It was roughly three years and two months ago that we lost the most talented actor and comedian that the recent (and not so recent) movie screen has ever known. Robin Williams was an entertainer that everyone loved to watch. He had a way of showcasing all kinds of emotion. Whether he was making you pee your pants laughing or making you cry a river of tears, Mr. Williams always had his viewers at the edge of their seats. His unpredictable nature made his time here unforgettable for his fans around the globe. He had the power to make us feel, even though many of us never knew him personally. Here is a list of five of Robin's monologues that made us feel all of the emotions.
1. "Patch Adams"
"Well sir, I live with several people that come and go as they please and I offer them whatever help I can. … Everyone who comes to the ranch is a patient, yes. And every person who comes to the ranch is also a doctor. Every person who comes to the ranch is in need of some form of physical or mental help. They are patients. But also, every person who comes to the ranch is in charge of taking care of someone else, whether it’s cooking for them, cleaning them or even as simple a task as listening. That makes them doctors. I use that term broadly gentlemen but is not a doctor someone who helps someone else? When did the term “doctor” get treated with such reverence as, “oh! right this way Doctor Smith” or “excuse me Dr. Scholls, what wonderful foot pads” or “pardon me Dr. Patterson but your flatulence has no odour”. At what point in history did a doctor become something more than a trusted and learned friend who visited and treated the ill? Now you ask me if I’ve been practising medicine. Well if this means opening your door to those in need, those in pain, caring for them, listening to them, applying a cold cloth until a fever breaks, if this is practising medicine, if this is treating a patient, then I am guilty as charged sir. ...What’s wrong with death sir? What are we so mortally afraid of? Why can’t we treat death with a certain amount of humanity and dignity and decency and, god forbid, maybe even humour. Death is not the enemy gentlemen. If we’re going to fight a disease, let’s fight one of the most terrible diseases of all, indifference. Now I’ve sat in your schools and heard people lecture on transference and professional distance. Transference is inevitable sir. Every human being has an impact on another. Why don’t we want that in a patient-doctor relationship? That’s why I’ve listened to your teachings and I believe they’re wrong. A doctor’s mission should be not just to prevent death but also to improve the quality of life. That’s why, you treat a disease, you win you lose, you treat a person, I guarantee you win no matter what the outcome. Now here today, this room is full of medical students. [HE TURNS TO THE STUDENTS] Don’t let them anesthetist you. Don’t let them numb you out to the miracle of life. Always live in awe of the glorious mechanism of the human body. Let that be the focus of your studies and not a quest for grades which will give you no idea of what kind of doctor you’ll become. And don’t wait until you’re on the ward to get your humanity back. Start your interviewing skills now. Start talking to strangers, talk to your friends, talk to wrong numbers, talk to everyone. And cultivate friendship with those amazing people in the back of the room – nurses. They can teach you. They’ve been with people every day, they wade through blood and shit. They have a wealth of knowledge to share with you. And so do the professors you respect, the ones that are not dead from the heart up. Share their compassion. Let that be contagious. [HE TURNS BACK TO THE COMMITTEE] Sir, I want to be a doctor with all my heart. I wanted to become a doctor so I could serve others. And because of that, I’ve lost everything, but I’ve also gained everything. I’ve shared the lives of patients and staff members at the hospital, I’ve laughed with them, I’ve cried with them. This is what I want to do with my life. And, as God is my witness, no matter what you decide today sir, I will still become the best damn doctor the world has ever seen."
2. "Mrs. Doubtfire"
"‘Dear Mrs. Doubtfire, two months ago, my mom and dad decided to separate. Now they live in different houses. My brother Andrew says that we aren't to be a family anymore. Is this true? Did I lose my family? Is there anything I can do to get my parents back together? Sincerely, Katie McCormick.’ Oh, my dear Katie. You know, some parents, when they're angry, they get along much better when they don't live together. They don't fight all the time, and they can become better people, and much better mummies and daddies for you. And sometimes they get back together. And sometimes they don't, dear. And if they don't, don't blame yourself. Just because they don't love each other anymore, doesn't mean that they don't love you. There are all sorts of different families, Katie. Some families have one mommy, some families have one daddy or two families. And some children live with their uncle or aunt. Some live with their grandparents, and some children live with foster parents. And some live in separate homes, in separate neighborhoods, in different areas of the country - and they may not see each other for days, or weeks, months... even years at a time. But if there's love, dear... those are the ties that bind, and you'll have a family in your heart, forever. All my love to you, poppet, you're going to be all right... bye-bye.”
3. "Good Will Hunting"
“You're just a kid, you don't have the faintest idea what you're talkin' about. ...You've never been out of Boston. ... So if I asked you about art, you'd probably give me the skinny on every art book ever written. Michelangelo, you know a lot about him. Life's work, political aspirations, him and the pope, sexual orientations, the whole works, right? But I'll bet you can't tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You've never actually stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling; seen that. If I ask you about women, you'd probably give me a syllabus about your personal favorites. You may have even been laid a few times. But you can't tell me what it feels like to wake up next to a woman and feel truly happy. You're a tough kid. And I'd ask you about war, you'd probably throw Shakespeare at me, right, "once more unto the breach dear friends." But you've never been near one. You've never held your best friend's head in your lap, watch him gasp his last breath looking to you for help. I'd ask you about love, you'd probably quote me a sonnet. But you've never looked at a woman and been totally vulnerable. Known someone that could level you with her eyes, feeling like God put an angel on earth just for you. Who could rescue you from the depths of hell. And you wouldn't know what it's like to be her angel, to have that love for her, be there forever, through anything, through cancer. And you wouldn't know about sleeping sitting up in the hospital room for two months, holding her hand, because the doctors could see in your eyes, that the terms "visiting hours" don't apply to you. You don't know about real loss, 'cause it only occurs when you've loved something more than you love yourself. And I doubt you've ever dared to love anybody that much. And look at you... I don't see an intelligent, confident man... I see a cocky, scared shitless kid. But you're a genius, Will. No one denies that. No one could possibly understand the depths of you. But you presume to know everything about me because you saw a painting of mine, and you ripped my fucking life apart. You're an orphan, right? You think I know the first thing about how hard your life has been, how you feel, who you are because I read Oliver Twist? Does that encapsulate you? Personally... I don't give a shit about all that, because you know what, I can't learn anything from you, I can't read in some f*ckin' book. Unless you want to talk about you, who you are. Then I'm fascinated. I'm in. But you don't want to do that do you sport? You're terrified of what you might say. Your move, chief.”
4. "Jack"
“I don't have very much time these days so I'll make it quick. Like my life. You know, as we come to the end of this phase of our life, we find ourselves trying to remember the good times and trying to forget the bad times, and we find ourselves thinking about the future. We start to worry, thinking, "What am I gonna do? Where am I gonna be in ten years?" But I say to you, "Hey, look at me!" Please, don't worry so much. Because in the end, none of us have very long on this Earth. Life is fleeting. And if you're ever distressed, cast your eyes to the summer sky when the stars are strung across the velvety night. And when a shooting star streaks through the blackness, turning night into day... make a wish and think of me. Make your life spectacular. I know I did. I made it, Mom. I'm a grown-up.”
5. "Dead Poets Society"
“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. To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?" Answer. That you are here - that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?”