Last Updated on December 19, 2022
Robin McLaurin Williams will forever hold a prestigious spot in the history books as one of the greatest actors cum comedians the world has ever known. Many pundits actually consider Williams the most accomplished actor and comedian of his generation.
Robin Williams was born on July 21, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, to Robert Fitzgerald Williams and Laurie McLaurin. His father was a senior executive at the Lincoln-Mercury Division of the automobile manufacturer Ford Motor Company, whereas his mother was a retired model from Jackson, Mississippi.
Williams experienced a modest childhood. He attended more schools than the number of fingers on his right palm, beginning at Gorton Elementary School, a public school in Lake Forest. He proceeded to Deer Path Nujior High School for his middle school education. Williams subsequently attended several schools before eventually graduating from high school. They include Detroit County Day School, the Redwood High School, and Juilliard School.
Following his high school graduation, Robin Williams enrolled for a political science course at Claremon’s Men’s College based in Claremont, California. But like many Hollywood A-listers, Williams decided to drop out of college in favor of chasing his acting stars. This decision might have been tough at a time when earning a college degree was still considered the holy grail for most learners. However, it wasn’t long before Williams’ decision to quit college paid off.
Williams launched his entertainment career performing stand-up comedy in Los Angeles and San Franciso in the mid-70s. He gained widespread recognition for his role as the alien Mork in the ABC sitcom Mork & Mindy, which aired from 1978 to 1982. Williams landed his debut and arguably his breakout film role in the 1980 movie Popeye.
Thanks to his exceptional performance in Popeye, Robin Williams was able to land starring roles in several Hollywood blockbusters. Examples include The World According to Garp (1982), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), The Fisher King (1991), Aladdin (1992), The Birdcage (1996), Patch Adams (1998), and the Night at the Museum trilogy (2006–2014). Williams also played the lead character in Moscow on the Hudson (1984), Dead Poets Society (1989), Awakenings (1990), Hook (1991), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Jumanji (1995), Good Will Hunting (1997), One Hour Photo (2002), and World’s Greatest Dad (2009).
Robin Williams took his own life on August 11, 2014, at his home in Paradise Cay, California. Not a great way to go for a man who had contributed so immensely to the global entertainment industry.
But while the world will never hear from Williams again, it will certainly continue to hear about him. That’s all thanks to his film and comic works, as well as his numerous thought-provoking quotes.
Robin Williams treated the world to hundreds of quotes and sayings during the height of his career. Being an accomplished humorist, it comes as no surprise that most Williams’ quotes are incredibly hilarious. However, Williams’ quotes are fairly drawn from multiple life aspects, including the meaning of life, love, success, failure, to mention but a few.
Best Robin Williams Quotes
Listed below are 55+ best Robin Williams’ quotes of all time.
- “The human spirit is more powerful than any drug, and that is what needs to be nourished: with work, play, friendship, family. These are the things that matter.”
- “You’re only given a little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.”
- “Some are born great. Some achieve greatness. Some get it as a graduation gift.”
- “Self-reliance is the key to a vigorous life. A man must look inward to find his own answers.”
- “Imagining something is better than remembering something.”
- “I think it’s great when stories are dark and strange and weirdly personal.”
- “Sometimes you can have a whole lifetime in a day and never notice that this is as beautiful as it gets.”
- “Change is not popular; we are creatures of habits as human beings. ‘I want it to be the way it was.’ But if you continue the way it was there will be no ‘is.’”
- “There is still a lot to learn and there is always great stuff out there. Even mistakes can be wonderful.”
- “There’s a world out there. Open a window, and it’s there.”
- “There is no shame in failing. The only shame is not giving things your best shot.”
- “Nobody takes a picture of something they want to forget.”
- “There are three things in this world that you need: respect for all kinds of life, a nice bowel movement on a regular basis, and a navy blazer.”
- “The world is your oyster. Never stop trying new things.”
- “The essential truth is that sometimes you’re worried that they’ll find out it’s a fluke, that you don’t really have it. You’ve lost the muse or — the worst dread — you never had it at all. I went through all that madness early on.”
- “Comedy is acting out of optimism.”
- “My children give me a great sense of wonder. Just to see them develop into these extraordinary human beings.”
- “When you have a great audience, you can just keep going and finding new things.”
- “Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.”
- “Age makes you more confident. When you realize that it’s time now to just do things. When there’s not the pressure to perform on some level of expectations, there’s more to just explore.”
- “Being in the same room with people and creating something together is a good thing.”
- “I think the saddest people always try their hardest to make people happy. Because they know what it feels like to feel absolutely worthless and they don’t want anybody else to feel like that.”
- “Stop being afraid of getting older. With age comes wisdom and confidence.”
- “I love kids, but they are a tough audience.”
- “I do believe in love. It’s wonderful, especially love third time around; it’s even more precious.”
- “The idea of having a steady job is appealing.”
- “If heaven exists, to know that there are laughs, that would be a great thing.”
- “Most of all, I want to thank my father, up there, the man who when I said I wanted to be an actor, he said, ‘Wonderful. Just have a backup profession like welding.’”
- “There are no rules. Just follow your heart.”
- “Don’t associate yourself with toxic people. It’s better to be alone and love yourself than surrounded by people that make you hate yourself.”
- “Do you think God gets stoned? I think so… look at the platypus.”
- “I don’t do well with snakes, and I can’t dance.”
- “It’s a wonderful feeling when your father becomes not a God but a man to you — when he comes down from the mountain and you see he’s this man with weaknesses. And you love him as this whole being, not as a figurehead.”
- “Sometimes, you got to specifically go out of your way to get into trouble. It’s called fun.”
- “Comedy can be a cathartic way to deal with personal trauma.”
- “What’s right is what’s left if you do everything else wrong.”
- “Time is the best teacher. Unfortunately, it kills all of its students.”
- “The world is open for play, everything and everybody is mockable in a wonderful way.”
- “I basically started performing for my mother, going, ‘Love me!’ What drives you to perform is the need for that primal connection. When I was little, my mother was funny with me, and I started to be charming and funny for her, and I learned that by being entertaining, you make a connection with another person.”
- “I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up alone. It’s not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel alone.”
- “If women ran the world, we wouldn’t have wars… just intense negotiations every 28 days.”
- “You will have bad times, but they will always wake you up to the stuff you weren’t paying attention to.”
- “A friend is someone who listens to your bullshit, tells you that it’s bullshit, and listens some more.”
- “A hungry stomach, an empty wallet, and a broken heart can teach you the best lessons of life.”
- “The truth is, if anything, I’m probably addicted to laughter.”
- “See, the problem is that God gives men a brain and a penis, and only enough blood to run one at a time.”
- “Politicians should wear sponsor jackets like NASCAR drivers. Then we know who owns them.”
- “When in doubt, go for the dick joke.”
- “Death is nature’s way of saying, ‘Your table is ready.’”
- “You’ve got to be crazy! It’s too late to be sane, too late. You’ve got to go full-tilt bozo.”
- “Divorce is expensive. I used to joke they were going to call it ‘all the money’ but they changed it to alimony.”
- “Why do they call it rush hour when nothing moves?”
- “The Aladdin thing — that’s not work; that’s just fun. Three days in the recording studio going mad, then the animators do all the work. Not a bad way to cash a large check, my friend.”
- “Okra is the closest thing to nylon I’ve ever eaten. It’s like they bred cotton with a green bean. Okra tastes like snot. The more you cook it, the more it turns into string.”
- “We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race and the human race is filled with passion and medicine, law, business, engineering. These are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”
- “Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!’”