The child asks, 'Why don't I have this happiness thing you're telling me about?'
— Shel Silverstein
There was a lot about the military that I thought was pretty silly, but these cartoons weren't meant to take a poke at anybody or anything. They were meant to make people laugh.
I couldn't play ball. I couldn't dance. Luckily, the girls didn't want me. Not much I could do about that. So I started to draw and to write. By the time I got to where I was attracting girls, I was already into work, and it was more important to me.
What you've got to say, you say.
If the track is tough and the hill is rough, THINKING you can just ain't enough!
I myself do not believe in explaining anything.
Imagine - four years you could have spent travelling around Europe meeting people, or going to the Far East of Africa or India, meeting people, exchanging ideas, reading all you wanted to anyway, and instead I wasted it at Roosevelt.
To me, freedom entitles you to do something, not to not do something.
I will not play tug o' war. I'd rather play hug o' war. Where everyone hugs instead of tugs, Where everyone giggles and rolls on the rug, Where everyone kisses, and everyone grins, and everyone cuddles, and everyone wins.
Comfortable shoes and the freedom to leave are the two most important things in life.
I didn't have a lot of friends. I just walked around a lot and made up stories in my head. Then I'd go home and write them down. That's how I got started.
I want to go everywhere, look at and listen to everything. You can go crazy with some of the wonderful stuff there is in life.
People are always giving you credit for really wanting to say more than you said.
He has the obligation to society that any human being has. I don't think a satirist has any greater obligation to society than a bricklayer or anybody else.
If you're behind the times, they won't notice you. If you're right in tune with them, you're no better than they are, so they won't care much for you. Be just a little ahead of them.
Never explain what you do. It speaks for itself. You only muddle it by talking about it.
You'd better get your laugh while you're making your point, or you won't be doing it very long.
When I was younger, I wasn't making it, and I was mad at everybody who was.
I can write a poem in 10 minutes. I like writing songs; I can write songs in 5 or 10 minutes. My concentration seems very short.
I'm free to leave... go wherever I please, do whatever I want; I believe everyone should live like that. Don't be dependent on anyone else - man, woman, child, or dog.
Tell me I'm clever, Tell me I'm kind, Tell me I'm talented, Tell me I'm cute, Tell me I'm sensitive, Graceful and wise, Tell me I'm perfect - But tell me the truth.
I believe that if you don't want to do anything, then sit there and don't do it, but don't expect people to hand you a corn beef sandwich and wash your socks for you and unzip your fly for you.
If you want to find out what a writer or a cartoonist really feels, look at his work. That's enough.
Stand-up comics reflect less of a visual humor and more of a commentary.
I know a way to stay friends forever, There's really nothing to it, I tell you what to do, And you do it.
