David Letterman may no longer be on air but his words, or jokes, will remain in the hearts and minds of his fans and followers for a very long time. His comments, ranging from opinions on Lady Gaga's "eggciting" entrance in an awards ceremony to the Abraham Lincoln, George Bush and Barack Obama's leadership, had been a staple in dinner conversations the day after the episodes are aired.

The following are a compilation of the most memorable words uttered by the legendary talk show host throughout his 33 years of lighting up the small screen of millions of people late at night. Needless to say, these quotes will be part of countless dialogues in TV shows in the future.

Top 10 Best David Letterman Quotes

1. "People say to me, 'Dave, when did you know it was time to retire?' And I say, 'Well, there were signs.' There's always signs along the way, and I think one of the signs was Tod the cue card kid came up to me, and he said, 'For the love of God, Dave I can't write the words any bigger.'"

2. "While I was gone, I had quintuple bypass surgery on my heart. Plus, I got a haircut."

3. "I cannot sing, dance or act - what else would I be but a talk show host?"

4. "There's only one requirement of any of us, and that is to be courageous. Because courage, as you might know, defines all other human behavior. And, I believe -- because I've done a little of this myself -- pretending to be courageous is just as good as the real thing."

5. "Earlier today we got a call from Stephen Hawking, and he, bless his heart, had done the math, because he's a genius and stuff, and 6,028 shows and he ran the numbers, and he said it works out to about eight minutes of laughter."

6. "In light of all of this praise, merited or not, do me a favor: save a little for my funeral, alright? I'd appreciate it."

7. "There's no business like show business, but there are several businesses like accounting."

8. "Anything worth doing is worth overdoing."

9. "Next in importance to having a good aim is to recognize when to pull the trigger."

10. "I have found that the only thing that does bring you happiness is doing something good for somebody who is incapable of doing it for themselves."