Quotable quotes: wisdom from Watterson
September 21, 2008 by Miki Saxon
I love the comics. I’ve followed a lot of good ones over the years, but my hands down all-time favorite is Calvin and Hobbs written by Bill Watterson.
Watterson is an interesting guy. He never allowed any commercial products to be made from his strip—no stuffed Hobbs (or I’d have one!), no Calvin dolls, nothing. And he allowed the compilations of his strips only grudgingly. (I own most of them.)
When he decided to stop that was it.
Obviously, he wasn’t driven by money; he didn’t want celebrity. He said what he wanted to say—no more and no less. But what he said will resonate for many years to come.
About education: “Why waste time learning, when ignorance is instantaneous?” (Today’s students have this one down pat.)
About writing: “The purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure pure reasoning, and inhibit clarity. With a little practice, writing can be an intimidating and impenetrable fog!” (But with a little more effort it can be just the opposite.)
About business: “To make a business decision, you don’t need much philosophy; all you need is greed, and maybe a little knowledge of how the game works.” (An awful lot of CEOs seem to have taken this attitude to heart.)
About living: “There is not enough time to do all the nothing we want to do.” (True, but I’m trying—are you?)
Your comments—priceless
Don’t miss a post, subscribe via RSS or EMAIL
Image credit: Just-Us-3 CC license