Quotes from Cathy Guisewite

My mother had always taught me to write about my feelings instead of sharing really personal things with others, so I spent many evenings writing in my diary, eating everything in the kitchen and waiting for Mr. Wrong to call.

The specific story line that people have responded to the most has been the horror of bathing suit shopping.

The specifics of Cathy's and my life are different now, but the basic life challenges are exactly the same.

Men should come with instruction booklets.

The story of a mother's life: Trapped between a scream and a hug.

Imagine my surprise when, after a lifetime of teaching me to keep personal things to myself, Mom insisted my drawings were the start of a comic strip for millions of people to enjoy.

I'm lucky that my real-life Mom has both a great sense of humor about herself and an amazing ability to slip into complete denial if the subject matter gets a little too close to home.

I wanted Cathy and Irving to actually say 'I do' and be pronounced husband and wife on Feb. 5, which is my mom's birthday.

After 14 years of dieting, there are only two things I've never lost. Hope and weight.

All mothers have intuition. The great ones have radar.

The relationship between Cathy and Mom in the strip is the one relationship drawn from real life that I have proudly never even tried to disguise.

Mothers send strips to daughters to make a point. Daughters smack strips down on the breakfast table to make a point. My own mom sometimes cuts a strip out and sends it to me to make sure I understand her.

Animal welfare issues have always been important to me.

Every time I get something under control in my own life, the world provides more material.

I had such a close relationship with my dog, and my dog so filled the need in my life to have children that I just wanted Cathy to have that experience.

Cathy was the first widely syndicated humor strip created by a woman. The strip was pretty revolutionary at the time not only because it starred a female, but also because it was so emotionally honest about all the conflicting feelings many women had in 1976.

I'm more financially successful, but it just means the shopping blunders I make are bigger now.

The biggest change in my life is that I now have to apologize for being thin.

A young bride can put on makeup at 6 in the morning and look fabulous at midnight. I have about a 15-minute window where I actually look good, and then I have to wash my face and start over.

My dog was with me all the time. I talked to my dog. She was my best buddy. I shared all my secrets with her, but I don't think I every really tried jokes out with the dog.

Defy your own group. Rebel against yourself.

Food, love, career, and mothers, the four major guilt groups.

A lot of married people certainly have wonderful relationships with their dogs, but when you're single and your dog is the only other living thing in your house, it's a really special relationship which I wanted CATHY to have.

I'd love to see more equal representation of female and male cartoonists on the comics page.