Here are 10 of the most insightful quotes attributed to Robin Williams, and the logic behind them.
1. On Faith and Meaning
My God, what am I doing here? It's weird. How do you get to the Met? Money! Lots and lots of money! I can imagine Pavarotti next door at the improv going, Two Jews walk into a bar...
The Meaning: This line from Robin Williams compresses a lived tension into a single readable moment. Read it slowly: it is not asking you to agree, but to notice where the same pattern shows up in your own life. If you take it seriously, it becomes a test—what would you change if this were reliably true for you?
2. On Fear and Courage
Now, you can't even carry a nail-clipper on a plane. Are they afraid you're gonna go ALL RIGHT! Gimme the plane or the bitch loses a cuticle! I have a nail file! I can be irritating!
The Meaning: This separates fear from paralysis. Fear can be accurate information; the failure mode is when it becomes your only information. The point is to act with fear present, not to wait until fear disappears.
3. On Learning
Cheney shot a man in the face hunting quail. I don't know about East coast quail, but California quail are this fucking big. (indicates a position about a foot above the stage floor)
The Meaning: Knowledge is framed as something that changes behavior, not something you collect like trophies. If a sentence is true but does not shift what you notice or do, it has not finished its work.
4. On Perspective
When I was growing up they used to say, Robin, drugs can kill you. Now that I'm 58 my doctor's telling me, Robin, you need drugs to live. I realize now that my doctor is also my dealer...
The Meaning: This line from Robin Williams compresses a lived tension into a single readable moment. Read it slowly: it is not asking you to agree, but to notice where the same pattern shows up in your own life. If you take it seriously, it becomes a test—what would you change if this were reliably true for you?
5. On Learning
Because I know this: I know that we may all be dead and gone. Keith will still be there with five cockroaches. Keith'll go You know I smoked your uncle, did you know that? Fucking crazy...
The Meaning: Knowledge is framed as something that changes behavior, not something you collect like trophies. If a sentence is true but does not shift what you notice or do, it has not finished its work.
6. On Learning
And I know many of you are looking for Sarah Palin's new book, it is a bitch to find. Good luck. I found it somewhere between fiction and nonfiction, in the fantasy aisle.
The Meaning: Knowledge is framed as something that changes behavior, not something you collect like trophies. If a sentence is true but does not shift what you notice or do, it has not finished its work.
7. On Time
[talking to woman in audience about newcomers] That's your old boss? Did you fuck him? [loud laugher] Sorry. Okay. Not an inappropriate question to ask in Washington.
The Meaning: This line from Robin Williams compresses a lived tension into a single readable moment. Read it slowly: it is not asking you to agree, but to notice where the same pattern shows up in your own life. If you take it seriously, it becomes a test—what would you change if this were reliably true for you?
8. On Action
There is one man that we can run for office that even the French would say Fuck off! That man... is Jack Nicholson. Yes! You will never have a sex scandal with Jack because he has fucked everyone!
The Meaning: This line from Robin Williams compresses a lived tension into a single readable moment. Read it slowly: it is not asking you to agree, but to notice where the same pattern shows up in your own life. If you take it seriously, it becomes a test—what would you change if this were reliably true for you?
9. On Truth
Now, Michael Jackson is claiming racism. I'm going, Honey, you gotta pick a race first. Baby, what are you claiming, mistreatment of elves? What are you saying?
The Meaning: This line from Robin Williams compresses a lived tension into a single readable moment. Read it slowly: it is not asking you to agree, but to notice where the same pattern shows up in your own life. If you take it seriously, it becomes a test—what would you change if this were reliably true for you?
10. On Love and Devotion
[Imitating a Frenchman] Fuck all of you! You cultureless, crass Americans! We hate all of you! Fu—the Germans are here! Hello, Americans! I love you!
The Meaning: This line treats emotion as something that steers decisions more than arguments do. The meaning is practical: if you ignore what you feel, you may still act—but often on autopilot. Naming the feeling is the first step toward choosing it, rather than being dragged by it.
