Charlie Chaplin (full name: Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr.) was born in London, England, on April 16, 1889. He was a filmmaker, actor, and composer, and rose to greatness and fame during the silent film era. In this article, we bring you some of the best Charlie Chaplin quotes over the course of history.
Charlie Chaplin became famous all over the world, and to this day he is considered an important figure and persona in the movie industry. He began performing when he was a young boy, and later on became a stage actor and a comedian. When Chaplin was 19 years old, Fred Karno company signed him and he moved to America.
Chaplin quickly developed the Tramp persona and started gathering a huge following for it. He directed his films and by the year 1918, he was one of the most famous people worldwide, as almost everyone knew who Charlie Chaplin was.
In 1919, Chaplin co-founded United Artists and some of his most known films are: The Kid (1921), A Woman in Paris (1923), The Gold Rush (1925), The Circus (1928), City lights (1931), The Great Dictator (1940), and others. In later years and movies from the 1940s and 1950s, he decided to quit with the Tramp persona.
Chaplin was a perfectionist, which is why he produced, edited, directed and starred in his own movies and all by himself. In 1972, he received an Honorary Academy Award for “the incalculable effect he has had in making motion pictures the art form of this century.”
On December 25, 1977, Charlie Chaplin died at the age of 88 after suffering a stroke while asleep at his home.
Here is a sneak peek at the quotes in this article:
Table of Contents
- Charlie Chaplin Quotes on Life
- Charlie Chaplin Quotes on Love
- Charlie Chaplin Quotes on Pain
- Charlie Chaplin Quotes on Laughter
- Interesting Facts about Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin Quotes on Life
Life can be wonderful if you’re not afraid of it. All it needs is courage, imagination… and a little dough.
Simplicity is a difficult thing to achieve.
Life is a beautiful magnificent thing, even to a jellyfish.
Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.
Time is the best author. It always writes the perfect ending.
Life could be wonderful if people would leave you alone.
You’ll never find a rainbow if you’re looking down.
Let us strive for the impossible. The great achievements throughout history have been the conquest of what seemed the impossible.
I feel I am privileged to express a hope. The hope is this: that we shall have peace throughout the world, that we shall abolish wars and settle all international differences at the conference table, that we shall abolish all atom and hydrogen bombs before they abolish us. The future of the modern world demands modern thinking. Therefore, let us use the full force of our intelligence instead of obsolete homicidal methods in settling our international differences.
A man’s true character comes out when he’s drunk.
If you’re really truthful with yourself, it’s a wonderful guidance.
Nothing is permanent in this wicked world, not even our troubles.
We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity; more than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.
In the light of our egos, we are all dethroned monarchs.
We no longer need to fear arguments, confrontations or any kind of problems with ourselves or others. Even stars collide, and out of their crashing new worlds are born. Today I know ‘That is life’!
Like everyone else I am what I am: an individual, unique and different, with a lineal history of ancestral promptings and urgings; a history of dreams, desires, and of special experiences, all of which I am the sum total.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself.
The deeper the truth in a creative work, the longer it will live.
What do you want a meaning for? Life is a desire, not a meaning.
There are more valid facts and details in works of art than there are in history books.
Worry more about your conscience than your reputation. Because your conscience is what you are, your reputation is what others think of you. And what others think of you is their problem.
I suppose that’s one of the ironies of life doing the wrong thing at the right moment.
Life is a play that does not allow testing. So, sing, cry, dance, laugh and live intensely, before the curtain closes and the piece ends with no applause.
The way of life can be free and beautiful. But we have lost the way.
The saddest thing I can imagine is to get used to luxury.
That’s the trouble with the world. We all despise ourselves.
Think about yourself at least once in your life otherwise you may miss the best comedy in this world.
To help a friend in need is easy, but to give him your time is not always opportune.
Despair is a narcotic. It lulls the mind into indifference.
Imagination means nothing without doing.
I do not need drugs to be a genius, do not take a genius to be human, but I need your smile to be happy.
Man as an individual is a genius. But men in the mass form the headless monster, a great, brutish idiot that goes where prodded.
The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.
Remember, you can always stoop and pick up nothing.
I am at peace with God. My conflict is with Man.
We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness, not by each other’s misery.
I have no further use for America. I wouldn’t go back there if Jesus Christ was President.
I don’t think the real America is in New York or on the Pacific Coast; personally, I like the Middle West much better, places like North and South Dakota, Minneapolis and Saint Paul. There, I think, are the true Americans.
I went into the business for the money, and the art grew out of it. If people are disillusioned by that remark, I can’t help it. It’s the truth.
Tomorrow the birds will sing. Be brave. Face life.
If people know how it’s done, all the magic goes.
I do not have much patience with a thing of beauty that must be explained to be understood. If it does need additional interpretation by someone other than the creator, then I question whether it has fulfilled its purpose.
I’d sooner be called a successful crook than a destitute monarch.
Who feeds a hungry animal feeds his own soul.
Dictators free themselves, but they enslave the people.
Actors search for rejection. If they don’t get it, they reject themselves.
We might as well die as to go on living like this.
Simplicity is not a simple thing.
I neither believe nor disbelieve in anything. That which can be imagined is as much an approximation to truth as that which can be proved by mathematics.
That’s all any of us are: amateurs. We don’t live long enough to be anything else.
From such trivia, I believe my soul was born.
By simple common sense I don’t believe in God, in none.
I am not a political man and I have no political convictions. I am an individual and a believer in liberty. That is all the politics I have.
Movies are a fad. Audiences really want to see live actors on a stage.
My only enemy is time.
I don’t believe that the public knows what it wants; this is the conclusion that I have drawn from my career.
Charlie Chaplin Quotes on Love
Perfect love is the most beautiful of all frustrations because it is more than one can express.
Love is life on a higher plain of existence, working through man to unite the forces of nature into a perfect whole. It is the merging force binding every element in existence into a perfect whole.
Only the unloved hate. The unloved and the unnatural.
Your naked body should only belong to those who fall in love with your naked soul.
You need power only when you want to do something harmful, otherwise love is enough to get everything done.
A tramp, a gentleman, a poet, a dreamer, a lonely fellow, always hopeful of romance and adventure.
Charlie Chaplin Quotes on Pain
My pain may be the reason for somebody’s laugh. But my laugh must never be the reason for somebody’s pain.
I always like walking in the rain, so no one can see me crying.
The mirror is my best friend because when I cry it never laughs.
To truly laugh, you must be able to take your pain, and play with it!
Although some we rarely see, the thought of them is comforting, like the pleasure of knowing there is a mooring somewhere, if occasionally we want to sail into port.
Smile, though your heart is aching. Smile, even though it’s breaking.
As I began to love myself I recognized that my mind can disturb me and it can make me sick. But as I connected it to my heart, my mind became a valuable ally. Today I call this connection wisdom of the heart.
Charlie Chaplin Quotes on Laughter
All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl.
In the end, everything is a gag.
A day without laughter is a day wasted.
Laughter is the tonic, the relief, the surcease for pain.
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.
I thought I would dress in baggy pants, big shoes, a cane and a derby hat. everything a contradiction: the pants baggy, the coat tight, the hat small and the shoes large.
What a sad business, being funny.
I had no idea of the character. But the moment I was dressed, the clothes and the make-up made me feel the person he was. I began to know him, and by the time I walked onto the stage he was fully born.
What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul.
That is why, no matter how desperate the predicament is, I am always very much in earnest about clutching my cane, straightening my derby hat and fixing my tie, even though I have just landed on my head.
I believe in the power of laughter and tears as an antidote to hatred and terror.
Anyone can make them cry, but it takes a genius to make them laugh.
You’ll find that life is still worthwhile, if you just smile.
I have many problems in my life. But my lips don’t know that. They always smile.
We must laugh in the face of our helplessness against the forces of nature, or go insane.
Interesting Facts about Charlie Chaplin
After these cleaver, emotional and inspiring quotes from one of the greatest performers and actors in history, it’s time to learn some interesting facts about Charlie Chaplin.
- Charlie Chaplin was a Perfectionist – This is something I’ve mentioned earlier. Charlie Chaplin used to do everything himself. Edit, produce, direct, and act. Here’s an example for you: When Chaplin worked on his film “The Immigrant”, he shot a staggering amount of 40,000 feet of film! And we are talking about a film that is only 20-minutes long. Another example? You got it. In the film City Lights, Chaplin cast Virginia Cherrill to say only two words (“Flower, sir”). Sounds simple enough, right? Only he made her do it 342 times or takes! That’s how of a perfectionist Charlie Chaplin was.
- Accepting The Oscar in Person – Charlie Chaplin wasn’t so much of an American patriot, or so he wasn’t conceived as one. And so, in 1952 he travelled to London for the premiere of his film (Limelight), but was denied to re-enter The States. He then decided to move his family to Switzerland and swore he would never return to Hollywood. However, in 1972 at the age of 82, Chaplin was honoured with an honorary Oscar and received it in person to a standing ovation.
- There’s a Planet Named After Him – Russian astronomer Lyudmila Georgievna Karachkina had discovered more than 100 minor planets. And so, in 1981 she decided to name one of these planets 3623 Chaplin, after the great Charlie Chaplin.
- His Home in Switzerland is Now a Museum – His old home in Switzerland was transformed into a museum, and on April 16, 2016, it was officially opened. In the first year of its operation, approximately 300,000 people visited the museum. In the property and the estate there’s also a studio and there his movies are being played. There are also figures made of wax, recreations of some of his film set pieces, and even a restaurant that is named after the persona he had made up, The Tramp.
- His Body was Held for Ransom Purposes – Believe it or not, but Charlie Chaplin’s body was stolen from his grave and held for the purposes of ransom. On March 2, 1978, Chaplin’s widow got a call from the police who informed her that someone had dug his grave and stole his body. The men who did this demanded $600,000 for the return of Chaplin’s body. His widow was smart, as she tapped the phone lines which led the police to two people (Gantscho Ganev and Roman Wardas). They confessed for their crime and led authorities to Chaplin’s body. For their actions, the two spent time in jail, yet did write to Chaplin’s widow saying that they were sorry. She even forgave them.
For more inspirational quotes from famous creators, please check out our articles on Neil Gaiman quotes, Prince quotes, and Jane Austen quotes.