Last updated on March 23rd, 2022 at 11:51 am
Photograph by โOpenClipart-Vectorsโ (2013) , pixabay
Charles Chaplin (Born in London, England, on April 16th, 1889) was a comedic British actor who became one of the biggest stars of the 20th centuryโs silent-film era.
Beginning his career as a childrenโs dance troupe before making his mark on the big screen, he became famous for his characters portrayed in, โThe Tramp,โ โthe sweet little man with a bowler hatโ, โmustacheโ and โcaneโ.
Today at Turtlequote.com we take a look at our top 55 Charlie Chaplin quotes about life, politics and film.
Charlie Chaplin Famous Quotes
โLife is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.โ
Charlie Chaplin Quotes โ As quoted in his obituary in The Guardian (28 December 1977)
โHynkel, the dictator, ruled the nation with an iron fist. Under the new emblem of the double cross, liberty was banished, free speech was suppressed and only the voice of Hynkel was heard.โ
Narrator โ The Great Dictator (1940)
โI am not religious in the dogmatic sense โฆ I neither believe nor disbelieve in anything.โ
My Autobiography (1964), p. 287
โI am not religious in the dramatic senseโฆ I neither believe nor disbelieve in anything.โ
ย ย ย ย ย โAll I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl. โ
My Autobiography (1964), Ch. 10
ย ย ย ย ย โLaughter is the tonic, the relief, the surcease for pain.โ
Chaplin (1951)
โThe hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people.โ
The Great Dictator (1940 film)
โYouโll find that life is still worthwhile, if you just smile.โ
Charlie Chaplin
โWhere words leave off, gesture begins. Donโt we speak of a person being speechless with rage, dancing with impatience, setting his teeth? The final motions of the soul are speechless, animal, grotesque, or of an incomparable beauty.โ
Charlie Chaplin: Interviews (ed. 2005)
ย ย ย ย ย โAs for politics, Iโm an anarchist. I hate governments and rules and fetters. Canโt stand caged animals. People must be free.โ
Charlie Chaplin: Interviews (ed. 2005)
ย ย ย ย ย โI am known in parts of the world by people who have never heard of Jesus Christ.โ
From Lita Grey Chaplin, My Life with Chaplin (1966)
โThe object of art is to intensify feeling, color or sound.โ
From โA Comedian Sees the Worldโ
โA tramp, a gentleman, a poet, a dreamer, a lonely fellow, always hopeful of romance and adventure.โ
My Autobiography (1964), ch. 10
โI thought I would dress in baggy pants, big shoes, a cane and a derby hatโฆ. Everything a contradiction: the pants baggy, the coat tight, the hat small and the shoes large.โ
Charlie Chaplin Quotes โ My Autobiography (1964)
โLaughter is the tonic, the relief, the surcease for pain.โ
Spectacular Charlie Chaplin Quotes
โI remain just one thing, and one thing only โ and that is a clown. It places me on a far higher plane than any politician.โ
Charlie Chaplin Quotes โ As quoted in The Observer (17 June 1960)
โI always try to do the unexpected in a novel way.โ
โWhat People Laugh Atโ, American Magazine, November 1918ย
โI am what I am: an individual, unique and different, with a lineal history of an ancestral promptings and urgings, a history of dreams, desires, and of special experiences, of all of which I am the sum total.โ
My Autobiography (p. 271 Simon and Schuster 1964 edition)
โWords are cheap. The biggest thing you can say is โelephantโ.โ
B. Norman The Movie Greats (1981)
โI hate the talkies and will not produce talking filmsโฆ. I cannot conceive of my films as other than silent. My shadow appears on the screen as in a dream, and dreams do not speak.โ
Theatre Arts Monthly [November 1930]
โI 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.โ
My Autobiography (1964)
โLook up to the sky. Youโll never find rainbows If youโre looking down.โ
โSwing High Little Girlโ, opening song written and sung by Chaplin for the 1969 re-release of The Circus (1928)
โIn this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.โ
Charlie Chaplin Quotes โ The Great Dictator (1940)
โWords are cheap. The biggest thing you can say is โelephantโ.โ
Charlie Chaplin Quotes on life
โThe saddest thing I can imagine is to get used to luxury.โ
Charlie Chaplin Quotes โ My Autobiography (1964) ch. 22
โThis is a story of a period between two World Wars โ an interim in which insanity cut loose. Liberty took a nose dive, and humanity was kicked around somewhat.โ
Opening placard โ The Great Dictator (1940)
โI hope we shall abolish war and settle all differences at the conference tableโฆ I hope we shall abolish all hydrogen and atom bombs before they abolish us first.โ
In response to journalist for his views on the future of mankind at his 70th birthday (16 April 1959)
โSimplicity is a difficult thing to achieve.โ
From an interview with Richard Meryman, 1966
โLife 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.โ
Charlie Chaplin
โLife can be wonderful if youโre not afraid of it. All it needs is courage, imagination โฆ and a little dough.โ
Calvero (Charles Chaplin) says this to Terry (Claire Bloom) inย Limelightย (1952)
โThe basic essential of a great actor is that he loves himself in acting.โ
My Autobiography (1964) ch. 16
ย โImagination means nothing without doing.โย
From Chaplinโs manuscript notes
โI am an individual and a believer in liberty.โ
In response to journalists for comments on United States Attorney-Generalโs announcement to revoke his re-entry visa, September 23, 1952ย
โWe think too much and feel too little.โ
From Chaplinโsย final speechย in The Great Dictator.
โNothing is permanent in this wicked world โ not even our troubles.โ
From a scene inย Monsieur Verdoux.
โIf youโre really truthful with yourself, itโs a wonderful guidance.โ
From 1966 interview with Richard Meryman
โI suppose thatโs one of the ironies of life โ doing the wrong thing at the right moment.โ
Charlie Chaplin Quotes โ From a scene inย Monsieur Verdoux.
โThe basic essential of a great actor is that he loves himself in acting.โ
Inspiring Charlie Chaplin Quotes
โThe deeper the truth in a creative work, the longer it will live.โ
Charlie Chaplin Quotes โ From Chaplinโs manuscript notes
โWhat do you want a meaning for? Life is a desire, not a meaning!โ
From a scene inย Limelight
โTo truly laugh, you must be able to take your pain, and play with it!โ
Charlie Chaplin
โOne murder makes a villain, millions a hero. Numbers sanctify.โ
Henri Verdoux says this to a reporter before being led to the guillotine inย Monsieur Verdoux
โWe all want to help one another. Human beings are like that.โ
From Chaplinโsย final speechย in The Great Dictator.
โI am at peace with God. My conflict is with man.โ
From a scene inย Monsieur Verdoux
โBeauty is the spirit of all things, an exaltation, a psalm of life and death, of good and evil, of vileness and purity, of joy and pain, of hate and love.โ
From Chaplinโs manuscript notes (โThoughts and Ideas.โ June 2, 1955. ch00372002)
โI hope that the entertainment I give has some lasting effect on people. I hope they see the beauty that I myself am seeking. I am trying to express a beauty that embraces not only physical characteristics and scenes, but the true fundamental emotions of humanity. Beauty. Beauty is what I am after.โ
From โA Window in the New Worldโ, Toronto Star Weekly, May 14, 1921
โToo much kindness and respect are given to the unseen and not enough to humanity. It seems that in our nature we loathe each other and bestow our respect and love on the abstract.โ
From Chaplinโs manuscript notes
โLife could be wonderful if people would leave you alone.โ
To the barber, while being shaved by him. โ The Great Dictator (1940)
โThat which is apparent ends. That which is subtle is never-ending.โ
From Chaplinโs manuscript notes
โA manโs true character comes out when heโs drunk.โ
Calvero (Charles Chaplin) to Terry (Claire Bloom) after she finds him drunk with friends in Limelight (1952 )
โA man is what a woman makes him and a woman makes herself.โ
From Chaplinโs manuscript notes
โThe World cannot be wrong if in this world thereโs you.โ
From โThis is My Song โ. Music and lyrics by Charles Chaplin for The Countess from Hong Kong
โRestraint is a great word, not only for actors but for everybody to remember.โ
From โWhat People Laugh Atโ, American Magazine, November 1918
โOne cannot do humour without a great sympathy for oneโs fellow man.โ
Charlie Chaplin Quotes โ โAgeless Masterโs Anatomy of Comedy: Chaplin, An Interviewโ, interview with Richard Meryman, Life Magazine, March 10, 1967
โLife can be wonderful if you โre not afraid of it. All it needs is courage, imaginationโฆ and a little dough.โ
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