Quotes About Clowns

Clowning around for National Clown Week

August 1 to 7 is National Clown Week, which is a celebration that began with a proclamation from President Richard Nixon on August 2, 1971. For some people, clowns are a source of enjoyment and laughter. For others, they’re the thing that horror is made of. The following are quotes about clowns — the good, the bad, and the horrific.

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

2. “Writers are a little below clowns and a little above trained seals.” -John Steinbeck

3. “Be a clown, be a clown All the world loves a clown Show ’em tricks, tell ’em jokes And you’ll only stop with top folks.” -Cole Porter

4. “The child’s laughter is pure until he first laughs at a clown.” -Angela Carter

5. “The cleverest character in comedy is the clown, for he who would make people take him for a fool, must not be one.” -Miguel de Cervantes

6. “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

7. “I think we all have the urge to be a clown, whether we know it or not.” -Ernest Borgnine

8. “I had a friend who was a clown. When he died, all his friends went to the funeral in one car.” -Steven Wright 9. “‘Kill you all!’ The clown was laughing and screaming. ‘Try to stop me and I’ll kill you all! Drive you crazy and then kill you all! You can’t stop me!’” -Stephen King

10. “The role of a clown and a physician are the same, it’s to elevate the possible and to relieve suffering.” -Patch Adams

11. “‘Everyone hates clowns,’ Otis said. ‘Even other clowns hate clowns.’” -Rick Riordan

12. “Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am.” -Bob Dylan

13. “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

14. “The clown may be the source of mirth, but — who shall make the clown laugh?” -Angela Carter

15. “When fighting clowns, always go for the juggler.” -Rawi Hage 16. “Clowns work as well as aspirin, but twice as fast.” -Groucho Marx

17. “I am a clown…and I collect moments.” -Heinrich Böll

18. “I think of myself as an intelligent, sensitive human being with the soul of a clown, which always forces me to blow it at the most important moments.” -Jim Morrison 19. “He had no idea that people thought he was clowning. It was Fate, of course, which had costumed him — Fate, and a feeble will to survive.” -Kurt Vonnegut

20. “Though the clown is often deadpan, he is a connoisseur of laughter.” -Mel Gussow 21. “The art of the clown is more profound than we think. It is the comic mirror of tragedy, and the tragic mirror of comedy.” –Andre Suares

22. “The artist, like the idiot or clown, sits on the edge of the world, and a push may send him over it.” -Osbert Sitwell 23. “A clown’s makeup and character, that’s all he has to sell. He loves and believes in that character.” -Emmett Kelly 24. “Roses are red, Violets are blue. A clown killed a boy, and ate him up too.” -Tim Burton

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

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

27. “Nobody likes a clown at midnight.” -Stephen King

28. “Dare to wear the foolish clown face.” -Frank Sinatra 29. “‘What kind of funny?’ I asked her. ‘Funny like a clown onstage? Or funny like a clown hanging around the entrance to a bank?’” ‘The bank one.’” -Lemony Snicket

30. “We are the zanies of sorrow. We are clowns whose hearts are broken.” -Oscar Wilde 31. “The genius of clowning is transforming the little, everyday annoyances, not only overcoming, but actually transforming them into something strange and terrific, it is the power to extract mirth for millions out of nothing and less than nothing.” -Karl Adrien

32. “Let those that play your clowns speak no more than is set down for them.” -William Shakespeare

33. “The clown knows that life is cruel. The ancient jester’s motley coloured costume turned his usually melancholy expression into a joke. The clown is used to loss. Loss is his prologue.” -John Berger

34. “Never underestimate a clown with a book.” -Rawi Hage

35. “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 about, it’s about touching your soul and finally giving it room to laugh.” -Arina Issacson

36. “Is it true that cannibals don’t eat clowns because they taste funny?” -Steven Wright

37. “By blood a king, in heart a clown.” -Alfred Lord Tennyson 38. “Dalí is one marvellous painter, but in living times he’s one marvellous clown — more interesting for everybody.” -Salvador Dalí

39. “The clown waits for the river to run itself dry.” -Horace

40. “When the heroes go off stage, the clowns come on.” -Heinrich Heine

41. “A fire broke out backstage in a theatre. The clown came out to warn the public; they thought it was a joke and applauded. He repeated it; the acclaim was even greater. I think that’s just how the world will come to an end: to the general applause of wits who believe it’s a joke.” -Soren Kierkegaard

42. “It wouldn’t be right for me to clown around when I’m painting a president.” -Norman Rockwell 43. “‘Hey. You know what the shark said to the clown?’ ‘No.’ ‘You taste funny.’” -Ted Bell

44. “Once you are clown you can never go back. You know too much.” -Jango Edwards 45. “A clown enriched knows neither relation nor friend.” -Anonymous 46. “A Clown is an angel with a red nose.” -J.T. “Bubba” Sykes

47. “Clowns drink to blot out the ravages of terrifying children for a living.” -Douglas Coupland

48. “Despair is the constant companion of the clown.” -Angela Carter

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

50. “When fighting clowns, always go for the juggler.” -Darynda Jones

More from Kiki Wellington:

Sources:

Clown Quotes. A-Z Quotes. https://www.azquotes.com/quotes/topics/clown.html

Clown Quotes. BrainyQuote. https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/clown-quotes

Clown Quotes. Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/clown

Clown Quotes — Famous sayings by and about clowns. Famous Clowns. https://famousclowns.org/famous-clowns/clown-quotes-famous-sayings-clowns/

Clown Sayings and Quotes. Wise Sayings. https://www.wisesayings.com/clown-quotes/

Osborne, J. H. (2019, July 29). Have no fear: It’s almost National Clown Week. timesnews.net — Kingsport. https://www.timesnews.net/news/local-news/have-no-fear-it-s-almost-national-clown-week/article_93099840-0d8d-59d9-9e14-c23bc287d8c6.html