
Joan Didion
wisdom theme icon

Ultimately a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.

separator icon
Martin Luther King Jr.
happiness theme icon

Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake.

separator icon
Kurt Vonnegut