Shel Silverstein Quotes

I believe that if you don't want to do anything, then sit there and don't do it, but don't expect people to hand you a corn beef sandwich and wash your socks for you and unzip your fly for you.

- Shel Silverstein

Tell me I'm clever, Tell me I'm kind, Tell me I'm talented, Tell me I'm cute, Tell me I'm sensitive, Graceful and wise, Tell me I'm perfect - But tell me the truth.

- Shel Silverstein

I will not play tug o' war. I'd rather play hug o' war. Where everyone hugs instead of tugs, Where everyone giggles and rolls on the rug, Where everyone kisses, and everyone grins, and everyone cuddles, and everyone wins.

- Shel Silverstein

Never explain what you do. It speaks for itself. You only muddle it by talking about it.

- Shel Silverstein

I'm free to leave... go wherever I please, do whatever I want; I believe everyone should live like that. Don't be dependent on anyone else - man, woman, child, or dog.

- Shel Silverstein

You'd better get your laugh while you're making your point, or you won't be doing it very long.

- Shel Silverstein

I myself do not believe in explaining anything.

- Shel Silverstein

There was a lot about the military that I thought was pretty silly, but these cartoons weren't meant to take a poke at anybody or anything. They were meant to make people laugh.

- Shel Silverstein

If you're behind the times, they won't notice you. If you're right in tune with them, you're no better than they are, so they won't care much for you. Be just a little ahead of them.

- Shel Silverstein

He has the obligation to society that any human being has. I don't think a satirist has any greater obligation to society than a bricklayer or anybody else.

- Shel Silverstein

People are always giving you credit for really wanting to say more than you said.

- Shel Silverstein

If you want to find out what a writer or a cartoonist really feels, look at his work. That's enough.

- Shel Silverstein

It's always a nice feeling, having people think that you feel things much deeper than you're allowed to say, but this isn't true. If you want to find out what a writer or a cartoonist really feels, look at his work. That's enough.

- Shel Silverstein

Imagine - four years you could have spent travelling around Europe meeting people, or going to the Far East of Africa or India, meeting people, exchanging ideas, reading all you wanted to anyway, and instead I wasted it at Roosevelt.

- Shel Silverstein

I can write a poem in 10 minutes. I like writing songs; I can write songs in 5 or 10 minutes. My concentration seems very short.

- Shel Silverstein

I didn't have a lot of friends. I just walked around a lot and made up stories in my head. Then I'd go home and write them down. That's how I got started.

- Shel Silverstein

There's a great myth about cartoonists, writers and people that are on TV.

- Shel Silverstein

I couldn't play ball. I couldn't dance. Luckily, the girls didn't want me. Not much I could do about that. So I started to draw and to write. By the time I got to where I was attracting girls, I was already into work, and it was more important to me.

- Shel Silverstein

Stand-up comics reflect less of a visual humor and more of a commentary.

- Shel Silverstein

I want to go everywhere, look at and listen to everything. You can go crazy with some of the wonderful stuff there is in life.

- Shel Silverstein

Comfortable shoes and the freedom to leave are the two most important things in life.

- Shel Silverstein

If the track is tough and the hill is rough, THINKING you can just ain't enough!

- Shel Silverstein

The child asks, 'Why don't I have this happiness thing you're telling me about?'

- Shel Silverstein

When I was younger, I wasn't making it, and I was mad at everybody who was.

- Shel Silverstein

I know a way to stay friends forever, There's really nothing to it, I tell you what to do, And you do it.

- Shel Silverstein