Quotes from Lynda Barry

At the center of everything we call 'the arts,' and children call 'play,' is something which seems somehow alive.

The library was open for one hour after school let out. I hid there, looking at art books and reading poetry.

When I work on a book, I usually start with a question. And I don't sit around and go "I need to write a book. What's a good question?" It will be a question that's just clanging around in my head.

There was a beautiful time in the beginning when I just did it and didn't analyze the consequences, but I think that time ends in everyone's work.

Race and class are the easiest divisions. It's very stupid.

No matter what, expect the unexpected. And whenever possible BE the unexpected.

You know that great car-stomach feeling when you fly over a hump? That was my whole body.

My childhood is always going to limit me.

I wasn't afraid to be laughed at or be loud.

Humor is such a wonderful thing, helping you realize what a fool you are but how beautiful that is at the same time.

The library was open for one hour after school let out. I hid there, looking at art books and reading poetry.

I live in constant fear of being fired or dropped for that dark part of my work I can't control.

If it is your time, love will track you down like a cruise missile.

If I didn't try to eavesdrop on every bus ride I take or look for the humor when I go for a walk, I would just be depressed all the time.

My mom didn't want me to go to college. She didn't want me to read - when I read, I may as well have been holding a pineapple.

It's one thing to have a relationship, to lay your hands on it, and another to make it continue and last. That's something I haven't talked about much in my comic strips, and it's certainly something I'm interested in.

I listen like mad to any conversation taking place next to me just trying to hear why this is funny. Women's restrooms are especially great. I wash my hands twice waiting for people to come in and start talking.

My goal on my bucket list is to write a romantic comedy movie.

For horror movies, color is reassuring because, at least in older films, it adds to the fakey-ness.

I do love to eavesdrop. It's inspirational, not only for subject matter but for actual dialogue, the way people talk.

Dear Anyone Who Finds This, Do not blame the drugs.

No matter what, expect the unexpected. And whenever possible BE the unexpected.

We don't create a fantasy world to escape reality, we create it to be able to stay.

Love is an exploding cigar we willingly smoke.