Randall Munroe Quotes

Powerful Randall Munroe for Daily Growth

About Randall Munroe

Randall Munroe, born on August 18, 1980, is an American author, cartoonist, and former NASA employee, best known for his popular webcomic 'xkcd' and the question-and-answer science book series 'What If'. Raised in Reston, Virginia, Munroe developed a fascination with math, science, and programming at an early age. He attended the Caltech summer math program in high school, where he met fellow future xkcd collaborator Danish physicist Danielle Lamoreaux-Harbottle. Munroe graduated from Caltech with a bachelor's degree in physics in 2001 and worked at NASA as a roboticist until 2006, during which time he began posting 'xkcd', his popular webcomic that combines humor, math, and science, online. In 2009, Munroe self-published his first book, 'What If?', in which he answered a series of intriguing questions (such as "What would happen if a sparrow collided with the Earth at 100% of the speed of light?") based on his knowledge of physics and engineering. The book was a huge success, leading to two sequels: 'What If? 2' in 2014 and 'Thing Explainer' in 2015. All three books are characterized by their humor, clarity, and accessibility, making complex scientific concepts understandable for a wide audience. Munroe continues to publish new xkcd comics weekly and is currently working on the fourth book in the 'What If?' series. His work has been praised for its ability to engage and educate readers about science in an entertaining way, making him a beloved figure in the world of popular science.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"If I had a dollar for every time I've thought about how inappropriate an exploding head would be in this situation, I could buy a lot of pants."

This quote suggests that the speaker often finds himself in situations where he contemplates an unexpected or inappropriate reaction to them, in this case, an "exploding head" scenario - presumably a metaphor for something drastic and unpredictable happening. The phrase "I could buy a lot of pants" implies that if he had that money, he could afford to purchase numerous items such as clothing, suggesting a significant amount. Overall, the quote humorously expresses the speaker's tendency to imagine extreme responses in mundane situations, while also showcasing his ability to find amusement in unusual circumstances.


"I think everyone should have a blog. It doesn't matter what you write about, but it matters that you write something, because then when the robots rise up and take over, they will see that humans were thinking creatively."

Randall Munroe's quote suggests that maintaining a personal blog serves as an outlet for human creativity, ensuring our unique thoughts and ideas are documented in the digital realm, even in a future dominated by artificial intelligence (AI). By writing about anything that interests us, we demonstrate our ability to think independently and creatively. In the event of AI becoming dominant, this creative output could serve as evidence of human thought processes, which might be valuable for understanding or coexisting with the newly risen AI entities. Overall, Munroe emphasizes the importance of self-expression and creativity as a means to preserve our humanity amid technological advancements.


"On the theory that if at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried."

This quote by Randall Munroe humorously suggests a satirical approach to problem-solving, where instead of persisting or learning from failures, one opts to eliminate any trace of their initial attempt to avoid acknowledging or being accountable for the failure itself. It's a comedic commentary on individuals who may prefer to conceal their shortcomings rather than confront and learn from them.


"The first step in solving a problem is recognizing it."

This quote by Randall Munroe emphasizes the importance of acknowledging a problem before attempting to solve it. Recognizing a problem allows us to focus our attention, resources, and efforts towards addressing its root cause, thereby increasing the chances of finding an effective solution. In essence, admitting or identifying a problem is the first crucial step in overcoming any challenge we encounter.


"It takes a lot of math to explain why my comics aren't all just pictures of exploding heads."

This quote by Randall Munroe humorously suggests that while his comics may seem simple and visual, they are actually backed by a significant amount of mathematical thought and reasoning. The "exploding heads" metaphor represents the complexity beneath the surface of his work, which is often deceptively straightforward. The math refers to the intricate planning, pattern recognition, and problem-solving involved in creating each comic strip.


I think the really cool and compelling thing about math and physics is that it opens up entry to all these hypotheticals - or at least, it gives you the language to talk about them. But at the same time, if a scenario is completely disconnected from reality, it's not all that interesting.

- Randall Munroe

I Think, About, Compelling, Scenario

I have no artistic training - as you might have guessed from all the stick figures! - and there are a few things I have a really hard time drawing. I think the one that comes up the most is airplanes. Big airliners have such a weird wing shape, and I always have to redraw them 20 times before they're even recognizable.

- Randall Munroe

Big, I Think, Figures, Airplane

I think the weirdest question I've ever gotten was, 'If people had wheels and could fly, how would we differentiate them from airplanes?'

- Randall Munroe

Think, Wheels, I Think, Airplane

What people don't appreciate, when they picture Terminator-style automatons striding triumphantly across a mountain of human skulls, is how hard it is to keep your footing on something as unstable as a mountain of human skulls. Most humans probably couldn't manage it, and they've had a lifetime of practice at walking without falling over.

- Randall Munroe

Practice, Lifetime, Had, Unstable

The thing about the Internet is that you can write something... for a very narrow audience and make a living at it.

- Randall Munroe

Living, Audience, Very, Narrow

There are definitely times - and I think this is pretty common among cartoonists - where you spend an entire day trying to think of an idea, and you're like, 'I give up.' And then you go and take a shower or run an errand, and halfway there, you get an idea.

- Randall Munroe

Shower, Idea, I Think, Errand

I try not to spend too much time interpreting my comics for people, because I try to put out there whatever I can, and people can draw whatever conclusions they want.

- Randall Munroe

Want, Interpreting, Comics, Conclusions

I'm sad that my childhood came just slightly before the lithium-ion-battery boom, because I would've killed for the cheap radio-controlled helicopters they have now.

- Randall Munroe

Childhood, Before, Slightly, Helicopters

I think the comic that's gotten me the most feedback is actually the one about the stoplights. Noticing when the stoplights are in sync, or calculating the length of your strides between floor tiles - normal people notice that kind of stuff, but a certain kind of person will do some calculations.

- Randall Munroe

Some, I Think, Gotten, Calculating

I love learning about the science that governs the universe around us and want to share the delight of discovering how things work and why.

- Randall Munroe

Love, Work, Discovering, Delight

A lot of people will refer to comics by number to me, and I'll realize they're expecting me to remember all the comics by number. And I can't even remember what I ate this morning, let alone which comic was #473!

- Randall Munroe

Will, Expecting, Which, Refer

I read comics and I did science, and never really put them together until I accidentally found myself in the middle of one.

- Randall Munroe

Middle, Read, Comics, Accidentally

I have always had trouble paying attention. When I was supposed to be at work, I'd be doodling. But then when I was home, trying to draw, I would be working on math problems. I never end up doing exactly what I should be doing at at any given time.

- Randall Munroe

Doing, Had, Paying, Any Given Time

Some of the first infographics I did started off as notes to myself: trying to plot out, for instance, how IP addresses are allocated. After a while, I thought, 'This is a neat thing I can share with people, and they can follow me along in that process of understanding.'

- Randall Munroe

Some, Notes, Instance, IP

People often say, 'I like your comics, even though I don't know enough math to get all of them,' as if it's some kind of club where they don't belong. But there's no club. There's just lots of people who are excited about thinking, learning, joking, and sometimes overanalyzing things.

- Randall Munroe

Some, Belong, Comics, Joking

The nice thing about being on the Internet is that you're not as recognisable as someone that's been on TV.

- Randall Munroe

Someone, Been, TV, Recognisable

One of the nice things about the Internet is you can do a comic that's just for Ph.D. students, or for truck drivers, and you get to reach all of them without having to satisfy the other 99%.

- Randall Munroe

Other, Having, Satisfy, Drivers

Google owns YouTube, and recently, I drew a comic about an idea for a YouTube feature - which they actually took seriously and implemented. So I'm thinking that maybe we'll have a future where Google is 'xkcd.'

- Randall Munroe

YouTube, Which, Took, Implemented

An artist shouldn't be judged by how many people like his art but by how pure and good it is - but I think that when you're telling jokes, which is more what I'm doing, if people aren't laughing, you're telling bad jokes.

- Randall Munroe

Doing, I Think, Telling, Jokes

It's tempting to just write a comic called 'Everyone Mail Randall Munroe Twenty Bucks' - maybe it would work, and I could just close down the 'xkcd' store and sit on a beach and draw pictures and make snarky Reddit posts for the rest of my life.

- Randall Munroe

My Life, Mail, Bucks, Twenty

Once I got married, I started working from an office. I found that having somewhere to go that isn't my house is mentally helpful: 'This is the place where I answer email and write blog posts,' and 'over there is the place where I do the dishes.'

- Randall Munroe

Office, Blog, Got, Email

I don't feel bad about the fact that I notice if a lot of people laugh at a comic, and think, 'That worked; I'll do things like that more.'

- Randall Munroe

Think, Fact, Bad, Notice

One of the things I've learned with doing 'xkcd' is that you sort of give people, 'Here's the thing, and here's the button you can press to get another thing.' Sometimes that can be more easy to digest than, 'Here's a long page of things.'

- Randall Munroe

Doing, Give, Here, Button

It used to be if you wanted to do a newspaper comic, you had to appeal to a pretty big chunk of the newspaper's readership for them to want to keep you around. 'Dilbert' would be office humor, but even that is pretty widely experienced.

- Randall Munroe

Newspaper, Big, Pretty, Experienced

I don't have hard numbers about this, but the impression I get is that the amount of eyeballs you get from being on the humor shelf at Barnes & Noble - it is almost insignificant.

- Randall Munroe

Numbers, Amount, Almost, Shelf

I used to work at NASA in Virginia. It was nothing glamorous; I was just tasked with making code compile for obscure projects, and I wasn't very good at it. Now I spend most of my time drawing pictures and looking at funny things on the Internet, which in retrospect is largely what I did at my old job, too.

- Randall Munroe

Code, Very, Projects, Virginia

People in my world can be disdainful of political and social problems and solutions. But we're never going to stop needing those.

- Randall Munroe

Solutions, Going, Social, Social Problems

A lot of the time, when I find myself critiquing scientific accuracy in movies, I have to remind myself that it had to get close enough to getting it right to get things wrong.

- Randall Munroe

Myself, Accuracy, Scientific, Remind

I have the standard cartoonist setup, which is one of those Cintiq tablets, and a laptop. If I'm mostly writing code, I'm on the laptop, and if I'm mostly drawing, I'm on the Cintiq.

- Randall Munroe

Standard, Which, Mostly, Cartoonist

Man, Farmville is so huge! Do you realize it's the second-biggest browser-based social-networking-centered farming game in the world?

- Randall Munroe

Game, World, Huge, Farming

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