April Fools' Day is on Wednesday, April 1, this year. Whether you love it or hate it, it's the one day of the year where playing tricks on family, friends and coworkers is not only permitted, it's encouraged.
Why do we feel compelled to pull pranks on our loved ones and colleagues on April 1? The exact origin of April Fools' remains a bit of a mystery. Still, the tradition of fooling others for the sake of a few laughs dates can be traced as far back as the 1500s, which means regardless of how it began, people have been engaged in tomfoolery for centuries.
In the spirit of hijinks, find a collection of April Fools' quotes below to use as needed this April Fools' Day.
Among them you'll discover amusing sayings from the likes of Albert Einstein who once said, “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe,” along with the wise words of Abraham Lincoln who memorably quipped, “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool at the people all the time.”
Post these funny quotes on Instagram or text them to friends and family in honor of the April holiday. Either way, you're sure to enjoy these April Fools' quotes and we promise, that's no joke.
Funny April Fools' Quotes
- “I don’t mind making jokes, but I don’t want to look like one.” — Marilyn Monroe
- “Be afraid. Be very afraid.” — Veronica Quaife, “The Fly”
- “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the dumbest of you all?” — Anne Robinson
- “One who is easily cajoled by merriments and celebration is prone to being fooled.” — Ajagbe Ayodeji
- “Deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance.” — Oscar Wilde
- “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.” —Richard Feynman
- “A fool and his words are soon parted.” — William Shenstone
- “The gods too are fond of a joke.” — Aristotle
- “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was Gotcha!” — Attila the Stockbroker
- “Most of the evil in this world is done by people with good intentions.” — T.S. Eliot
- “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.” — William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”
- “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” — Italian proverb
- “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.” — Albert Einstein
- “May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house.” — George Carlin
- “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool at the people all the time.” — Abraham Lincoln
- “The fool knows after he’s suffered.” —Hesiod
- “The truest way to be deceived is to think oneself more knowing than others.” — François de La Rochefoucauld, “Maxims”
- “If you tell a big enough life and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” — Walter Langer
- “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” — George Orwell, “1984”
- “Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it.” — Henry David Thoreau
- “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” — Alexander Pope, “An Essay on Criticism”
- “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” — Soren Kierkegaard
- “Confidence comes from being prepared.” — John Wooden
- “Fool me once, strike one. Fool me twice, strike three.” — Michael Scott, “The Office”
- “The fools among us are presented to be wise, and the wise among us are presented to be fools” — Santosh Kalwar
- “No man can tame a predator by acting like prey.” — Tamerlan Kuzgov
- “Fools make feasts, and wise men eat them.” — Benjamin Franklin
- “The man who says his wife can’t take a joke, forgets that she took him.” — Oscar Wilde
- “Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools that don’t have brains enough to be honest.” — Benjamin Franklin
- “To every rule there is an exception — and an idiot ready to demonstrate it. Don’t be the one!” — Vera Nazarian, “The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration”
- “There are more fools in the world than there are people.” — Heinrich Heine
- “If we act like prey, they’ll act like predators.” — Alyxandra Harvey, “My Love Lies Bleeding”
- “All the world loves a clown.” — Cole Porter
- “If you’re good, you’re always looking over your shoulder.” — Bruce Springsteen
- “No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness.” — Mary Wollstonecraft
- “What have you done when you have bested a fool?” — Charles Portis, “True Grit”
- “I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
- “On stupidity — There is no such thing as a foolproof plan. If there are fools about, no plan is proof against them.” — Marsha Hinds
- “For every smart person, there is a fool.” — Tamerlan Kuzgov
- “A deception that elevates us is dearer than a host of low truths.” — Aleksander Pushkin
Short April Fools' Day Quotes
- “The suspense is terrible. I hope it’ll last.” — Willy Wonka, “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory”
- “Do I regret it? Yes. Would I do it again? Probably.” — Nick Miller, “New Girl”
- “Don’t be so humble — you are not that great.” ― Golda Meir
- “Life is worth living as long as there’s a laugh in it.” ― Lucy Maud Montgomery, “Anne of Green Gables”
- “All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure.” ― Mark Twain
- “I love inside jokes. I’d love to be a part of one someday.” — Michael Scott
- “So you’ve been burned a couple times. Um, have we met? I’ve been burned so many times I’m like the human equivalent of the inside of a roasted marshmallow.” — David Rose, “Schitt’s Creek”
- “Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.” — Elbert Hubbard
- “Humanity is a parade of fools, and I am at the front of it, twirling a baton.” ― Dean Koontz
- “Accept who you are. Unless you’re a serial killer.” — Ellen DeGeneres, “Seriously ... I’m Kidding”
- “Never trust people who smile constantly. They’re either selling something or not very bright.” — Laurell Hamilton, “Burnt Offerings”
- “I’ve had great success being a total idiot.” — Jerry Lewis
- “He who laughs last ... just didn’t get the joke.” ― Carroll Bryant
- “There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.” ― Charles Dickens, “A Christmas Carol”
- “I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints.” Billy Joel, “Only the Good Die Young”
