--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm not a clown but I'm not an academic…" description: "\"I'm not a clown but I'm not an academic either.\" — Tom Verlaine" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdb/tom-verlaine-12733_academic_i-m-not-a-clown-but-i-m-not-an-academic_2397176.jpg" --- # I'm not a clown but I'm not an academic either. ![“I'm not a clown but I'm not an academic either.” quote by Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdb/tom-verlaine-12733_academic_i-m-not-a-clown-but-i-m-not-an-academic_2397176.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdb/tom-verlaine-12733_academic_i-m-not-a-clown-but-i-m-not-an-academic_2397176.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdb/tom-verlaine-12733_academic_i-m-not-a-clown-but-i-m-not-an-academic_2397176.jpg) > “I'm not a clown but I'm not an academic either.” [Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker distinguishes themselves from both clowns and academics, implying a unique identity. **In simple terms:** Not a clown nor an academic; they are something else. Key Takeaway Embrace a distinct personal identity. Themes identity nonconformity self‑definition Mood playful introspective Type personal artistic When to use this quote - creative work - public persona - career choices Key Concepts philosophy artistic expression Questions to Reflect On - How do you define your own role? - What does rejecting both labels achieve? A Different Perspective The phrasing is ambiguous and may be humorous. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Academic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/academic/) [Clown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clown/) [Clown Academic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clown-academic-5991278/) ## Related quotes > [You know lots of criticism is written by characters who are very academic and think it is a sign you are worthless if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/you-know-lots-of-criticism-is-written-by-characters-who-are-very/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Is that love? It seems like a pale word, too easily tossed about by people who don’t know the meaning of it, who twist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-aguirre/is-that-love-it-seems-like-a-pale-word-too-easily-tossed-about-by/) [Ann Aguirre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-aguirre/) > [I had a dream that a clown named dimples keep leaving the radio on in my room](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-had-a-dream-that-a-clown-named-dimples-keep-leaving-the-radio-on-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If i'm gonna be described as a clown for my actions, I might aswell be a whole circus”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bee/if-i-m-gonna-be-described-as-a-clown-for-my-actions-i-might-aswell-be/) [Bee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bee/) > [Writing is for men who can think and feel, not mindless sensation seekers out of nightclubs and bars. But these are bad times. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naguib-mahfouz/writing-is-for-men-who-can-think-and-feel-not-mindless-sensation/) [Naguib Mahfouz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naguib-mahfouz/) > [When I first started getting into acting, I was doing improv in acting class, and I had done a serious monologue and everyone was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miles-teller/when-i-first-started-getting-into-acting-i-was-doing-improv-in-acting/) [Miles Teller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miles-teller/) > [Circus clown. That's a new one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/circus-clown-that-s-a-new-one/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You see, this heart, won't settle down; just like a child, running, scared, from a clown. Demi Lovato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demi-lovato/you-see-this-heart-won-t-settle-down-just-like-a-child-running-scared/) [Demi Lovato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demi-lovato/) > [You know, I was the class clown in Catholic school, but I never thought I would make a living out of it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sofia-vergara/you-know-i-was-the-class-clown-in-catholic-school-but-i-never-thought/) [Sofia Vergara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sofia-vergara/) > [He's fat and a clown, Bill, a fat clown for all to see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eamon-dunphy/he-s-fat-and-a-clown-bill-a-fat-clown-for-all-to-see/) [Eamon Dunphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eamon-dunphy/) > [I try to be the clown and court jester and make people laugh. At the same time, you have people in the hospital who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-simmons/i-try-to-be-the-clown-and-court-jester-and-make-people-laugh-at-the/) [Richard Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-simmons/) > [When fighting clowns, always go for the juggler.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darynda-jones/when-fighting-clowns-always-go-for-the-juggler/) [Darynda Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darynda-jones/) > [I wanted to be a clown when I was a kid, so I love interacting and goofing around with kids.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-stonestreet/i-wanted-to-be-a-clown-when-i-was-a-kid-so-i-love-interacting-and/) [Eric Stonestreet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-stonestreet/) > [There are two types of people in this world. People who hate clowns...and clowns. (Bobby Pendragon)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-j-machale-2/there-are-two-types-of-people-in-this-world-people-who-hate-clowns/) [D. J. MacHale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-j-machale-2/) > [“October 3, 2017 The clown, Hagarty said, looked like a cross between Ronald McDonald and that old TV clown, Bozo—or so he thought at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/october-3-2017-the-clown-hagarty-said-looked-like-a-cross-between/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) ## More by Tom Verlaine > [My non-career. My excuse for a career? Honestly, I never think about the word 'career.' I've had managers, the minute they say it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/my-non-career-my-excuse-for-a-career-honestly-i-never-think-about-the/) [Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/) > [I like thinking of myself as invisible. I find it a very advantageous way to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/i-like-thinking-of-myself-as-invisible-i-find-it-a-very-advantageous/) [Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/) > [I'm not even sure who my audience is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/i-m-not-even-sure-who-my-audience-is/) [Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/) > [Johnny Jewel is how people were maybe two hundred years ago. Back then, when people got up in the morning, they knew what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/johnny-jewel-is-how-people-were-maybe-two-hundred-years-ago-back-then/) [Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/) > [Everybody's out trying to be commercial. I'm not trying to be anything, really.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/everybody-s-out-trying-to-be-commercial-i-m-not-trying-to-be-anything/) [Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/) > [I don't want any production credit. I think producers are overrated. They're for people who, first of all, don't know anything about music or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/i-don-t-want-any-production-credit-i-think-producers-are-overrated/) [Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/) > [I just don't like people coming up to me and saying something. It immediately makes you become insincere. There is no way you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/i-just-don-t-like-people-coming-up-to-me-and-saying-something-it/) [Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/) > [I'd never assume an audience was anything but totally receptive and perfect. Seriously, it seems to me that's the only circumstance you can work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/i-d-never-assume-an-audience-was-anything-but-totally-receptive-and/) [Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/) > [I've got a quote for you, a good quote to describe Television...In madness there is order.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/i-ve-got-a-quote-for-you-a-good-quote-to-describe-television-in/) [Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/) > [I told somebody in Europe I was 43. I never tell my true age. It's ridiculous that people ask. The press doesn't deserve anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/i-told-somebody-in-europe-i-was-43-i-never-tell-my-true-age-it-s/) [Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/) > [I don't think anybody thinks about their past much, unless they're in a mental institution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/i-don-t-think-anybody-thinks-about-their-past-much-unless-they-re-in/) [Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/) > [All the Frank O'Hara types seem to have very little sound stuff going... it's so chatty or something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/all-the-frank-o-hara-types-seem-to-have-very-little-sound-stuff-going/) [Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/) > [It's like first grade where you make all your mistakes and people see it and yet some people see that there's something there that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/it-s-like-first-grade-where-you-make-all-your-mistakes-and-people-see/) [Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/) > [Emily Dickinson has great sound and sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/emily-dickinson-has-great-sound-and-sense/) [Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/) > [I always hated jazz guitar. I loved jazz saxophone but I hated jazz guitar. If I would buy an organ trio record I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/i-always-hated-jazz-guitar-i-loved-jazz-saxophone-but-i-hated-jazz/) [Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/) [Explore all 53 Tom Verlaine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/) ## More Academic quotes > [When I went to college, as much as my parents emphasized academic achievement, they emphasized marriage even more. They told me that the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheryl-sandberg/when-i-went-to-college-as-much-as-my-parents-emphasized-academic/) [Sheryl Sandberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheryl-sandberg/) > [Instead of explaining the sober facts of mechanics and electricity, I want to say a few words about the debt which we owe to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-bloch/instead-of-explaining-the-sober-facts-of-mechanics-and-electricity-i/) [Felix Bloch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-bloch/) > [The Carnegie Foundation is well aware of the fact that their reports frequently find their way to dusty archives in academic institutions, but occasionally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-everett-koop/the-carnegie-foundation-is-well-aware-of-the-fact-that-their-reports/) [C. 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Good sleep they sought for themselves, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/now-know-i-well-what-people-sought-formerly-above-all-else-when-they/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Because my graduate academic training at law school was not one that included most of the intellectual traditions I find useful for understanding the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-spade/because-my-graduate-academic-training-at-law-school-was-not-one-that/) [Dean Spade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-spade/) > [An academic discipline, or any other semiotic domain, for that matter, is not primarily content, in the sense of facts and principles. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-paul-gee/an-academic-discipline-or-any-other-semiotic-domain-for-that-matter/) [James Paul Gee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-paul-gee/) > [“In the end, ethical interpretation of the Bible means to think critically about how our practices of textual engagement might help us to become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-brueggemann/in-the-end-ethical-interpretation-of-the-bible-means-to-think/) [Walter Brueggemann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-brueggemann/) > [Perhaps art criticism cannot be reformed in a logical sense because it was never well-formed in the first place. Art criticism has long been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-elkins/perhaps-art-criticism-cannot-be-reformed-in-a-logical-sense-because/) [James Elkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-elkins/) > [And I'm the first one to tell people to break the rules. But you can only break the rules once you know what the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-gunn/and-i-m-the-first-one-to-tell-people-to-break-the-rules-but-you-can/) [Tim Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-gunn/) > [Nietzsche's ideas and plans: for example, the idea of giving up the whole wretched academic world to form a secular monastic community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-jaspers/nietzsche-s-ideas-and-plans-for-example-the-idea-of-giving-up-the/) [Karl Jaspers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-jaspers/) > [Quality afterschool programs provide safe, engaging and fun learning experiences to help children and youth develop their social, emotional, physical, cultural and academic skills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-stabenow/quality-afterschool-programs-provide-safe-engaging-and-fun-learning/) [Debbie Stabenow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-stabenow/) > [The unary Photograph has every reason to be banal, 'unity' of composition being the first rule of vulgar (and notably, of academic) rhetoric: 'The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/the-unary-photograph-has-every-reason-to-be-banal-unity-of/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [Doctoral training is devoted almost entirely to learning to do research, even though most Ph.Ds who enter academic life spend far more time teaching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-bok/doctoral-training-is-devoted-almost-entirely-to-learning-to-do/) [Derek Bok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-bok/) > [I am not an academic who happens to have written a novel. I am a novelist who happens to be quite good academically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/i-am-not-an-academic-who-happens-to-have-written-a-novel-i-am-a/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) [Browse all 958 Academic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/academic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'm not a clown but I'm not an academic either.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tom Verlaine" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/i-m-not-a-clown-but-i-m-not-an-academic-either/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Academic" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/i-m-not-a-clown-but-i-m-not-an-academic-either/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdb/tom-verlaine-12733_academic_i-m-not-a-clown-but-i-m-not-an-academic_2397176.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdb/tom-verlaine-12733_academic_i-m-not-a-clown-but-i-m-not-an-academic_2397176.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdb/tom-verlaine-12733_academic_i-m-not-a-clown-but-i-m-not-an-academic_2397176.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I'm not a clown but I'm not an academic either.” — Tom Verlaine", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Tom Verlaine", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I'm not a clown but I'm...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/i-m-not-a-clown-but-i-m-not-an-academic-either/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/i-m-not-a-clown-but-i-m-not-an-academic-either/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```