Patch Adams
Patch Adams
Hunter Doherty "Patch" Adamsis an American physician, comedian, social activist, clown, and author. He founded the Gesundheit! Institute in 1971. Each year he organizes a group of volunteers from around the world to travel to various countries where they dress as clowns in an effort to bring humor to orphans, patients, and other people...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAuthor
Date of Birth28 May 1945
CountryUnited States of America
architect decided
I make me. At 18, I decided I wasn't going to have an unconstructed self ever. I was going to be the composer, the designer, the architect of me. It's been really fun.
change compassion extinct money power society worships
If we don't change from a world society that worships money and power to one that worships compassion and generosity, I think we'll be extinct by mid-century. I don't say that as an alarmist or as a pessimist.
act clothes hold house intention left loving pants putting simply
When you left the house today, you had the intention of putting clothes on and you did. You didn't try to put your pants on today. You simply put them on. The same has to hold for all of our intentions. We don't try to be more loving partners. We make the intention, and we act on it.
colorful feeling health interested moving needing people public smile society walking
I'm a clown, which could be a public health role. I'm really interested in moving our society away from a society needing Xanax and Prozac, and that is really feeling depressed, to one that is celebrating, and so I find just walking around in colorful clothes, people smile.
love
I'm looking for a world where love will no longer be extraordinary.
assumes clown clowning contact hug love people percent second trauma trick whatever
Clowning is a trick to get love close. I can hug 99 percent of people in the first second of contact if I'm in my clown character. The clown assumes your humanity. It assumes that, whatever trauma you've had, you can still love yourself.
belonged owed
they owed something; we wanted them to feel they belonged to something.
engaging giving instantly people reason sad
They had every reason to be sad and angry, yet people were instantly friendly, engaging and giving.
bring harmony work
My work is to end violence, and to bring harmony to people,
people want stuff
People like givers, people want to help givers. I get stuff all the time.
kids giving messages
All the messages our kids are getting is money-taking, not giving.
helping-others giving people
We have to end the capitalist system. We have to make love our value. You are rich when you love and you are rich when you are giving away your time and what you have to help other people.
spiritual political rage
I'm a raging leftist political activist. I've never had a spiritual thought in my life related to God. I'm clear that that's a human invention.
encouragement writing healthy
No one ever writes me and says, 'We have a happy hospital'. Nowhere is doing it in a healthy way. That's encouragement for me.