Gary Larson

If I didn't understand a cartoon in a newspaper, I'd just turn the page.

I think one thing that's important to maintain is a sense of fear, always doubting yourself... a good dose of insecurity helps your work in some ways.

You know those little snow globes that you shake up? I always thought my brain was sort of like that. You know, where you just give it a shake and watch what comes out and shake it again. It's like that.

I just get silly inside my head and I start to think about something and in my head I start twisting it around, contorting it and envisioning it in different ways.

A long time ago, I became aware that many of us have a tendency to lump nature into simplistic categories, such as what we consider beautiful or ugly, important or unimportant. As human a thing as that is to do, I think it often leads us to misunderstand the respective roles of life forms and their interconnectedness.

My future plans are hazy, and I've yet to experience how much cartooning is in my blood and therefore how much I'll miss it. But I have some other interests, especially in music, and I will probably take the opportunity to delve into those things more deeply.

Cartooning was a good fit for me. And yet now, years later, I almost never think about it.

I love parasites! I can't get enough of them.

I didn't want to go to school for more than four years, and I didn't know what you did with a bachelor's in biology. So I switched over and got my degree in communications. I regret it now. It was one of the most idiotic things I ever did.

I didn't feel that my identity was caught up in being a cartoonist, and that if it stopped I'd stop.

Taking a solo on a tune is always a little bit scary.

I didn't realize I was working in a family medium.

You should always leave the party 10 minutes before you actually do.

My first month in syndication, I made about $100. I thought it would be exciting if I ever got up to the level where I could pay my rent.

With my own cartoon, it was just me being goofy by myself, but when it comes to an animated film, you're working with 45 animators and assistant animators. It's a whole different ballgame.

As a kid I used to raise snakes. Obviously, my social life was a bit down at the time. But it took me a while to realise that with an interest like that people are going to think there's something wrong with you.

I remember one time watching a bird snatch a dragonfly out of midair and thinking, 'Gee, life can come to an end - crunch! - just like that.'

Don Martin was the one who really stood out. I really always loved his work. He was such a great artist.

I never have been able to understand where the humor comes from.

A lot of people think I'm going to be like someone who's stepped out of one of his own cartoons. And maybe I am. But I sure have a hard time analyzing it.

I've drawn some things that have fallen very flat.

Sometimes I'm convinced that one day I'm going to draw the cartoon that offends everyone, and that'll be the end.

I was so intrigued by insects and things that crawled or flew - I could spend hours by myself in a vacant lot.

I keep thinking someone's gonna show up and say, 'There's been a big mistake. The guy next door is supposed to be drawing the cartoon. Here's your shovel.'

The Bluebird of Happiness long absent from his life, Ned is visited by the Chicken of Depression.