Chris Ware Quotes

No one blames themselves if they don't understand a cartoon, as they might with a painting or 'real' art; they simply think it's a bad cartoon. ~ Chris Ware

I don't think of myself as an illustrator. I think of myself as a cartoonist. I write the story with pictures - I don't illustrate the story with the pictures. ~ Chris Ware

Mostly, I was only interested in television as a kid, and the majority of reading material I collected was an adjunct to that central concern, comic books and magazines included. ~ Chris Ware

During my Austin years, I was drawing a regular strip for the University Of Texas newspaper, going to school, delivering blood, and trying to change my approach and 'style' as much as I could, since I knew that I'd calcify as I got older. ~ Chris Ware

I mean, if all we are is bundles of energy... what is a 'hug' anyway?... and how can we ever really touch each other? ~ Chris Ware

There seems to be a peculiar kind of clamor for comics. And I'm not sure how much a part of reality that is. I think partly it's based on some idea that comics are what everybody wants to read - and I don't think that's the case. ~ Chris Ware

Even the disappointing diffusion of a sheer curtain can suggest the most colorful bouquet of unspeakable secrets. ~ Chris Ware

The modern world seems to make fun of people in a lot of ways. ~ Chris Ware

My head looks like an uncooked ham with glasses. ~ Chris Ware

The thing I like most about books is that anybody can afford them. They have an innate valuelessness. ~ Chris Ware

I have a preponderance to look smug in photos; something to do with the way my mouth turns up at the corners. ~ Chris Ware

I don't trust art that promises a 24-hour joyride. In fact, there seems to be a modern sense of entitlement for such constant "ups," which is a repugnant attitude any way one chooses to look at it. I definitely believe in the possibility of happiness, though; it's just something that I think, rightfully, is rare in its genuine form, and that it can't be counterfeited. ~ Chris Ware

The first thing I do when I get up is I look out the window. I've been looking at the same image for six years. It's imprinted in my mind like an afterimage template. ~ Chris Ware

Fortunately, I'm able to make a living from comics, so I'm privileged enough to be quite choosy, though most cartoonists can't afford to be. It's really an uncomfortable situation, since I'm not an illustrator, though I do get calls from morally indefensible businesses offering me money to decorate their ambitions. It's extremely rare, almost unheard of, in fact, that I am asked to do a comic strip. Do writers get calls to pen Toyota advertisements? Do composers get asked to write chamber pieces about exercise machines? ~ Chris Ware

Comics is different than writing because when you draw something you are trying to visualize it and you are trying to put yourself in that space. And when you're drawing something, all sorts of associations come up in my mind that I never would have thought of otherwise. ~ Chris Ware

"Real" drawing is about specifics. It's about describing an object as accurately as possible. In a comic strip you have to draw a picture of the idea of the object. You have to draw the word that you are picturing, then you have to mix in specifics with it for it to work as a story. But you are still working with drawn words. ~ Chris Ware

The real power of comics is writing as you draw. ~ Chris Ware

One of the most valuable things one of my art teachers said to me was, 'Don't get upset by criticism. Value the fact that at least someone noticed what you did. ~ Chris Ware

There's a rhythm to the words combined with the pictures [in a comic]. Whenever I'm working on a comic strip I re-read it, probably hundreds of times through to pay attention to how all of those things work. Sometimes even changing the angle of a character's eyebrow can really, seriously alter the effect and overall interpretation of a scene. And the insertion of a pause or a cough or a sniff, and all these things that we do in conversation, can bring it to life in a strange way. ~ Chris Ware

I was used to being disliked as a kid. Not that I didn't deserve it: I was a pretty sad and unappealing creature, and still am, I guess. It's sort of simplistic to think that one tries to make stuff that accounts for one's repulsiveness as a person, but there's some truth to it. So, when I read something unfavorable, I always take it deeply personally. It's as if my efforts have been in vain, and I should just quit. ~ Chris Ware

I had a messy signature as a child, and my grandmother said this suggested I had no regard for other people. She was right. ~ Chris Ware

[Comics is] one of the last havens for honesty when it comes to a reader's genuine response to art. Most of us, if we don't find any sympathy or pleasure, for example, in a modern painting, are likely to blame our own ignorance of the history and theory of painting. But nobody pretends to like a bad comic strip. Such harshness is necessary for any real truth to surface, I think, and for art to really contribute anything to life. Though I don't know. I could be wrong. ~ Chris Ware

One of the things that appealed to me most about comics was that you can pick the ones you like and build your own personal pantheon. ~ Chris Ware

Conveniently then he can forget it all exists. And, after a time only a general notion will remain in his mind, that there are places where he doesn't belong, and those where he seems to fall right in. ~ Chris Ware

Well, there are better cartoonists now than there ever have been. I firmly believe that. There's some amazing work being done. ~ Chris Ware

Every city began as a campsite - pg. 25 ~ Chris Ware

I guess I just don't like being physically in front of people I don't know very well, because I expect to be 'seen through,' or, even worse, instantly hated. ~ Chris Ware

Unlike prose writing, the strange process of writing with pictures encourages associations and recollections to accumulate literally in front of your eyes; people, places, and events appear out of nowhere. Doors open into rooms remembered from childhood, faces form into dead relatives, and distant loves appear, almost magically, on the page- all deceptively manageable, visceral, the combinations sometimes even revelatory. ~ Chris Ware

My grandmother was an unparalleled storyteller who gave me a preview of how life might turn out, and also fortified my empathy. ~ Chris Ware

There is something about the medium [in comics] that allows for a simulation of actual experience with the added benefit of actually reading. You're reading pictures, but you are also looking at them. It's a sort of combined activity that I can't really think of any other medium having, other than, say, a foreign film when you are reading and seeing. It allows for all sorts of associations that might not come up with just words or just pictures. ~ Chris Ware

There is absolutely no single aspect of one's personality that is more important to develop than empathy, which is not a skill at which men typically are asked to excel. I believe empathy is not only the core of art, literature and music, but should also be at the core of society, from ethics to economics. ~ Chris Ware

I think cartooning gets at, and re-creates on the page, some sixth sense ... in a way no other medium can. ~ Chris Ware

There seems to be such a laziness in - and I hate to use this phrase - the modern world. Everything is pumped out so quickly so that you can read it while passing by, like billboards or those flashcards before movie shows. ~ Chris Ware

Drawing on a computer doesn't make any sense to me. It's not intuitive. ~ Chris Ware

Newly Found Sugary Spill: Tastes Like Dried Spit or Old Soda ~ Chris Ware

When I was 11 years old, I thought, 'All I really wanna be able to do is my own comic book,' and I'm doing it. I don't have any other real ambitions. I have nothing to conquer at all. ~ Chris Ware

The sound
of One Lung
filling with water

drowned out by wave after wave
of a million buzzing insects

an invisible chorus
that only knows how to sing

the last letter
of the alphabet. ~ Chris Ware

I believe that the development of language - of naming, categorization, conceptualization - destroys our ability to see as we age. ~ Chris Ware

The whole experience reminded me of my own 'old lady' phase that I went through in high school while I was reading Somerset Maugham ... The embroidered sweaters, the costume jewelry ... I remember genuinely WANTING to be old then, to act as if the business of my life was already all but over, and that I was preternaturally wise because of it ...
God, the stupid things you'll do to try and meet boys ... ~ Chris Ware

It's somehow more comforting to imagine that one's suffering is unique, and to measure against what one doesn't know, rather than against what one does. ~ Chris Ware

Ragtime has about the same amount of respect as comics. And in a way they're similar art forms. Ragtime is highly compositional, and the emotion in the music is built in, whereas in jazz a lot of that emotion comes from the way it's performed. ~ Chris Ware

My dad has a story about hearing from me at work one day when I hadn't had a chance to call in a while. He picked up the phone and was surprised to hear my voice. He was even more surprised that I was whispering. "Chris, why is your voice so hushed?" he asked. "I'm on an op, Dad. I don't want them to know where I'm at." "Oh," he answered, a little shaken. ~ Chris Kyle

standing on a cliff
in a silent blizzard
crumbling
and dreaming of kaleidoscopes
all the pieces always fit ~ Chris Wind

Although you may have never sat down and defined what your philosophy is, it is fully operative and working in your life at all times. It deals with what you believe about the world in which you live, about its people and events, about how you affect them. ~ Chris Prentiss

Just know that the achievement of anything grand takes consistent effort year after year. Motivation can uphold you intermittently, but it has too few calories to sustain a life. ~ Chris Matakas

STOP DIGGING.' The letters on the mirror were etched in my memory. Now, as I finished my make-up with a swipe of lip-gloss, I huffed on the mirror, and wrote in the steam obscuring my reflection one word: 'NO'. ~ Ruth Ware

A saw by itself holds no value, but when coupled with your labor can clear forests. ~ Chris Matakas

I feel like I've got far more gay fans in America ... Maybe they caught wind that I have a cute Jewish brother who's gay. ~ Jessie Ware

I truly love being an actor. I love it with all my heart and soul, and I hope that I get to do it for a very long time. ~ Chris Klein

Your problems are not by any means unique, which is a good thing. This means whatever hardships you are currently facing, you can get a glimpse of the future by going back in time and read how other people survived and thrived during similar difficulties. ~ Chris Erzfeld

I see. Because I'm not hideous, not a drunkard, and appear to bathe regularly, you picked me. How you flatter me. ~ Chris Karlsen

I used to be a photographer - and now I'm some kind of digital photographic artist. ~ Chris Jordan

Clara believed with all her heart that God worked all things together for good to those who loved Him and were called according to His purpose. But she did not believe that everything that happened was good. The world was fallen and there was sin in every heart. But God's grace was bigger. The other truth she believed, from a life of experiencing it, was that for real change to happen deep in the soul, God tended to make people miserable rather than happy. He brought them to the end of themselves and showed them how powerless they were in order to show them how powerful He was. ~ Chris Fabry

I think there's an important difference between the newspaper and a magazine. I view the role of the magazine as providing the deeper reporting and the thoughtful analysis to help you make sense of why that news is important. ~ Chris Hughes

'Election' made zero money at the box office, but it started my career. ~ Chris Klein

I like a fragrance that you notice and want to find out more about - get a bit closer. I don't want to walk in and be jolted awake by someone's smell. ~ Chris Pine

Smile and Know, Thank and Know, became my mantra as I went about my days smiling and knowing when I could. As I did so, I was walking in complete faith, which left me naturally wanting to thank as well. ~ Bronnie Ware

We are very much at the mercy of circumstance, but it is how you choose to respond to circumstance that determines the quality of your life. ~ Chris Matakas

Supposedly, whatever we do that's selfish goes with us to the grave; whatever we do that's selfless lives on. ~ Chris Bohjalian

I'm grateful for all the things I have that remind me of Chris--photos, videos, notes and emails he wrote, tangible pieces of him. We're blessed to have them, just as we are blessed to have his memory.
But I also know that sometimes those reminders can hurt, and not just me.
When we were preparing to move into the new house, Angel mentioned to me that she wouldn't mind having fewer pictures of Daddy in the hall.
"I love seeing him," she confessed, "but sometimes they hurt."
I know exactly what she meant. I love looking at them too, but sometimes I can't take the emotions they provoke. And I know, too, that there's a difference between building on the past and getting stuck in it.
I love that wedding photo of us because we're both looking off into the future. And that was Chris. That was the essential part of him: fearless, and hopeful, always moving forward.
That's the part of him that I hold most dear, and that's the part of him that I struggle to bring with me every day: fearless and courageous, ready for anything, striding toward tomorrow, and tomorrow's tomorrow. ~ Taya Kyle

Patriotism, often a thinly veiled form of collective self-worship, celebrates our goodness, our ideals, our mercy and bemoans the perfidiousness of those who hate us. ~ Chris Hedges

For me 'You & I Forever' is celebrating the person you love being by your side. This is what it means to others ~ Jessie Ware

Remember when I was obsessed with that little Lithuanian restaurant downtown? And it was only ever open when the grumpy old woman ran it felt like opening? I'd stop by every day for a week with no luck. And then, when I'd pretty much given up on ever tasting Napoleonas torte again, I'd drive by and see the open sign in the window.
Well, being with Chris is like trying to date that restaurant. I never know when he's going to be there and how open he'll be to me. Almost never is he all there, all in. Almost never do I get the Chris I got the night of Kiley's wedding
open sign, cold cucumber soup, rouladen, poppy seed kolaches. ~ Rainbow Rowell

Please. Put the gun down and we'll talk. A beautiful woman holding a small cannon plays hell with my concentration. Christovao (Chris) Santos, Sanctuary ~ Sharon K. Garner

They say that in the hour before an earthquake the clouds hang leaden in the sky, the winds slows to a hot breath, and the birds fall quiet in the trees of the town square. Yes but these are the same portents that precede lunchtime, frankly. ~ Chris Cleave

Knowing the precise answers is not as crucial as the certainty that the answers do, in fact, exist. All we really want to know is that the helm is not unmanned. That the advocates of goodness and glory are still in control. That righteousness reigns. That perfection awaits. That the Atonement is real and available. ~ Chris Heimerdinger

You could be married and bored or single and lonely. Ain't no happiness nowhere. ~ Chris Rock

I know that the hopes of this whole human world can fit inside one soul. ~ Chris Cleave

Whatever I have to do to help us win, I'll do. ~ Chris Paul

My first favorite band that made music important to me was the Beatles. I was a little kid. I didn't know who was singing what song or who wrote what song. ~ Chris Cornell

Being famous before you've formed your personality, before you have that self-esteem, is dangerous. ~ Chris Evert

I can handle the craziness some of the time, maybe most of the time. But I know I can't handle it all of the time. ~ Chris Evans

I used to wonder: Is Huxley right or is Orwell right? It turns out they're both right. First you get the new world state and endless diversions as you are disempowered. And then, as we are watching, credit dries up, and the cheap manufactured goods of the consumer society are no longer cheap. Then you get the iron fist of Oceania, of Orwell's 1984. ~ Chris Hedges

Humpty was Pushed! ~ Chris Christodoulou

We must know where we want to go in order to get there. Our modern lives are growing increasingly chaotic, and it is only a clear, definitive purpose that will keep us on track. ~ Chris Matakas

My dad talks about the times when we'd play backyard cricket: If I got bowled out, I'd just refuse to let go of the bat and swing it at anyone who tried to take it away from me. I like to think that's been tempered a bit over the years. ~ Chris Hemsworth

I'm reading Joe Eszterhas biography; it's fabulous. Every time he made a movie, he fought with the director or the producer over the ending. ~ Chris Matthews

He's just intelligent-sort of a nerd, actually. He's the only brother I know who made a 1420 on the SAT. I don't think Chris Dudley did that, and Mr. Smarty Pants went to Yale. Kobe doesn't hang out. He doesn't go to the clubs. He doesn't ride around. He doesn't put rims on his car. He's just him. He's a sophisticated kid. Damn mature for his age. ~ Shaquille O'Neal

He looked at the cameraman. "Was the photographer your idea? Not getting enough TV time?" "No," replied Calvin. "I've had all of the publicity I need for this lifetime and several more. His name is Bob Jones; he goes by the nickname 'Danger.' I didn't know we were getting him until we were on Domus. There was a combat cameraman doing a show on the new members of the Terran Republic, and the Domans hired him to do a 'real Terran news show' on the war. ~ Chris Kennedy

I'm more like a spoon symbol. I think women just want to spoon me. ~ Chris O'Dowd

For me, part of the fascination with making animation is you go to a place; it's a complete immersion in someone else's fantasy. ~ Chris Wedge

With the Holy Spirit, you have it made! For you, life is already successful. ~ Chris Oyakhilome