Roz Chast Quotes

Powerful Roz Chast for Daily Growth

About Roz Chast

Roz Chast is an eminent American cartoonist, illustrator, and author, renowned for her witty and poignant depictions of the human condition, particularly family dynamics, anxiety, and aging. Born on June 26, 1954, in Brooklyn, New York, she grew up in a creative household—her parents were both artists. Chast's early influences include Saul Steinberg, Jules Feiffer, and Charles Addams, whose works sparked her interest in visual storytelling. After graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 1977, Chast joined the editorial staff at The New Yorker magazine. Her distinctive, whimsical cartoons soon became regular fixtures, reflecting her unique take on everyday life's absurdities and challenges. In 1983, she published her first book, "Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?," a graphic memoir about caring for her aging parents, which was nominated for a National Book Award and won the Kirkus Prize. Chast's other significant works include "Theories of Everything: Adventures in Science, Art, and Idiocy" (1997) and "Family Vacation: A Road Trip Through Family and Siblinghood" (2004), both of which showcase her ability to blend humor with deep emotional insight. Her work has been exhibited at galleries such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., and the Society of Illustrators in Manhattan. In 2019, Chast was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama for her contributions to cartooning and storytelling. With a career spanning over four decades, Roz Chast continues to captivate audiences with her insightful, humorous, and often heart-rending commentary on life's complexities.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"I'm a cartoonist, which is a pretty good way to make a living if you don't need a living."

The quote implies that being a cartoonist offers a satisfactory means of earning a living, but not necessarily one that provides for essential needs or luxuries beyond the basics. It suggests an acceptance of a lifestyle that prioritizes creativity and personal fulfillment over material wealth.

"Family: A luxury we cannot afford, but can hardly do without."

This quote by Roz Chast suggests a complex and ironic perspective on family dynamics. The phrase "luxury we cannot afford" implies that maintaining a family, with all its emotional and financial demands, may seem burdensome or extravagant in today's fast-paced, individualistic society. However, the following statement, "but can hardly do without," highlights the essential role that families play in our lives – offering love, support, and a sense of belonging that is difficult to find elsewhere. Essentially, Chast seems to be commenting on the struggle between valuing personal freedom and independence versus cherishing the emotional ties that make up family life.

"Grown-up children are like a box of crayons that have gotten stuck together."

This quote by Roz Chast suggests that adult children, much like a pack of crayons that have stuck together, can be complex and intertwined in their relationships with their parents. They may still hold on to some childlike traits, yet are also independent individuals with their own lives, thoughts, and emotions. The metaphor highlights the tangled nature of adult relationships, where responsibilities, expectations, and emotions can become intertwined, making them sometimes challenging yet rewarding at the same time.

"The family is one of nature's masterpieces."

Roz Chast's quote, "The family is one of nature's masterpieces," underscores the profound importance and beauty of families in our lives. The family, a unique social unit formed by blood ties or affinity, is an essential part of human existence. It serves as a nurturing ground for children, a source of support and companionship for adults, and a foundation for community and society. Through love, communication, and shared experiences, families shape individuals into who they become while fostering connections that endure across generations. The intricate tapestry woven by family ties reflects the complexity and beauty found in nature itself, making it one of nature's most remarkable creations.

"If you wait around for inspiration you're not going to get anything done. Inspiration comes very seldom—once in a lifetime, if you are very lucky."

This quote by Roz Chast emphasizes the importance of action over waiting for inspiration. It suggests that inspiration is a rare occurrence, and without taking action, one will not achieve anything significant. The quote encourages people to work diligently and consistently, as progress and creativity often stem from persistence rather than waiting for fleeting moments of inspiration.

One way of paying tribute to my parents was 'bearing witness' as the Quakers do - writing down everything that was happening instead of turning my back on it and pretending that it was all great.

- Roz Chast

Pretending, Back, Bearing, Quakers

I think, especially with my parents, I wanted to remember who they were. I wanted to remember all of it. I didn't want to purge myself of it. I wanted to remember it.

- Roz Chast

Think, Want, I Think, Purge

I think of my drawing style like handwriting: it's a mix of whatever handwriting you're born with, plus bits and pieces you've pilfered from other people around you.

- Roz Chast

Think, Other, I Think, Handwriting

Even if you don't have any dishes, you need a celery dish.

- Roz Chast

Need, Even, Dish, Celery

My parents scrimped and saved all their lives, to the point where my mother used a disgusting old oven mitt that was stained and partly patched together with a skirt I made in seventh grade.

- Roz Chast

Stained, Lives, Oven, Skirt

I love detail, like drawing what's on top of someone's coffee table. Maybe there's a little bowl of butterscotch candies on it, next to the four TV remotes.

- Roz Chast

Love, Next, TV, Coffee Table

There's something about most phobias where there's a tiny, tiny corner where you think this really actually could happen.

- Roz Chast

Think, Happen, Could, Phobias

I don't like going into the basement. I'm always afraid that something's going to blow up.

- Roz Chast

Always, Like, Basement, Blow

I cannot stand superheroes. I do not understand any of its appeal. It has just bored me to death since I was a little kid.

- Roz Chast

Death, Kid, Understand, Superheroes

I've done a lot of death cartoons - tombstones, Grim Reaper, illness, obituaries... I'm not great at analyzing things, but my guess is that maybe the only relief from the terror of being alive is jokes.

- Roz Chast

Death, Terror, Obituaries, Reaper

It cracks me up to see these ads for TV - for Depends or for glue for your dentures. The people in them look 55 with a hint of gray. Where are the people who are falling apart? We don't see that.

- Roz Chast

Falling, Depends, TV, Cracks

When my father died, my mother was still alive. And I think when your second parent dies, there is that shock: 'Oh man, I'm an orphan.' There's also this relief: It's done; it's finished; it's over.

- Roz Chast

Parent, Alive, I Think, Relief

My parents were born in 1912; they graduated from college into the Depression. They kept notebooks of every nickel they spent, and these habits of frugality from having grown up so poor never left them.

- Roz Chast

College, Habits, Frugality, Notebooks

I can't even look at daily comic strips. And I hate sitcoms because they don't seem like real people to me: they're props that often say horrible things to each other, which I don't find funny. I have to feel like they're real people.

- Roz Chast

Feel, Other, Real People, Comic Strips

Grime is not like messiness or some fingerprints on a cabinet; it takes a long time to accumulate.

- Roz Chast

Long Time, Some, Like, Cabinet

I like being able to go grocery shopping and not feel that I'm fighting a thousand people.

- Roz Chast

Go, Grocery Shopping, Like, Shopping

I think when your parents die, it is kind of like a moving sidewalk: you're not just on the sideline and watching them go by. You know, you're going to the same place they are.

- Roz Chast

Die, Think, Sidewalk, Sideline

My works were not - and they still aren't - single panel gags with a punch line underneath them. I like a lot of those cartoons; I just don't draw them.

- Roz Chast

Like, Still, Works, Underneath

Sunday, there's not a lot of structure. I might spend an hour thinking about why I don't exercise, and feeling very guilty about not exercising. I tried running, over 10 years ago. It didn't really take.

- Roz Chast

Why, Very, About, Structure

I'm sure that my parents' behavior has entered my work, I'm sorry to say. I don't think you need to have a difficult childhood to be funny, but it helps.

- Roz Chast

Childhood, Think, Sure, Helps

I've always wanted to learn how to hook rugs. A wonderful artist named Leslie Giuliani taught me how. The nice thing is you can change it as you go along.

- Roz Chast

Learn, Always, Named, Nice Thing

I've had people ask me if it would have been easier to take care of your parents if you had siblings, and I think it's 50/50. I know people who have siblings, and there is a lot of acrimony because somebody always feels that they are doing more than the other person.

- Roz Chast

Doing, Been, Feels, Sibling

The wonderful thing about the cartoon form is it's a combination of words and pictures. You don't have to choose, and the contribution of the two often winds up being greater than the sum of its parts.

- Roz Chast

Words, Cartoon, About, Winds

I don't like holidays. And I don't like crowds of people. I don't like noise.

- Roz Chast

Holidays, Like, Crowds, Noise

I always imagined my little cartoons on plates for some reason.

- Roz Chast

Reason, Some, Always, Plates

I have an African gray parrot; her name is Eli. We thought she was a boy. And a blue-streaked lory named Marco. He's 10. And a yellow and green parakeet, Petey. He's very cute, but he's getting old.

- Roz Chast

Thought, Very, Named, Getting Old

Being female was just one more way I felt different and weird. I was also a young 'un, and also my cartoons were not like typical 'New Yorker' cartoons.

- Roz Chast

New, Young, Like, Female

I used to think of the cartoons as a magazine within a magazine. First you go through and read all the cartoons, and then you go back and read the articles.

- Roz Chast

Think, Through, Read, Articles

I think that children's books should be censored not for references to sex but for references to diseases. I mean, who didn't think after reading 'Madeline' that they were going to get appendicitis?

- Roz Chast

Think, References, I Think, Censored

For me, drawing was an outlet. No one in school said, 'Oh, she can do sports,' or, 'She's pretty,' but I could draw.

- Roz Chast

Sports, Pretty, Could, Outlet

In Brooklyn, I don't feel that I'm holding up people with briefcases if I catch a stroller wheel in the sidewalk.

- Roz Chast

Wheel, Feel, Sidewalk, Catch

My parents were very, very close; they pretty much grew up together. They were born in 1912. They were each other's only boyfriend and girlfriend. They were - to use a contemporary term I hate - co-dependent, and they had me very late. So they had their way of doing things, and they reinforced each other.

- Roz Chast

Doing, Other, Very, Contemporary

I sometimes suffer from insomnia. And when I can't fall asleep, I play what I call the alphabet game.

- Roz Chast

Game, Play, Sometimes, Insomnia

I don't like cartoons that take place in Nowhereville. I like cartoons where I know where they're happening.

- Roz Chast

Cartoons, Like, Take, Happening

I think I have a habit of, in my head, taking notes on whatever, you know, whether they're verbal or pictorial or just making a note of things as they're happening.

- Roz Chast

Think, Making, Note, Happening

My father was in terrible pain towards the end because of his bed sores, and he did go into hospice, and I think that was better in some ways. You know, I think his death was peaceful, and it was all right. He was just in terrible pain.

- Roz Chast

Bed, Some, I Think, Peaceful

Did you know that you can live on Ensure for a year? A person can live for a really long time just lying in bed and drinking Ensure - way longer than you think.

- Roz Chast

Think, Bed, Ensure, Lying

Sometimes, you know - I think, with a lot of things, at the time, everything is extremely upsetting, and then you look back on it, and it actually can be sort of funny.

- Roz Chast

Think, Sometimes, I Think, Upsetting

I don't like anything that looks gelatinous - really weirds me out. But when I was a kid, I used to get very, very upset if anything had a kind of chalky texture; like, certain kinds of cottage cheese I know have a weird chalkiness.

- Roz Chast

Kid, Upset, Very, Cheese

I love my parents. I did love them. It's complicated.

- Roz Chast

Love, Them, I Love, Complicated

I think, with my cartoons, the parent-like figures are kind of my own archeypes of parents, and they're taken a little bit from my parents and other people's parents, and parents I have read about, and parents I dreamed about, and parents that I made up.

- Roz Chast

Other, I Think, Figures, Cartoons

My life is so boring that your brains are going to melt and come out of your eyes.

- Roz Chast

My Life, Going, Come, Melt

It was deeply interesting to observe my mother closely and to draw her. During those last months, she wasn't speaking much, if at all, and it was a way for me to be with her. It felt very natural.

- Roz Chast

Very, Closely, Months, Observe

I had to get good grades and do well in school - my mother was an assistant principal and my father was a teacher - and they took this very seriously.

- Roz Chast

Assistant, Very, Took, Principal

I just really love the cartoon form. I love the plasticity of it.

- Roz Chast

Love, I Love, Form, Cartoon

My kids always joked that I spent more time cooking the birds' food than I have cooking for them. And it's probably true.

- Roz Chast

More, Always, Spent, Cooking

It's like a 'chicken or the egg' thing. We're all part of the culture. We're reflecting it; we're changing it. So, yeah, I think culture is always changing.

- Roz Chast

Think, Chicken, Always, Yeah

I don't put myself through that nauseating experience of looking at someone's face while they go through your stuff. Ugh! It's just horrible! It gives me the cringes to even think about it.

- Roz Chast

Myself, Think, Through, Horrible

You might have a worry that's so stupid it just peters out by itself, like a bad investment.

- Roz Chast

Worry, Bad, Like, Stupid

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