April Fools' Day

The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year. ~ Mark Twain

April Fools' Day is celebrated in different countries around the world on April 1 every year. Sometimes referred to as All Fools' Day, April 1 is not a national holiday, but is widely recognized and celebrated as a day when many people play all kinds of jokes and foolishness. The day is marked by the commission of good-humoured or otherwise funny jokes, hoaxes, and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, family members, teachers, neighbors, work associates, etc.

Quotes

Alphabetized by author or source

• When you want to fool the world, tell the truth.
  • Otto von Bismarck (born 1 April 1815), as quoted in American Speaker : Your Guide to Successful Speaking (1992) by Aram Bakshian.

• The first of April, some do say
  Is set apart for All Fools' Day;
  But why the people call it so,
  Nor I, nor they themselves, do know.
  • Poor Robin's Almanac (1760), "All Fools' Day".

• Dzień pierwszy kwietnia, tak zwany prima aprilis (prima znaczy po łacinie dzień, aprilis — bzdura), jest jedynym dniem w całym roku, kiedy pędzące ku wiośnie żywioły, myśli, słowa i zmysły obchodzą szalony, obłąkany karnawał i korzystając z tradycyjnego przywileju puszczają się na kosmiczne żarty, międzyplanetarne awantury, niespodzianki rozpętanego chaosu i tryumfującą bzdurą zadają na każdym kroku kłam ustalonemu porządkowi rzeczy!
  • Translation: The first day of April, also known as Prima Aprilis (from Latin prima, day; aprilis, humbug), is the only day of the year when elements, thoughts, words, and senses, all rushing towards springtime, observe a crazy, mad carnival and thanks to a traditional privilege abandon themselves to cosmic pranks, interplanetary riot, surprises of unleashed chaos, when at every step triumphant drivel flies in the face of the usual order of things!
  • Antoni Słonimski and Julian Tuwim, in W oparach absurdu [In the Fumes of Absurd] (in Polish), 1958.

• The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year.
  • Mark Twain, as quoted in Quick and Fun Activities for Every Day of the Year (2001) by Tim Tuck and Karen Froloff, p. 1.

External links

• Encyclopedic article on April Fools' Day on Wikipedia
• Media related to April Fools' Day on Wikimedia Commons
• Works related to Portal:April Fools' Day on Wikisource
• The dictionary definition of April Fools' Day on Wiktionary
• Snopes - Origins of April Fool's Day