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

“To other scientists, the scientist who corrects a colleague’s error, or cites good reasons for seriously doubting his or her conclusions, performs a noble deed, like a Zen master who boxes the ears of a novice straying from the meditative path, although scientists correct one another more as equals than as master and student.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson, quote from Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution

“Stranger, if you passing meet me and desire to speak to me, why should you not speak to me?
And why should I not speak to you?”
― Walt Whitman, quote from Leaves of Grass: The First (1855) Edition

“After these came the royal children; there were ten of them, and the little dears came jumping merrily along hand in hand, in couples; they were all ornamented with hearts. Next came the guests, mostly Kings and Queens, and among them Alice recognised the White Rabbit:”
― Lewis Carroll, quote from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Other Stories

“Ich versuche mir vorzustellen, wie es wäre, wenn mir dies Erleben zum ersten Mal auf solche Art zuteil geworden wäre. Ich muß den Gedanken abbremsen, so was ist nicht vorstellbar. Eines ist klar: Wäre an dem Mädchen irgendwann in Friedenszeiten durch einen herumstreunenden Kerl die Notzucht verübt worden, wäre hinterher das übliche Friedensbrimborium von Anzeige, Protokoll, Vernehmung, ja von Verhaftung und Gegenüberstellung, Zeitungsbericht und Nachbarngetue gewesen – das Mädel hätte anders reagiert, hätte einen anderen Schock davongetragen. Hier aber handelt es sich um ein Kollektiv-Erlebnis, vorausgewußt, viele Male vorausbefürchtet – um etwas, das den Frauen links und rechts und nebenan zustieß, das gewissermaßen dazu gehörte. Diese kollektive Massenform der Vergewaltigung wird auch kollektiv überwunden werden. Jede hilft jeder, indem sie darüber spricht, sich Luft macht, der anderen Gelegenheit gibt sich Luft zu machen, das Erlittene auszuspeien. Was natürlich nicht ausschließt, das feinere Organismen als diese abgebrühte Berliner Göre daran zerbrechen oder doch auf Lebenszeit einen Knacks davontragen.”
― quote from A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary

“It looked like it could use a drink," his father mumbled. "I gave it some gin." "Spirits”
― Megan Derr, quote from Tournament of Losers

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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.