Fact Check: Quote about depression incorrectly attributed to Robin Williams

Claim:

Actor Robin Williams once said, "People don't fake depression ... they fake being okay."

Rating:

Rating: Incorrect Attribution

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In June 2025, images of Robin Williams, who committed suicide at the age of 63 in 2014, began appearing on social media alongside a quote telling people to be kind because people don't fake depression.

"People don't fake depression… they fake being okay. Remember that. Be Kind," Williams supposedly said.

The quote credited to Williams appeared in posts on Instagram (archived), X (archived), Facebook (archived), Threads (archived), Bluesky (archived) and even LinkedIn (archived).

Although the quote is largely credited to Williams, Snopes could find no evidence that Williams said those exact words. In fact, it appears that people didn't begin attributing the quote to Williams until more than half a decade after his death.

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Prior to 2022, the quote was only rarely credited to Williams. The oldest association between the quote and Williams that Snopes could find was from March 21, 2021, by tumblr profile bluelady329.

A Google search for the quote "people don't fake depression" limited to results from before 2022 shows that the quote was still regularly shared at that time, and often without a credit to Williams.

The quote is sometimes attributed to one other source: "Feelings Undefined: The Charm of the Unsaid Vol. 1" by Abhysheq Shukla, a speaker and author from India. The book was published in 2017, several years before people began referring to the quote as Williams'. However, there is not a freely available version of the book published online, and thus Snopes was unable to verify the authenticity of the book as the quote's source.

This isn't the first time people have shared a quote about depression and attributed it to Williams without evidence. Snopes has previously looked into a few such quotes, among other rumors regarding Williams.

Sources:

"A Quote from Feelings Undefined." Goodreads.com, 2024, www.goodreads.com/quotes/10817075-people-don-t-fake-depression-they-fake-being-okay-be-kind. Accessed 7 July 2025.

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bluelady329. "Tumblr." Tumblr, 21 Mar. 2021, www.tumblr.com/bluelady329/646317598172217344. Accessed 7 July 2025.

"'People Don't Fake Depression' - Google Search." Google.com, www.google.com/search?q=%22people+don%27t+fake+depression%22&lr=&sca_esv=8fe472cf0c0bad30&as_qdr=all&tbs=cdr:1. Accessed 7 July 2025.