I was reading about how countless species are being pushed toward extinction by man's destruction of forests. . . . Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.

Often it takes some calamity to make us live in the present. Then suddenly we wake up and see all the mistakes we have made.

At school, new ideas are thrust at you every day. Out in the world, you’ll have to find the inner motivation to search for new ideas on your own. With any luck at all, you’ll never need to take an idea and squeeze a punchline out of it, but as bright, creative people, you’ll be called upon to generate ideas and solutions all your lives. Letting your mind play is the best way to solve problems.

I say if a novelty Christmas song is funny one time, then it is funny every time. - Calvin

It's going to be a grim day when the world is run by a generation that doesn't know anything but what it's seen on TV.

My guess is that the editor [Cincinnati Post] wanted his own Jeff MacNelly (a Pulitzer winner at 24), and I didn't live up to his expectations. My Cincinnati days were pretty Kafkaesque.

The writing doesn't distract me while I'm drawing and vice versa. I can devote my full attention to each.