Clown Quotes - Famous sayings by and about clowns

God’s children and their happiness are my reasons for being”.
–Red Skelton

“I was always somewhat calloused about broadcasting, but this Circus is the doggonedest phenomenon I have ever seen. There’s always the satisfaction that you have done something for somebody that goes beyond the commercial aspects of the show. I love my work and enjoy making children laugh. Laughter cannot be imitated. It comes from the heart.”
–Bob Bell, WGN’s Bozo the Clown

“Foolery, sir, does walk about the orb like the sun; it shines everywhere.”
–William Shakespeare. Twelfth Night, Act iii. Sc. 1.

“Clowns and elephants are the pegs on which the circus is hung”
–P. T. Barnum

“I don’t want to be called ‘the greatest’ or ‘one of the greatest’; let other guys claim to be the best. I just want to be known as a clown because to me that’s the height of my profession. It means you can do everything-sing, dance, and above all, make people laugh.”
–Red Skelton

“Who are a little wise the best fools be.”
–Dr. John Donne, The Triple Fool.

“A witty saying proves nothing.”
–Voltaire

“Today’s comics use four-letter words as a shortcut to thinking. They’re shooting for that big laugh and it becomes a panic thing, using four-letter words to shock people.”
–Red Skelton

“I had rather have a fool to make me merry than experience to make me sad. “
–William Shakespeare. As You Like It, Act iv. Sc. 1.

“These Macedonians,” said he, “are a rude and clownish people, that call a spade a spade.”
–Plutarch. 46 (?)-120 (?) A. D.

“Mom used to say I didn’t run away from home my destiny just caught up with me at an early age.”
–Red Skelton

“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
–William Shakespeare. As You Like It, Act v. Sc. 1

Reflecting on his life: “I’d have avoided some of the pain if I could. Anyone would. But I wouldn’t have missed knowing any of the people — even the ones whose leaving hurt most. In fact, the only thing I’m sorry about is that I didn’t meet one particular guy, a clown named Joe Skelton. You know, he sure picked the right profession. I mean, a clown’s got it all. He never has to hold back: He can do as he pleases. The mouth and the eyes are painted on. So if you wanta cry, you can go right ahead. The makeup won’t smear. You’ll still be smiling. . . .”
–Red Skelton

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now; your gambols, your songs? Your lashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar?
–William Shakespeare, Hamlet

The little foolery that wise men have makes a great show.
–William Shakespeare. As You Like It.

‘T is an old maxim in the schools,
That flattery ‘s the food of fools;
Yet now and then your men of wit
Will condescend to take a bit.
–Jonathan Swift, Cadenus and Vanessa.

Fools are my theme, let satire be my song.
–Lord Byron, English Bards and Scotch Reviewers. Line 6.

“Clowns work as well as aspirin, but twice as fast.”
–Groucho Marx

“You’ve got to realize that when all goes well, and everything is beautiful, you have no comedy. It’s when somebody steps on the bride’s train, or belches during the ceremony that you’ve got comedy!”
–Phyllis Diller

“I never would have made it if I could not have laughed. It lifted me momentarily out of this horrible situation, just enough to make it livable.”
–Viktor Frankl, re: surviving the Nazi death camps

“To truly laugh, you must be able to take your pain and play with it!”
– Charlie Chaplin

“The human race has only one really effective weapon, and that’s laughter. The moment it arises, all our hardnesses yield, all our irritations and resentments slip away, and a sunny spirit takes their place.”
– Mark Twain

The art of the clown is more profound than we think. â¦ It is the comic mirror of tragedy, and the tragic mirror of comedy
–Andre Suares

The arrival of a good clown exercises a more beneficial influence upon the health of a town than the arrival of twenty asses laden with drugs.
-Thomas Sydenham

A clown sees life simply, without complications.
-George Bishop

“I remain just one thing, and one thing only — and that is a clown. It places me on a far higher plane than any politician.”
–Charlie Chaplin

The genius of clowning is transforming the little, everyday annoyances, not only overcoming, but actually transforming them into something strange and terrificâ¦ it is the power to extract mirth for millions out of nothing and less than nothing.
–Karl Adrien “Grock” Wettach

By laughing at me, the audience really laughs at themselves and realizing they have done this, gives them sort of a spiritual second wind for going back into the battles of life
Emmett Kelly, Sr.

For several years now, the clown has taken on great importanceâ¦ as part of the search for what is laughable and ridiculous in man. We [should] put the emphasis on the rediscovery of our own individual clown, the one that has grown-up within us and which society does not allow us to express.
-Jacques Lequoc (1973)

People tell me they feel so much more available to life once they learn how to clown around. That’s what being a clown is aboutâ¦ it’s about touching your soul and finally giving it room to laugh.
-Arina Issacson

“Better a witty fool then a foolish wit.”
William Shakespeare in Twelfth Night

It is meat and drink to me to see a clown.
–William Shakespeare, As You Like It

There is no better role to play among the great than that of jester.
–Denis Diderot, Le Neveu de Rameau

When the heroes go off stage, the clowns come on.
-Heinrich Heine
Dictionary of Quotations

The highest of renown
Are the surest stricken down;
But the stupid and the clown
They remain.
-Eugene Fitch Ware (1841-1911), Paresis

A smile is the light
on the window of your face
that tells others
that you heart is at home.
-Philip D. Noble, author of Fool of the Kingdom

Act the fool, play the calf, and you’ll always have the last laugh.
Wear the cap and the bells and you’ll rate all the great swells.
If you become a doctor, folks’ll face you with dread.
If you become a dentist, they’ll be glad when you’re dead.
You get a bigger hand if you can stand on your head.
Be a clown, be a clown, be a clown.
Be a clown, be a clown, all the world loves a clown.
Be a crazy buffoon and the ‘demoiselles ‘ll all swoon.
Dress in huge baggy pants and you’ll ride the road to romance.
A butcher or a baker, ladies never embrace.
A barber for a beau would be a social disgrace.
They’ll come to call if you can fall on your face.
Be a clown, be a clown, be a clown.
Be a clown, be a clown, all the world loves a clown.
Be the poor silly ass and you’ll always travel first class.
Give ’em quips, give ’em fun and they’ll pay to say you’re A-one.
If you become a farmer, you’ve the weather to buck.
If become a gambler you’ll be struck with your luck.
But jack you’ll never lack if you can quack like a duck.
Be a clown, be a clown, be a clown.
–Cole Porter, “Be A Clown” from the movie “The Pirate“
(1948) with Judy Garland, Gene Kelly

“Anyone who can make people laugh has the greatest gift God can give a man.”
—Al Ross

I had a friend who was a clown. When he died, all his friends went to the funeral in one car.
–Steven Wright

“Humor – The sunshine of the mind.
Bulwer-LyttonGood

“Good-humor makes all things tolerable.”
Henry Ward Beecher

“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.”
Victor Borge

“Good humor is goodness and wisdom combined.”
Owen Meredith

“A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs – jolted by every pebble in the road.”
Henry Ward Beecher

“Good humor is one of the best articles of dress one can wear in society.”
William Thackeray

“Good nature is worth more than knowledge, more than money, more than honor, to the persons who possess it.”
Henry Ward Beecher

“You grow up the day you have the first real laugh … at yourself.”
Unknown

“Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone.”
Ella Wheeler Wilcox

“Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.”
Victor Hugo

“The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.”
e.e. cummings

“It is better to laugh about your problems than to cry about them.”
Jewish Proverb

“The person who knows how to laugh at himself will never cease to be amused.” –
Shirely MacLaine

“The most thoroughly wasted of all days is that on which one has not laughed.”
Nicolas Chamfort

“What was significant about the laughter . . . was not just the fact that it provides internal exercise for a person . . . form of jogging for the innards, but that it creates a mood in which the other positive emotions can be put to work, too.”
Norman Cousins

“Laughter is the tonic, the relief, the surcease for pain.”
Charlie Chaplin

“If we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane.”
Jimmy Buffet

“Laughter is a tranquilizer with no side effects.”
Arnold Glason

“I am prouder of my title ‘The Children’s Friend’ than if I were to be called ‘The King of the World’.”
P.T. Barnum

“There is no greater picture than that of 10,000 smiling children. No brighter music than their clear-ringing laughter. That I, with my small amusements, have created such precious art is my life’s proudest achievement.”
P.T. Barnum

“Make a man laugh a good hearty laugh, and you have paved the way for friendship. When a man laughs with you, he to some extent likes you. “
Dale Carnegie

“A Clown is an angel with a red nose.”
J.T. “Bubba” Sykes

“We are all here for a spell, get all the good laughs you can.”
Will Rogers

“Man could direct his ways by plain reason, and support his life by tasteless food, but God has given us wit, and flavor, and brightness, and laughter to enliven the days of man’s pilgrimage, and to charm his pained steps over the burning marble.”
Sydney Smith

“The world is a looking-glass, and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face. Frown at it, and it will in turn look sourly upon you; laugh at it, and it is a jolly kind companion.”
William Makepeace Thackeray

“We don’t stop laughing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop laughing.”
Author Unknown

“Every human being is a clown but only few have the courage to show it.”
Charlie Rivel

“The world belongs to those who set out to conquer it armed with self confidence and good humour.”
Charles Dickens

“Wearing underwear on the outside of your clothes can turn a tedious trip to the store for a forgotten carton of milk into an amusement park romp.”
Dr. Hunter “Patch” Adams

“Everyone who goes to a job he doesn’t like is a lot weirder than I am.”
Dr. Hunter “Patch” Adams

“The big advantage of visiting [a hospital] as a clown, is that kids are very suspicious of adults. Adults usually come in with long needles and bad news. When you go in as a clown, there’s an immediate trust. Immediately the fear is gone.”
Michael Turk, Mitzvah Clowns

“I am an artist and each child is my canvas. I create dynamic works using shades of laughter, self-esteem, and individual achievement. If I fail to reach a single heart; if I ignore a single reaching hand or hopeful smile, a child’s self-esteem may suffer. God gave me this gift of laughter that I might make each child I meet feel a little more special.”
Roger “Skipper” Way, Stars & Stripes (Europe)

“God has a smile on His face.” Psalm 42:5

“I commend mirth.” Ecclesiastes 8:15

“Let your heart by merry.” Judges 19:6

“The person who can bring the spirit of laughter into a room is indeed blessed.” Bennett Cerf

“Does God have a sense of humor? He must have if He created us.”
Jackie Gleason

“Humor is like food. You have to have it every day.”
Sid Caesar

“A good laugh heals a lot of hurts.”
Madeleine L’Engle

“Grim care, moroseness, anxiety — all this rust of life ought to be scoured off by the oil of mirth. Mirth is God’s medicine.”
Henry Ward Beecher

“Love may make the world go around, but laughter keeps us from getting dizzy.”
Donald Zockert

“We need laughter very, very badly. Especially in this country. We have so much news being thrown at us. We need something to say, “Hey, wait a minute, let’s hold on here. There’s a life, you know, to live and to be enjoyed.”
Sid Caesar

“When you laugh, you get a glimpse of God.”
Merrily Belgum

“True humor springs more from the heart than from the head; it is not contempt, its essence is love.”
Thomas Carlyle

“Prepare for mirth, for mirth becomes a feast.”
William Shakespeare

“He that is of a merry heart has a continual feast.”
Proverbs 15:15

“I see humor as food. An adequate share of humor and laughter represents an essential part of the diet of the healthy person.”
Norman Cousins

“Jesters do often prove prophets.”
William Shakespeare

“I’ve seen what a laugh can do. It can transform almost unbearable tears into something bearable, even hopeful.”
Bob Hope

“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.”
Victor Borge

“Humor is the foundation of reconciliation.”
St. Francis de Sales

“Laughter is the best medicine in the world.”
Milton Berle

“Become a child again. Laugh!”
Barbara Johnson

“Humor is something that strives between a person’s aspirations and his limitations. There is more logic in humor than in anything else. Because, you see, humor is truth.”
Victor Borge

“Comedy has had no history, because it was not at first treated seriously.”
Aristotle