Sid Caesar was one of the first stars of television.

Story highlights

Sid Caesar was a comic and writer

He was well known for making up languages

He once said he played the "buffoon"

CNN  — 

Sid Caesar was a man of many words.

The comic, writer and star of “Your Show of Shows” who died Wednesday knew his way around a punch line. Here are just a few of his pithy quotes and clips of some of his performances:

“Comedy has to be based on truth. You take the truth and you put a little curlicue at the end.”

“The guy who invented the first wheel was an idiot. The guy who invented the other three, he was a genius.”

“If you listen to a language for 15 minutes, you know the rhythm and song.”

“When I did comedy I made fun of myself. If there was a buffoon, I played the buffoon.”

“There’s a now, a was, and a gonna be. Now is now, and after now is a was. And what comes after the was is a gonna be. It hasn’t happened yet. It’s gonna happen as soon as the now is over. But if you have a good now, you’re bound to have a good was and a good gonna be.”