Welcome to our collection of insightful and inspiring quotes by Lynda Barry, a renowned cartoonist, author, and educator. Lynda Barry’s work is celebrated for its poignant observations on life, creativity, and the human experience. With a distinctive blend of humor, empathy, and raw authenticity, Barry’s words resonate with readers and creators alike, offering profound insights into the complexities of existence and the power of artistic expression.
Throughout her career, Lynda Barry has captivated audiences with her unique perspective on the world, often exploring themes of childhood, imagination, and the struggles of everyday life. Her distinctive artistic style coupled with her ability to distill profound truths into simple yet profound words has earned her a devoted following around the globe. Whether through her iconic comic strips, thought-provoking essays, or engaging lectures, Barry continues to inspire countless individuals to embrace their creativity and find beauty in the ordinary.
I do dumb stuff, like playing my favorite dumb Barry White song and lip-synching into the mirror so it looks like his voice is coming out of my mouth. Lynda Barry
I wasn’t afraid to be laughed at or be loud. Lynda Barry
I’ve gotten a lot of livid letters about the awfulness of my work. I’ve never known what to make of it. Why do people bother to write if they hate what I do? Lynda Barry
The happy ending is hardly important, though we may be glad it’s there. The real joy is knowing that if you felt the trouble in the story, your kingdom isn’t dead. Lynda Barry
My goal on my bucket list is to write a romantic comedy movie. Lynda Barry
Part of a horror movie has to be a bit fakey for me to really enjoy it. The new ones are so realistic that they distract me from the ride through the horror. Lynda Barry
I found myself compelled – like this weird, shameful compulsion – to draw cute animals. Lynda Barry
When you are little, you will draw pictures for no reason. Lynda Barry
Going on Letterman is like going off the high dive. It’s exhilarating, but after a while it wasn’t the kind of thrill I enjoyed. Lynda Barry
I do love to eavesdrop. It’s inspirational, not only for subject matter but for actual dialogue, the way people talk. Lynda Barry
I remember my comic strips being called ‘new wave.’ It bugged me. Lynda Barry
I live in constant fear of being fired or dropped for that dark part of my work I can’t control. Lynda Barry
I used to live a very social life and never spend much solitary time looking at birds or reading. Lynda Barry
Cartoonist was the weirdest name I finally let myself have. I would never say it. When I heard it I silently thought, what an awful word. Lynda Barry
‘What It Is’ was based on this class I’ve been teaching for 10 years – I wanted to write a book about writing that didn’t mention stuff like story structure, protagonists, and all those things that we know about only because they already exist in stories. Lynda Barry
It’s not hard for me to be funny in front of people, but most of that is just horrified nerves taking the form of what makes people laugh, and afterwards I’d always feel dreadfully depressed, kind of self-induced bi-polar disorder. Lynda Barry
In life there are always these things happening if you can just get the joke. Lynda Barry
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. Lynda Barry
We don’t create a fantasy world to escape reality. We create it to be able to stay. Lynda Barry
I believe a kid who is playing is not alone. There is something brought alive during play, and this something, when played with, seems to play back. Lynda Barry
In my writing class, we never, ever talk about the writing – ever. We never address a story that’s been read. I also won’t let anyone look at the person who’s reading. No eye contact; everybody has to draw a spiral. And I would like to do a drawing class where we could talk about anything except for the drawing. No one could even mention it. Lynda Barry
‘Good Times’ is a story about the loss of innocence, how adults are responsible for their actions but children aren’t. Lynda Barry
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. Lynda Barry
It’s much easier to teach writing, because people are less shy about writing. If they’re in a group, nobody can see what they’re writing. When you’re drawing, people get a little more nervous. Lynda Barry
Remember when you were in school and the teacher would put a picture under an overhead projector so you could see it on the wall? God, I loved that. Tellya the truth, I used to look at that beam of light and think it was God. Lynda Barry
Love will make a way out of no way. Lynda Barry
For ‘Picture This,’ I wanted it to be a drawing book that didn’t have any instructions about drawing, beyond the real simple stuff you’d find like in a Bazooka bubblegum wrapper, or in ‘Highlights’ magazine. I just wanted it to be feelings about looking and seeing and pictures. Lynda Barry
For horror movies, color is reassuring because, at least in older films, it adds to the fakey-ness. Lynda Barry
Kids don’t plan to play. They don’t go: ‘Barbie, Ken, you ready to play? It’s gonna be a three-act.’ Lynda Barry
The strips are nearly effortless unless I am really emotionally upset, a wreck. Lynda Barry
I think of images as an immune system and a transit system. Lynda Barry
When you think about it, giving up your ‘real’ personality is a small price to pay for the richness of ‘living happily ever after’ with an actual man! Lynda Barry
I look crazy. I know I do. Been true since I was a kid! Lynda Barry
Love is an exploding cigar we willingly smoke. Lynda Barry
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. Lynda Barry
I am about as detailed as a shadow. Lynda Barry
I tried to be like the richer kids as much as I could because I wanted to live on their streets, at least hang out on their streets and eat their amazing food and walk barefoot on their shag carpets. I became something of a pest in that way, and in general, other people’s parents didn’t like me. Lynda Barry
If it is your time, love will track you down like a cruise missile. Lynda Barry
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. Lynda Barry
The library was open for one hour after school let out. I hid there, looking at art books and reading poetry. Lynda Barry
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. So for ‘What It Is,’ it was this idea of ‘What is an image?’ Lynda Barry
When you learn about stories in school, you get it backward. You start to think ‘Oh, the reason these things are in stories is because a book said I need to put these things in there.’ You need a death, as my husband says, and you need a little sidekick with a saying like ‘Skivel-dee-doo!’ Lynda Barry
Remember how you used to be able to feel your bed breathing and the walls spinning when you were a kid? Lynda Barry
Whenever I do a book, I’m usually guided by a question or something that I’m trying to tease out. Lynda Barry
Race and class are the easiest divisions. It’s very stupid. Lynda Barry
The minute you understand racism, you’re responsible for being racist. It’s like eating from the tree of knowledge. Lynda Barry
Playing and fun are not the same thing, though when we grow up we may forget that and find ourselves mixing up playing with happiness. There can be a kind of amnesia about the seriousness of playing, especially when we played by ourselves. Lynda Barry
I go to work the minute I open my eyes. Lynda Barry
I am not sure how much I would like being married if I wasn’t married to him. A man who likes flea markets and isn’t gay? I knew I was lucky. Lynda Barry
Humor is such a wonderful thing, helping you realize what a fool you are but how beautiful that is at the same time. Lynda Barry
I need to be cheered up a lot. I think funny people are people who need to be cheered up. Lynda Barry
When I was working on ‘Freddie,’ I had been trying to write it on a computer for many, many years, but that delete button just won’t let anything go forward. Lynda Barry
I started doing cartoons when I was about 21. I never thought I would be a cartoonist. It happened behind my back. I was always a painter and drawer. Lynda Barry
People think that whatever I put into strips has happened to me in my life. Lynda Barry
No one stopped me from playing when I was alone, but there were times when I wasn’t able to, though I wanted to… There were times when nothing played back. Writers call it ‘writer’s block.’ For kids there are other names for that feeling, though kids don’t usually know them. Lynda Barry
I run a tight ship, but I try and make it seem like I’m not doing that at all. Lynda Barry
The thing that really struck me when I went to junior high was class. I grew up on a pretty poor street, but the school district I was in included some fine neighborhoods – so I got to know a couple of the kids from those places and went to their houses and experienced such culture shock. Lynda Barry
I grew up in a house that had a whole lot of trouble. As much trouble as you could imagine. Lynda Barry
My childhood is always going to limit me. Lynda Barry
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. Lynda Barry
My strips are not always funny, and they can be pretty grim at times, and I know I lose readers because of it, but I can’t do anything about it – my work is very much connected to something I need to do in order to feel stable. Lynda Barry
Sometimes I think I’m the craziest person on the planet. Lynda Barry
I was unable to sleep and I would stay up and draw these little cartoons. Then a friend showed them around. Before I knew it I was a cartoonist. Lynda Barry
If I had had me for a student I would have thrown me out of class immediately. Lynda Barry