August 13, 2007

Charlie & Lucy

Peanuts was a syndicated daily comic strip written and drawn by American cartoonist Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950 to the day after Schulz's death on February 13, 2000. The strip was one of the most popular and influential in the history of the medium.


Charlie Brown, the principal character of Peanuts, wins our heart with his losing ways. It always rains on his parade, his baseball game, and his life. He's an inveterate worrier who frets over trifles (but who's to say they're trifles?). He can be spotted a mile away in his sweater with the zig-zag trim, head down, hands in pocket, headed for Lucy's psychiatric booth. He is considerate, friendly and polite and we love him knowing that he'll never win a baseball game or the heart of the little red-haired girl, kick the football Lucy is holding or fly a kite successfully. His friends call him "wishy-washy," but his spirit will never give up in his quest to triumph over adversity.

Here are my all-time favorite Charlie Brown quotes:

In the book of life, the answers aren't in the back.

I've developed a new philosophy... I only dread one day at a time.

Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter like unrequited love!


My anxieties have anxieties.

Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, "Where have I gone wrong?" Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night."

I got a "C" in everything. I'm a straight "blah" student!

Years are like candy bars. We're paying more, but they're getting shorter.

There must be millions of people all over the world who never get any love letters . . . I could be their leader.

Sometimes you lie in bed at night, and you don't have a single thing to worry about...That always worries me!

It always looks darkest just before it gets totally black.


I'm not a poor loser, I'm a good loser. I'm so good at it I lose all the time!

That's the secret to life... replace one worry with another.

How can we lose when we're so sincere?

Happiness is anyone and anything that's loved by you.

Life is like an ice cream cone...you have to learn to lick it.


Good grief, indeed!




Making her debut in 1952, just two short years after the Peanuts comic strip first ran, Lucy Van Pelt burst into the popular daily, becoming the high-voltage catalyst to ignite the comedic fire under the lovable members of the original Peanuts gang. Lucy's take-charge attitude and annoying self-confidence immediately cast her as one of the favorite characters of the strip as well as an unlikely, but powerful, role model for men and women alike. To ardent fans of the strip, she is best loved for being bossy and for her charmingly crabby disposition that is solely her own.

Of all the Peanuts characters, I admit to identifying with Lucy the most. Here are some of the most memorable words the famous fussbudget has boldly uttered
:

This is a hard world to get along in. I feel sorry for all the new little babies.

It's hard for a critical person to go to sleep if she isn't allowed a brief word of criticism!

By the time I've grown up, we'll probably have a woman president. You know what that means, don't you? It means I won't get to be the first one. BOY, THAT MAKES ME MAD!!

I never made a mistake in my life. I thought I did once, but I was wrong.

I'm worried about a little boy who sits in front of me at school. He cries every day. This afternoon I tried to help him. I whacked him one on the arm... There's nothing like a little physical pain to take your mind off emotional problems.

Can I help it if I have crabby genes?

I think you should work hard to improve your character, Charlie Brown. Once a child gets to be five years old, his character is pretty well established.


It's a scientific fact that girls are smarter than boys! And do you know who discovered it? WOMEN SCIENTISTS!

Each generation must be able to blame the previous generation for its problems. It doesn't solve anything, but it makes us all feel better.

Try not to have a good time . . . This is supposed to be educational.

I'm intrigued by this view you have on the purpose of life, Charlie Brown. You say we're put on this earth to make others happy? ... What are the others put here for?

I'm frustrated and inhibited, and no one understands me.

You can't drift along forever... you have to direct your thinking. For instance you have to decide whether you're going to be a liberal or a conservative. You have to take some sort of stand. You have to associate with some sort of cause.

Big sisters are the crab grass in the lawn of life.

Have you ever seen an X-ray of a hiccup?

You think being average is enough, don't you? Well it isn't! What shape would the world be in today if everyone settled for being average?


People who prefer sunsets are dreamers! They always give up! They always look back instead of forward! I just might have known you weren't a sunrise person! Sunrisers are go-getters! They have ambition and drive! Give me a person who likes a sunrise every time! Yes, sir! I'm sorry Charlie Brown. If you prefer sunsets to sunrises, I can't take your case. You're hopeless!

We critical people are always being criticized!

I hate playing with a poor loser, but I can't stand playing with a good loser!

No one wants to turn my jump rope for me. They all say I'm too crabby. They say I complain too much. They say I complain when they turn it too fast and they say I complain when they turn it too slow. No one understands us crabby people!


Life is too short to waste it listening to some person who doesn't know when to shut up! Time is too valuable!

Gee. Do they still make wooden Christmas Trees?

What do you mean nobody's fault! It has to be somebody's fault! Somebody's got to take the blame! Find a scapegoat!

No matter how hard you try, you can't build a rainman.

Just remember, I can take anything that life throws at me! (A ball lands on her head.) That was a hit, not a throw!

You DO think I'm beautiful, don't you, Charlie Brown? [pause] You didn't answer me right away. You had to think about it first, didn't you? If you really had thought I was beautiful, you would've spoken right up. I know when I've been insulted. I KNOW WHEN I'VE BEEN INSULTED.

Happiness is a warm puppy.

Being crabby all day makes you hungry.

All you really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.

28 comments:

Ian said...

I always liked Peanuts. I've incorporated a lot of the elements into my own webcomic like the four-panel layout, the occasional "silent" third panel, the non-sequitur commentary.

Ian

Chase March said...

Great history lesson there of a classic strip. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I always loved Peanuts but I never called it Peanuts. I called it Charlie Brown. I love it so much, I named my English Bulldog after him. Great post!

Pamela said...

she's correct... being crabby makes one hungry. Probably for sauerkraut

Pam said...

i never could get into peanuts...but charlie did have some funny quotes. when they were on tv, the teacher, who you never see, is always saying 'wah, wah, wah, wah, wah,wah,wah'..that drove me nuts lol (no pun intended)

Dumdad said...

I enjoyed that trip down memory lane - thanks!

Fighter Jet said...

I loved it mam'....it was superb as 'dumdad' has very aptly pit it..trip to memory lane...
I still love Charlie Brown..and Lucy ofcourse..
but where is Snoopy??!!

GRREEEAATTTTTTTTTTT post....I enjoyed it a lot.thanks!for the joy.

Da Winged Acrophobic said...

Hey, interesting tribute this one. Reminded me how I could draw each Peanuts character exactly, back when I was fifteen. Tried to rekindle the talent a few minutes ago, Charlie Brown looked more like a caricature of George Bush Jr!

Anonymous said...

Somehow that does not surprise me that Lucy is your favorite. ;)

The wonderful aspect of Charlie Brown is the worldwide appeal and how the comic strip is still relevant today.

Paolo... said...

I love peanuts!
though my favorite character is snoopy...
there's only one comic strip that I remember from peanuts..it's lucy looking mad and shouting "Just when you know the answers they change all the questions!"

good day!ΓΌ

Maryanne Moll said...

I looooove Peanuts! I was actually shocked to learn that Charlie wasn't Snoopy's first owner. Although Snoopy eventually ended back with Charlie (after his long journey with Woodstock to his first owner, out of honor), I was in a daze for a couple of days.

Kris said...

Glad to see that I am not the only who loved the comic strip.

choochoo said...

I was a Van Pelt-clone when I was a kid.

Vk-mahalkaayo said...

wow, peanuts,
i like this too, esp. reading the comics....

thanks for sharing....

kumusta na kayo?....sigi just to pass by to say Hello....

krystyna said...

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Katie said...

I've always loved Peanuts. It's probably my favorite comic strip.

my4kids said...

I love Peanuts! Always has been my favorite.

Cherry Popcorn said...

Oooh.. THat was a long post! =) I love Charlie Brown! Where's snoopy anyway? Haha..

I like the Lucy's first sentence! The part where she say she feels sorry for all the newborn babies! Haha.. That was cute!

Romeo Morningwood said...

We all need Charlie's moral governor and Lucy's chutzpah!
I loved Snoopy.

Have you ever noticed that MAD Magazine's Alfred E Neuman (What Me Worry) looked like an adolescent version of Charlie Brown?

Coinky-Dink? I think not.

Anonymous said...

My favourite would have to be when Snoopy's around. Blame it on my madness about dogs.

joy
Your Love Coach

Clare said...

Hi Irene! How's it going? I really like Charles Shulz too and Charlie Brown. Shulz had such a wonderful understanding of life -- I'm glad his cartoons are still around.
:)

Scott from Oregon said...

Sparky was from my hometown. I used to run into him alot. My woodshop teacher (who I was pretty close to, was his best friend).

Cool, huh?

Mimi Lenox said...

Where, oh where, is Irene?

my4kids said...

Everything okay there? It's been awhile since we heard from you....

ShadowFalcon said...

I LOVE peanuts!

Macoosh said...

peanuts will always be my favorite comic strip.

these excerpts here are spectacular. now i'll have to search the web for more!

i love your blog; sorry i haven't been here in a while. i have a lot of catching up to do!

Bhavya Jain said...

I got too less a chance to read Peannuts. But whenever I did I liked it. Just came to your blog by chance and when I read this article I think it made by day. Now I won't ever loose a chance to read peanuts. :)

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