Quotes from Mort Walker

I first sold a cartoon for five dollars. I was in the fifth grade.

I was kicked out of The Stars And Stripes twice, and finally got back in.

The people who were against the Vietnam War thought I was attacking the Army. The guys in the Army thought I was representing their experiences. I was on both sides, and I survived.

I like to keep doing something new and different so people can't say I'm doing the same thing all the time. I like to challenge myself.

Laughter is the brush that sweeps away the cobwebs of the heart.

When the war was over and the guys were back to shaving every day, the editor thought the Beetle Bailey strips were hurting their disciplinary efforts to get the guys back to routine.

Beetle Bailey is actually me, in uniform. I've got about 20 characters, and they're all after friends of mine.

If I'm going on vacation, I just work ahead.

The frustration of being ordered around by somebody to do something - everyone can relate to that. I think Beetle represents that - the common man caught in that morass of rules and regulations. I don't even think of it as an army strip... it's a world anyone can understand.

Humor strips dominated what were called the funny papers early in the century, but by the 1920s and '30s, adventure strips had taken over. With 'Beetle Bailey,' I revived the funny part of the funny papers, and I'd be proud to be remembered for that.

About the only way you can find out about the common man, his slang, what he looked like, what he thought, is through the comic strips. It's a powerful way for young people to learn history.

I say, if you believe what you read in the comic strips, then you believe that mice run around with little gold buttons on their red pants and drive cars.

People take a liking to me like I'm a long-lost friend.

Seven days without laughter makes one weak.

Laughter is the brush that sweeps away the cobwebs of your heart.

Laughter is the brush that sweeps away the cobwebs of your heart. Seven days without laughter makes one weak.

Laughter is the brush that sweeps away the cobwebs of the heart.