I have often found that mental patients who are given love, creativity, and community find the peace that they are reaching out for. - Patch Adams

People are not their diseases....without touching on the quality of a person's life, their loves, concerns, and fears, we ignore a gigantic area of resource and disease.

You know, it's always the same. I've clowned in 81 countries. People hunger for love, and clowning is a trick to get love close. As a clown I can do things that people are too frightened of Love to allow you to do.

The strongest thing I do is that I take people on clown trips....And I give them a bunch of clown clothes, and I take them places where people are suffering, and everyone becomes a player. And it's usually instantaneous....We've taken clowns into war, into refugee camps....We start with simple things: blowing up a balloon, blowing bubbles, having a puppet. But it isn't long before they see that the world of play is a gigantic universe...Because it isn't just about play; it's about opening up your life and your being and your ability to connect with people...play connects you instantly with anyone in the world, without language.