Quotes from Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

“Art, as I see it, is any human activity which doesn’t grow out of either of our species’ two basic instincts: survival and reproduction.”
― Scott McCloud, quote from Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

“I may have drawn an axe being raised in this example, but I'm not the one who let it drop or decided how hard the blow, or who screamed, or why. That, dear reader, was your special crime. Each of you was committing it in your own style.”
― Scott McCloud, quote from Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

“By stripping down an image to its essential "meaning", an artist can amplify that meaning in a way that realistic art can't.”
― Scott McCloud, quote from Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

“Our perception of "reality" is an act of faith based on mere fragments.”
― Scott McCloud, quote from Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

“The natural world creates great beauty every day, yet the only rules of composition it follows are those of function and chance.”
― Scott McCloud, quote from Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

“I guess the basic difference is that animation is sequential in time but in spatially juxtaposed as comics are.

Each successive frame of a movie is projected on exactly the same space--the screen--while each frame of comics must occupy a different space.

Space does for comics what time does for film!”
― Scott McCloud, quote from Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

“Through traditional realism, the comics artist can portray the world without--

--and through the cartoon, the world within.”
― Scott McCloud, quote from Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

“This phenomenon of observing the parts but perceiving the whole has a name. It's called closure.

In our daily lives, we often commit closure, mentally completing that which is incomplete based on past experience.”
― Scott McCloud, quote from Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

“Think of your face as a mask. That's what it is, after all. A mask. Facing outward. Worn from the day you were born. Slave to your every mental command. Seen by everyone you meet. But never by you. Open its eyes now. Just think it. The mask will obey.”
― Scott McCloud, quote from Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

“Just as pictures and the intervals between them create the illusion of time through closure, words introduce time by representing that which can only exist in time--sound.”
― Scott McCloud, quote from Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

“The panel acts as a sort of general indicator that time or space is being divided. The durations of that time and the dimensions of that space are defined more by contents of the panel than by the panel itself.”
― Scott McCloud, quote from Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

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Popular quotes

“— ¡Capitán…! ¡Capitán…! ¿Qué broma es ésta? ¿Dónde se han metido?
Una sombra oscura nació de entre las sombras de la cocina. Era un targuí alto, muy delgado, con un oscuro "lithan" cubriéndole el rostro, un fusil en una mano y una larga espada en la otra.
Se detuvo bajo el porche.
— Están muertos -dijo.
Le observó incrédulo.
— ¿Muertos…? -repitió estúpidamente-. ¿Todos…?
— Todos.
— ¿Quién los mató?
— Yo.
Se aproximó sin dar crédito a lo que estaba oyendo.
— ¿Tú…? -inquirió agitando la cabeza como para desechar la idea-.
¿Pretendes decirme que tú, sin ayuda de nadie, has matado a doce soldados, un sargento y un oficial…?
Asintió con naturalidad:
— Dormían.
Abdul-el-Kebir, que había visto morir a miles de personas, que había ordenado ejecutar a muchas, y que aborrecía a todos y cada uno de sus carceleros, experimentó sin embargo una insoportable sensación de angustia y vacío en la boca del estómago, y se apoyó levemente en el poste de madera que soportaba el porche para no perder el equilibrio.
— ¿Los has asesinado mientras dormían? -inquirió-. ¿Por qué?
— Porque ellos asesinaron a mi 1huésped. -Hizo una pausa-. Y porque eran demasiados. Si uno daba la voz de alarma, hubieras muerto de viejo entre estas cuatro paredes…
Abdul-el-Kebir le observó en silencio y agitó la cabeza afirmativamente, como si comprendiese algo que se le antojó oscuro en un principio.
— Ahora te recuerdo… -admitió-.
Eres el targuí que nos dio hospitalidad… Te vi cuando me llevaban.
— Sí -asintió. Soy Gacel Sayah, eras mi huésped, y tengo la obligación de llevarte al otro lado de la frontera.
— ¿Por qué?
Le miró sin comprender. Por último, señaló:
— Es la costumbre… Pediste mi protección y debo protegerte.
— Matar a catorce hombres por protegerme resulta excesivo, ¿no crees…?
El targuí no se dignó responder y echó a andar en dirección a la abierta puerta.
— Traeré los camellos… -dijo-.
Prepárate para un largo viaje.
Le observó mientras se alejaba, perdiéndose de vista”
― Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa, quote from Tuareg

“How to find a good spouse?
-the best single way is to deserve a good spouse.”
― Charles T. Munger, quote from Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger

“So he’s gonna want to get out of Dodge as fast as he can.” Sure enough, the caravan was racing down the”
― Stuart Gibbs, quote from Spy Ski School

“What a dick,” she says. “You know what the worst part is?” “That there are forty people left in the world and he’s one of them?”
― Sarah Lyons Fleming, quote from Mordacious

“The spirit is beyond pleasure and pain; it’s outside them. They are swings of opposites. The spiritual is in the here and now. It’s not pleasure nor is it pain. It is its own substance, its own kind.”
― Belsebuub, quote from Gazing into the Eternal: Reflections upon a Deeper Purpose to Living

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About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.