40 April Fools' Day quotes to pair with your hijinks

As the old expression goes, April showers bring May flowers. But guess what else the fourth month of the calendar year brings?

Yep, you know it. Everyone's favorite day for hijinks: April Fools' Day.

Love it or hate it, April 1 is the one day out of the year in which it's totally encouraged to pull pranks on friends, family and coworkers, as well as tell outright fibs in the name of tomfoolery.

In honor of hoaxes and bogus truths, we've collected a list of funny April Fools' quotes to use however you see fit.

Why do we love to trick our loved ones? It's anyone's guess, but if the origin of April Fools' Day is any indication, the tradition dates as far back as the 1500s, which means there's something about pulling pranks that people seriously enjoy (maybe a little too much).

In fact, fooling others is so popular, even large corporations like Taco Bell have gotten in on the act. Back in 1996, the food retailer convinced an unsuspecting public that it was rebranding the treasured Liberty Bell the "Taco Liberty Bell."

Thinking it was real, thousands of people expressed their outrage before realizing they'd been duped.

Whether you're the perp or prey of April Fools' shenanigans, feel free to slot one of these short quotes and sayings into an Instagram post or text.

In exchange for their use, we'll only charge you a small fee, payable by cash or credit. Gotcha! Happy April Fools' Day — we promise, these quotes are on us.

Best April Fools' quotes

• "The fool knows after he’s suffered." —Hesiod

• "The truest way to be deceived is to think oneself more knowing than others." — François de La Rochefoucauld, "Maxims"

• "If you tell a big enough life and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed." — Walter Langer

• "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." — George Orwell, "1984"

• "Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it." —Henry David Thoreau

• "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." — Alexander Pope, "An Essay on Criticism"

• "There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true." — Soren Kierkegaard

• "Confidence comes from being prepared." — John Wooden

• "Fool me once, strike one. Fool me twice, strike three." — Michael Scott, "The Office"

• "The fools among us are presented to be wise, and the wise among us are presented to be fools" — Santosh Kalwar

• "No man can tame a predator by acting like prey." — Tamerlan Kuzgov

• "Fools make feasts, and wise men eat them." — Benjamin Franklin

• "The man who says his wife can't take a joke, forgets that she took him." — Oscar Wilde

• "Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools that don't have brains enough to be honest." — Benjamin Franklin

• "To every rule there is an exception - and an idiot ready to demonstrate it. Don't be the one!" — Vera Nazarian, "The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration"

• "There are more fools in the world than there are people." — Heinrich Heine

• "If we act like prey, they'll act like predators." — Alyxandra Harvey, "My Love Lies Bleeding"

• "All the world loves a clown." — Cole Porter

• "If you're good, you're always looking over your shoulder." — Bruce Springsteen

• "No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness." — Mary Wollstonecraft

• "What have you done when you have bested a fool?" — Charles Portis, "True Grit"

• "I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you." — Friedrich Nietzsche

• "On stupidity - There is no such thing as a foolproof plan. If there are fools about, no plan is proof against them." — Marsha Hinds

• "For every smart person, there is a fool." — Tamerlan Kuzgov

• "A deception that elevates us is dearer than a host of low truths." — Aleksander Pushkin

Funny April Fools' quotes

• “The suspense is terrible. I hope it’ll last.” — Willy Wonka, “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory”

• “Do I regret it? Yes. Would I do it again? Probably.” — Nick Miller, "New Girl"

• “Don’t be so humble — you are not that great.” ― Golda Meir

• "Life is worth living as long as there's a laugh in it." ― Lucy Maud Montgomery, "Anne of Green Gables"

• “All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure.” ― Mark Twain

• “I love inside jokes. I’d love to be a part of one someday.” — Michael Scott

• "So you've been burned a couple times. Um, have we met? I've been burned so many times I'm like the human equivalent of the inside of a roasted marshmallow." — David Rose, "Schitt's Creek"

• "Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive." — Elbert Hubbard

• “Humanity is a parade of fools, and I am at the front of it, twirling a baton.” ― Dean Koontz

• "Accept who you are. Unless you're a serial killer." — Ellen DeGeneres, "Seriously ... I'm Kidding"

• "Never trust people who smile constantly. They're either selling something or not very bright." — Laurell Hamilton, "Burnt Offerings"

• "I've had great success being a total idiot." — Jerry Lewis

• "He who laughs last ... just didn't get the joke." ― Carroll Bryant

• "There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor." ― Charles Dickens, "A Christmas Carol"

• "I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints," Billy Joel, "Only the Good Die Young"

This article was originally published on TODAY.com