Stan Lee Quotes

No one has a perfect life. Everybody has something that he wishes was not the way it is. ~ Stan Lee

Stan Lee always wanted to do another syndicated strip while we were doing Spider-Man. I was working two jobs, and he wanted to make time to do another strip. He wanted to do a humor strip. I said, 'Stan, I barely make it through the week now. How the hell am I going to do another strip?' He said, 'Oh, I'm sorry, I always forget it takes you longer to do a page than it takes me to do twenty pages.' ~ John Romita, Sr.

I've been very lucky. All I wanted was to pay the rent. Then these characters took off and suddenly there were Hulk coffee mugs and Iron Man lunchboxes and The Avengers sweatshirts everywhere. Money's okay, but what I really like is working. ~ Stan Lee

It's the fact that fans still care. I like all the comics conventions: The smaller ones are easier, the bigger ones are exciting ... Each one I say: Never again. But they're all great ... These things are important because they keep the fans' interest alive in comics. They keep the fans reading and their imaginations stimulated. ~ Stan Lee

I started working with Timely in 1946. Stan Lee hired me. ~ Dan DeCarlo

I'm just working with ideas in my head and with drawings that the artists did. And suddenly to see these things come to life in movies - it's just wonderful. ~ Stan Lee

And now, until we meet again, may the blessings of Asgard be showered upon you! ~ Stan Lee

I have a reputation for doing superheroes, but I like all kinds of writing. In fact, hardly anybody knows this, but I've probably written as many humor stories as superhero stories. ~ Stan Lee

I think if I were a superhero saving the world, I'd expect at least not to have to pay income taxes. I mean there should be something in it for a hero who risks his life to save mankind every day. ~ Stan Lee

I don't sound disloyal, but I've never had a pair of Marvel pyjamas or underwear. I do have a lot of Marvel figurines at home in a cabinet. Every time they make a new Marvel figure I put it in my cabinet. ~ Stan Lee

Just because you have superpowers, that doesn't mean your love life would be perfect. I don't think superpowers automatically means there won't be any personality problems, family problems or even money problems. I just tried to write characters who are human beings who also have superpowers. ~ Stan Lee

There is only one who is all powerful, and his greatest weapon is love. ~ Stan Lee

I'm no prophet, but I'm guessing that comic books will always be strong. I don't think anything can really beat the pure fun and pleasure of holding a magazine in your hand, reading the story on paper, being able to roll it up and put it in your pocket, reread again later, show it to a friend, carry it with you, toss it on a shelf, collect them, have a lot of magazines lined up and read them again as a series. I think young people have always loved that. I think they always will. ~ Stan Lee

The power of prayer is still the greatest ever known in this endless eternal universe.-The Watcher in The Avengers #14 ~ Stan Lee

They sit together, physically separate but utterly connected by the moment they've created ~ Stan Lee

People are pissed off about the seemingly impossible goal of social mobility. their proposed solution is to take the wheels off the cart. ~ Stan Lee

Good" and "Bad" may be alien concepts to him, Ben. ~ Stan Lee

I'm lucky. I don't have to produce the whole movie. What I've been doing is just coming up with ideas for movies. I write a concept, a treatment, an outline, and if I sell that to a studio, then someone else does the actual production and I go on to another project, although I keep the title executive producer. ~ Stan Lee

You can read a Shakespeare play, but does that mean you wouldn't want to see it on the stage? ~ Stan Lee

Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor. ~ Stan Lee

Forced idleness is a terrible thing. ~ Stan Lee

I'm sort of a pressure writer. If somebody says, "Stan, write something," and I have to have it by tomorrow morning, I'll just sit down and I'll write it. It always seems to come to me. But I'm better doing a rushed job because if it isn't something that's due quickly, I won't work on it until it becomes almost an emergency and then I'll do it. ~ Stan Lee

You're not a Horse!" the woman cried.
That,Steven thought, is a strange thing to say. ~ Stan Lee, Stuart Moore, Andie Tong

I'm a frustrated actor. My ... goal is to beat Alfred Hitchcock in the number of cameos. I'm going to try to break his record. ~ Stan Lee

No Mr. West, it was not a choice
New children's chapter book disputes the notion that 400 years of slavery was a result of "mental imprisonment"

Cleveland, OH, - .In the words of the great Stan Lee, "With great power, comes great responsibility." When icons make erroneous statements, often they do so with out recognizing the long reaching effects their thoughtless statements may have. When Kanye West made his very controversial statements regarding slavery, describing it as a choice, an entire generation of young minds were watching and absorbing as inaccurate picture of history was painted for them and presented as fact. Author Michelle Person, former teacher, elementary school principal, and founder of Just Like Me Books (JLM) could not stand by and allow that fallacy to linger unchecked. Committed to promoting a love of reading and increasing literacy rates among high risk readers through an interactive platform that prominently features characters of color, JLM's newest release Leaders of the Revolution tells the story of Toussaint L'Ouverture and the first successful slave uprising in the western world.

The third book in the Nathaniel English series, aimed at children ages 6-11, follows 5th grade Nathaniel as he searches for solutions to his present day problems by learning about important historical figures of the past. Thanks to his mother's extensive at home library, Nathaniel is exposed to information that his teachers don't share, helpin ~ Michelle Person

If you wanna be an artist carry sketch pad with you, and sketch everything you see. Get so you can draw anything and it looks like what it's supposed to be. It's a lot of work, but if you really have it in you, it's not like work. It becomes fun. ~ Stan Lee

In the beginning Marvel created the Bullpen and the Style. And the Bullpen was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the Artists. And the Spirit of Marvel said, Let there be The Fantasic Four. And there was The Fantasic Four. And Marvel saw The Fantasic Four. And it was good. ~ Stan Lee

Singing a song, playing sports - anything that entertains, that takes people away from their own problems, is good. ~ Stan Lee

Fans are almost always nice. I really find that they rarely come on too strong. ~ Stan Lee

To me, writing is fun. It doesn't matter what you're writing, as long as you can tell a story. ~ Stan Lee

To my way of thinking, whether it's a superhero movie or a romance or a comedy or whatever, the most important thing is you've got to care about the characters. You've got to understand the characters and you've got to be interested. If the characters are interesting, you're half-way home. ~ Stan Lee

I used to be embarrassed because I was just a comic-book writer while other people were building bridges or going on to medical careers. And then I began to realize: entertainment is one of the most important things in people's lives. Without it they might go off the deep end. I feel that if you're able to entertain people, you're doing a good thing. ~ Stan Lee

If you look at Stan Lee and the Marvel comics, yes, there's a lot of awesome, serious and dramatic action that takes place. ~ David Dastmalchian

To tell you the truth, I never thought of myself as much of a success. ~ Stan Lee

Technology isn't a villain. Technology should help, but if you just use the technology for the sake of technology, then you're cheating your audience. You're not giving them the best story and the best direction and so forth. ~ Stan Lee

Comming from your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man ~ Stan Lee

You know, I guess one person can make a difference. 'Nuff said... ~ Stan Lee

With great power comes great responsibilty. ~ Stan Lee

I thought it would be great to do superheroes that have the same kind of life problems that any reader - that anybody could have. ~ Stan Lee

Luck's a revolving door, you just need to know when it's your time to walk through. ~ Stan Lee

Your humans slaughter each other because of the color of your skin, or your faith or your plitics
or for no reason at all
too many of you hate as easily as you draw breath. - Magneto ~ Stan Lee

Jack [Kirby] and Joe [Simon] wrote and drew the stories themselves in the beginning and I was just, like, the office boy. But after a while they had more writing than they could handle and I was the only guy around, so they said, "Hey Stan, you think you can write this?" When you're seventeen years old, what do you know? I said, "Sure, I can do it!" And that was it. ~ Stan Lee

To be honest, when I was writing these stories a million years ago, I never thought about movies at all one way or another. It would have seemed almost miraculous for these things to be movies someday. To me, they were just comic books that I hoped would sell so I could keep my job. ~ Stan Lee

I have never had a lap dance in Tampa or any other part of Florida. If I ever did have a lap dance, I don't think I would be discussing television ideas with the girl that was giving it to me. ~ Stan Lee

Comic books themselves are getting more literate. And there are people who are screenwriters and television writers and novelists who are writing for the comics, for some reason, they love doing it and some of the art work in the comics, I mean it rivals anything you'll see hanging on the walls of museums, they're illustrations more than drawings and all the people are discovering this and they're turning on to it. ~ Stan Lee

I am so impressed with people who can really make a big movie, a good movie. The amount of work that goes into it is incredible. ~ Stan Lee

Growing up, I had the weird fantasy list: I wanted to be Alice Cooper, Steven Spielberg, and Stan Lee. You have to have almost psychotic drive, because you're going to have years of failure. ~ Rob Zombie

Wives should be kissed - not heard. ~ Stan Lee

I had joined Marvel in 1967, after a year in Vietnam and three years as a student at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. Stan Lee, then the editor-in-chief, hired me as a production assistant. ~ Herb Trimpe

I work with people and we come up with ideas for movies, television and things like that. It's fun and I love doing it. ~ Stan Lee

It's a tremendous challenge, because there have been so many characters created over the years. Every time you think you come up with a great name, you find out somebody has already done it. Dreaming up the stories isn't that hard, but coming up with a good title is the toughest part. ~ Stan Lee

Who the hell is Warren Ellis again?"
Hardison gaped at the man. "Only one of the greatest comics writers in the past twenty years. Might as well ask who Alan Moore is, or Frank Miller, or Mark Waid, or Brian Michael Bendis, or Marv Wolfman, or Geoff Johns."

Eliot gave Hardison a blank look as they wove their way through the hall. Parker took the lead, toting a printed sign with her. Eliot and Hardison trailed in her wake. They made a point of striding right past Patronus's booth. They didn't turn to see if he noticed them.

"No one?" Hardison said. "Nothing? Not even Kurt Busiek? Neil Gaiman?"

"I have a life. I do things, active things. I date women."
"Stan Lee?"

Eliot gave Hardison that one with a wag of his head. "Who hasn't heard of Stan Lee?"

"All right," Hardison said with satisfaction. "You had me worried there, man. ~ Matt Forbeck

Reading is very good. And you can quote me! ~ Stan Lee

I never tried to write for other people. I liked people who had problems I might have, because we all have insecurities, regrets. I like heroes who were not 100-percent perfect, who things to take care of. ~ Stan Lee

Of what import are brief, nameless lives ... to Galactus? ~ Stan Lee

What the hell could you do? I've never been arrested, I haven't taken drugs, I've had the same wife for 54 years where's anything of interest to people? ~ Stan Lee

There's never a time when I'm not working. I don't take vacations. ~ Stan Lee

Some artists, such as Jack Kirby, need no plot at all. I mean I'll just say to Jack, "Let's let the next villain be Dr. Doom" ... or I may not even say that. He may tell me. And then he goes home and does it. He's so good at plots, I'm sure he's a thousand times better than I. He just makes up the plots for these stories. All I do is a little editing ... I may tell him that he's gone too far in one direction or another. Of course, occasionally I'll give him a plot, but we're practically both the writers on the things. ~ Stan Lee

I wanted them to be diverse. The whole underlying principle of the X-Men was to try to be an anti-bigotry story to show there's good in every person, ~ Stan Lee

When I went to Stan Lee - every time I was with Stan, I learned something every day. When I would do a pencil job, if I didn't have much faith in it I would hand it in and invariably Stan would make it look like it was a well-written and well-planned-out story. It made me tell people, 'If you want to become an artist, go to work at Marvel. Stan will turn you into a storyteller.' ~ John Romita, Sr.

The "problem" is that Comic-Con is so damned successful. People who are there seem to have a wonderful time. The very size of it makes it exciting. Wherever you look, there's something exciting. The attendees are always looking around for a familiar face. It's either 'There's a movie star!' Or, 'There's a TV star!' Or, 'There's the guy who drew the Green Lantern!' It means so much to the fans. It makes them feel like they're where it's happening. It's like Woodstock. ~ Stan Lee

I think people have always loved things that are bigger than life, things that are imaginative. ~ Stan Lee

They did offer me a chance of being a V in the crowd, but it's not my scene. I think they just thought it would be fun for me to do that, but I don't know. I heard that Stan Lee appears in every movie of his. ~ David Lloyd

Every kid loves fairy tales, stories of witches and giants and magicians. Then, when you get a little older you can't read fairy tales anymore. ~ Stan Lee

I couldn't take my eyes off of Stan [Lee]! As good as the movie is, all I could think about is, "What's he thinking?" So the movie ended, and then he, very whimsically, expressed all of his feelings about how long he waited, and how the TV shows in the '70s were all, "If only they could do this," and now they could. And he didn't get choked up and blubbery, but he was moved. Like, "Ohmigod, it happened while I was alive." And I can't believe I got to see that. He was very raw. It was quite beautiful. ~ Brian Michael Bendis

Once, I'd written a Western story, and one of the panels was just a hand holding a six-shooter, and there was a puff of smoke coming out of the barrel, and a straight horizontal line, indicating the trajectory of the bullet. So that page was sent back to me from the Code office, saying that the particular panel was too violent. I asked them what they meant, and they told me
I swear
"The puff of smoke is too big." Well, of course. So I had the artist make the smoke a little smaller, and the youth of America was saved. ~ Stan Lee

That's what everybody tells me. "I would've had a great comic-book collection, but my mother made me throw them away." But when I was growing up, my mother didn't care. As long as I was reading, she didn't care if my room was filled with comics. I could have saved everything. I was just too stupid to do it. ~ Stan Lee

The public always loves anything that's different, as long as it's well-made, if it's well-done. You never know what to expect when you go to one of these so-called superhero movies. ~ Stan Lee

I have to force myself to get angry. But I want to show the world that there's another side to me, that I am capable of deep, deep anger and fury. They better watch out for how I'm treated. ~ Stan Lee

The thing to me that's fun is trying to make the characters seem believable, or realistic. And it's especially challenging when you're doing fantasy stories, when you're doing superhero types of things. ~ Stan Lee

I guess one person can make a difference. ~ Stan Lee

When you work with people whom you like and you admire because they're so good at what they do, it doesn't feel like work. It's like you're playing. ~ Stan Lee

When you can sit down with a plain sheet of paper in front of you and make some notes, and, little by little, you see it take shape and become a concept for a movie or a TV show. That's a real thrill. You watch it go from notes on a paper to a meeting with writers and directors and actors. I can't think of anything that's more exciting. ~ Stan Lee

Everybody wants to feel that you're writing to a certain demographic because that's good business, but I've never done that ... I tried to write stories that would interest me. I'd say, what would I like to read? ... I don't think you can do your best work if you're writing for somebody else, because you never know what that somebody else really thinks or wants. ~ Stan Lee

I suppose I have come to realize that entertainment is not easily dismissed. Beyond the meaning (of a work of art), it is important to people. Without it, lives can be dull. ~ Stan Lee

I'm as excited as a kid with a new toy to be able to create a unique, exciting, urban superhero for a magazine that I respect as much as VIBE. ~ Stan Lee

All I thought about when I wrote my stories was, "I hope that these comic books would sell so I can keep my job and continue to pay the rent." Never in a million years could I have imagined that it would turn into what it has evolved into nowadays. Never. ~ Stan Lee

I thought it would be fun to take the kind of character that nobody would like, none of our readers would like, and shove him down their throats and make them like him. ~ Stan Lee

And we talk it out. Lately, I've had Roy Thomas come in, and he sits and makes notes while we discuss it. Then he types them up, which gives us a written synopsis. Originally - I have a little tape recorder - I had tried taping it, but then I found no one on staff has time to listen to the tape again later. But this way he makes notes, types it quickly, I get a carbon, the artist gets a carbon ... so we don't have to worry that we'll forget what we've said. ~ Stan Lee

It was as if the entire day, the entire vacation even, were leading up to a single moment. he felt certain then that stan lee was in some direct communication with the universe - in a way, say, that the watcher, the most mysterious marvel character, was content like some gnostic entity merely to know of machinations of creation - and that through lee's spiritually advanced vision, paul's own destiny was entrapped in the monthly serializations of these kitschy superheroes. he seemed both influenced and influencer in the world of marvel. ~ Rick Moody

Achilles, without his heel, you wouldn't even know his name today. ~ Stan Lee

You're always trying to do something that, on one hand, honors all those stories, that is still in some way the same character that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were doing back in the sixties. But, at the same time, you want to be able to tell new stories and not just rehash what's come before. ~ Jason Aaron

When I was a kid, I loved reading Sherlock Holmes. Now, you don't think of him as a superhero, but he was so damn much smarter than anybody else. ~ Stan Lee

Comic books to me are fairy tales for grown-ups. ~ Stan Lee

I never thought that Spider-Man would become the world wide icon that he is. I just hoped the books would sell and I'd keep my job. ~ Stan Lee

I had a publisher who felt comics were just for little kiddies, so he never wanted me to use words of more than two syllables. ~ Stan Lee

Comic books sort of follow with the move - if people see the movie and if they're interested in the character and want to see more of the character, they start buying the comic books. So a good movie helps the sale of the comic books and the comic books help the movie and one hand washes the other. So, I don't think there's any reason to think that comics will die out. ~ Stan Lee

I love Marvel and the people there. I'm glad I'm still part of it. ~ Stan Lee

Quality. That's the first word, the one word that comes to mind when I think of the books published by Abrams. In a world where so many companies are willing to cut corners, to do things the easy way in order to enhance the bottom line, it's gratifying to know that there's one company that obviously takes such pride in its finished product, one company that can always be counted on to design and produce a book that is, itself, as much a work of art as the illustrations on its pages. ~ Stan Lee

When you combine the great stories from the comics with the action and visual excitement of the movies, it doesn't get any better! ~ Stan Lee

That person who helps others simply because it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do, is indeed without a doubt, a real superhero ~ Stan Lee

Nevermore shall men make slaves of others! Not in Asgard
not on Earth
not any place where the hammer of Thor can be swung
or where men of good faith hold freedom dear! ~ Stan Lee

If you have superheroes or characters that exist in the same world, and you're doing movies of them, wouldn't it be fun to put a couple of them together in one movie? Audiences love that. It's a natural thing to do that. ~ Stan Lee

Harry waxes poetic about magic. He'll go on and on about how it comes from your feelings, and how it's a deep statement about the nature of your soul, and then he'll whip out some kind of half-divine, half-insane philosophy he's cobbled together from the words of saints and comic books about the importance of handling power responsibly. ~ Jim Butcher

I still don't look at myself as a star. I've always had a thankful heart. ~ Brenda Lee

These fingers of mine got brains in 'em. ~ Jerry Lee Lewis

I would like to believe that there is a resolution in the human tragedy and that order can be reimposed upon the earth in the same way it occurs in the fifth act of the Elizabethan drama that supposedly mirrors our lives. My experience has been otherwise. History seldom corrects itself in its own sequence, and when we mete out justice, we often do it in a fashion that perpetuates the evil of the transgressors and breathes new life into the descendants of Cain. I would like to believe the instincts of the mob can be exorcised from the species or genetically bred out of it. But there is no culture in the history of the world that has not lauded its warriors over its mystics. Sometimes in an idle moment, I try to recall the names of five slaves out of the whole sorry history of human bondage whose lives we celebrate. I have never had much success. ~ James Lee Burke

Sometimes he comes to me in my dreams, and I wonder if ironically all our stories were written on his skin back there in Texas City in 1947. Or maybe that's just poetic illusion purchased by time. But even in the middle of an Indian summer's day, when the sugarcane is beaten with purple and gold light in the fields and the sun is both warm and cool on your skin at the same time, when I know that the earth is a fine place after all, I have to mourn just a moment for those people of years ago who lived lives they did not choose, who carried burdens that were not their own, whose invisible scars were as private as the scarlet beads of Sister Roberta's rosary wrapped across the back of her small hand, as bright as drops of blood ringed round the souls of little people. ~ James Lee Burke

I belong with the trees,
the wind,
the earth beneath my feet.
I belong in the land of enchanting things.
But mostly,
I belong entwined in your kiss,
lost,
yet wild and free,
pure bliss,
like poetry. ~ Melody Lee

The Murder Burger is served right here.
You need not wait at the gate of Heaven for unleavened death.
You can be a goner on this very corner.
Mayonnaise, onions, dominance of flesh.
If you wish to eat it you must feed it.
Yall come back soon.
You bet. ~ Stan Rice