Robin Williams
Late presenter Robin Williams speaks during the 35th Annual People's Choice Awards held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, Jan. 7, 2009. Getty Images

Friday would have been Robin Williams' 66th birthday. The late, great actor, and comedian born July 21, 1951, in Chicago, enjoyed a hugely successful career before he killed himself on Aug. 11, 2014. He had been suffering from dementia and Parkinson's disease. Williams was critically acclaimed and well known for his performances in movies like "Mrs. Doubtfire," "Good Will Hunting," "Aladdin," "Dead Poets Society" and more.

He also acted in TV shows like "Mork and Mindy" and released a number of comedy albums as well during his fruitful career in the industry.

Read: Robin Williams Plays A Talking Dog In 'Absolutely Anything' Trailer; Movie Is Actor's Last Big-Screen Comedy [VIDEO]

Williams, both while acting and not, was known for his eloquence and witty nature. On the comedy legend's birthday, here are 12 inspiring quotes by him and his movie characters, collected from BrainyQuote, Goodmorningquote and Business Insider:

  • "There is still a lot to learn and there is always great stuff out there."
  • "I believe in destiny. There must be a reason that I am as I am. There must be."
  • "Sometimes over things that I did, movies that didn't turn out very well - you go, 'Why did you do that?' But in the end, I can't regret them because I met amazing people. There was always something that was worth it."
  • "I think the saddest people always try their hardest to make people happy. Because they know what it’s like to feel absolutely worthless and they don’t want anybody else to feel like that."
  • "I write on big yellow legal pads - ideas in outline form when I'm doing stand-up and stuff. It's vivid that way. I can't type it into an iPad - I think that would put a filter into the process."

Read: Robin Williams Family Feud: Wife, Children Yet To Reach Agreement Over Late Actor's Estate

  • "I always thought the idea of education was to learn to think for yourself."
  • "My mother's idea of natural childbirth was giving birth without makeup. She was hyper-positive - the world is a wonderful place, rainbows, and unicorns. If you said anything contrary to her, you were basically exiled."
  • "For me, comedy starts as a spew, a kind of explosion, and then you sculpt it from there, if at all. It comes out of a deeper, darker side. Maybe it comes from anger because I'm outraged by cruel absurdities, the hypocrisy that exists everywhere, even within yourself, where it's hardest to see."
  • "Cricket is basically baseball on valium."
  • "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."
  • "Sometimes you got to specifically go out of your way to get into trouble. It's called fun."
  • "The only weapon we have is comedy."
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