--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I am working a book, I go through my…" description: "\"When I am working a book, I go through my library and take a look through some of the great cartoonists of the past, like Cliff Sterrett, who did \"Poll..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/695/jules-feiffer-11086_art_when-i-am-working-a-book-i-go-through-my_887757.jpg" --- # When I am working a book, I go through my library and take… ![“When I am working a book, I go through my library and take a look through some of the great cartoonists of the past, like Cliff Sterrett, who did "Polly and Her Pals," or Winsor McCay who did "A Little Nemo in Slumberland," and Herriman - and I just looked through these guys and looked for…” quote by Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/695/jules-feiffer-11086_art_when-i-am-working-a-book-i-go-through-my_887757.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/695/jules-feiffer-11086_art_when-i-am-working-a-book-i-go-through-my_887757.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/695/jules-feiffer-11086_art_when-i-am-working-a-book-i-go-through-my_887757.jpg) > “When I am working a book, I go through my library and take a look through some of the great cartoonists of the past, like Cliff Sterrett, who did "Polly and Her Pals," or Winsor McCay who did "A Little Nemo in Slumberland," and Herriman - and I just looked through these guys and looked for somebody to steal. You know, looked for who I could swipe, or turn into - who's work I will turn into my work. And I still use, after all these years, these artists as inspirations. So, here in my eighties, I go back to when I was eight for my inspiration.” [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Artists draw inspiration from past masters, reinterpreting and building upon earlier work to evolve their own style. **In simple terms:** Writers and creators study and adapt past artists' work. Key Takeaway Study the past to enrich your own art. Themes creativity inspiration artistic lineage Mood reflective hopeful Type artistic educational When to use this quote - writing workshops - graphic design - animation - visual storytelling Key Concepts intertextuality remix culture mentorship Questions to Reflect On - How do you honor original creators? - What boundaries define inspiration vs copying? A Different Perspective Risk of plagiarism if inspiration isn’t transformed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Comic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comic/) [Inspiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiration/) [Library](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/library/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) ## Related quotes > [I can definitely say that of all my friends who I consider to be really great cartoonists, we're all trying to aim at basically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-ware/i-can-definitely-say-that-of-all-my-friends-who-i-consider-to-be/) [Chris Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-ware/) > [I'm not sure about that role any longer. The role used to be to mix things up and I think to a great extent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/i-m-not-sure-about-that-role-any-longer-the-role-used-to-be-to-mix/) [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) > [I've never met a cartoonist who isn't quirky or weird in some ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/i-ve-never-met-a-cartoonist-who-isn-t-quirky-or-weird-in-some-ways/) [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) > [And all the things I thought were mistakes and I did cartoons on them. And then I think I was the first cartoonist in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/and-all-the-things-i-thought-were-mistakes-and-i-did-cartoons-on-them/) [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) > [I'm not electronically geared at all; I'm really a 19th century cartoonist. I have a 15-year-old daughter, and what she's attracted to is of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/i-m-not-electronically-geared-at-all-i-m-really-a-19th-century/) [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) > [Cartoons were very conservative. The country was very conservative. Although the liberals were allegedly in charge for a long time, there was a very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/cartoons-were-very-conservative-the-country-was-very-conservative/) [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) > [I have no sense of direction; I never know where I am. When I back up a car, I'm more likely to hit what's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/i-have-no-sense-of-direction-i-never-know-where-i-am-when-i-back-up-a/) [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) > [I never saw myself so much as an actor. I wanted to be a cartoonist like Charles M. Schulz and create my own world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-hamill/i-never-saw-myself-so-much-as-an-actor-i-wanted-to-be-a-cartoonist/) [Mark Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-hamill/) > [As a kid, I knew I wanted to be either a cartoonist or an astronaut. The latter was never much of a possibility, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/as-a-kid-i-knew-i-wanted-to-be-either-a-cartoonist-or-an-astronaut/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [Perspective was always important. There are some cartoonists who can stand at the foot of a building looking straight up and they'll capture it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-larson/perspective-was-always-important-there-are-some-cartoonists-who-can/) [Gary Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-larson/) > [I'm just a little old cartoonist, tryin' to make a buck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-lantz/i-m-just-a-little-old-cartoonist-tryin-to-make-a-buck/) Walter Lantz > [Sweetheart, I'm the biggest ripped-off cartoonist in the history of the world, and that's all I'm going to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-bakshi/sweetheart-i-m-the-biggest-ripped-off-cartoonist-in-the-history-of/) [Ralph Bakshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-bakshi/) > [In my journey as a cartoonist, I seem to have accidentally stumbled into all sorts of traps, damnations and blacklists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-leunig/in-my-journey-as-a-cartoonist-i-seem-to-have-accidentally-stumbled/) [Michael Leunig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-leunig/) > [I've certainly seen a lot of my cartoonist friends embrace 'Little Lulu' in a much deeper way because their kids love it so much.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth/i-ve-certainly-seen-a-lot-of-my-cartoonist-friends-embrace-little/) [Seth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth/) > [Before World War II, I was living a very cloistered existence, as most cartoonists do. The work I was pouring out did not come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-eisner/before-world-war-ii-i-was-living-a-very-cloistered-existence-as-most/) [Will Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-eisner/) ## More by Jules Feiffer > [When you do the kind of work I do, everything is challenging, but probably the most challenging thing is getting up in the morning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/when-you-do-the-kind-of-work-i-do-everything-is-challenging-but/) [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) > [When people started reading me and talking to me about the work, they didn't say how funny, or how satiric, or how brilliant, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/when-people-started-reading-me-and-talking-to-me-about-the-work-they/) [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) > [Artists can color the sky red because they know it's blue. Those of us who aren't artists must color things the way they really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/artists-can-color-the-sky-red-because-they-know-it-s-blue-those-of-us/) [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) > [I have no sense of direction; I never know where I am. When I back up a car, I'm more likely to hit what's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/i-have-no-sense-of-direction-i-never-know-where-i-am-when-i-back-up-a/) [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) > [Design is important because chaos is so hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/design-is-important-because-chaos-is-so-hard/) [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) > [I was doing cartoons and mocking white liberals, mocking the attitude of government who said to go slow, while intending to do absolutely nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/i-was-doing-cartoons-and-mocking-white-liberals-mocking-the-attitude/) [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) > [Cartoons were very conservative. The country was very conservative. Although the liberals were allegedly in charge for a long time, there was a very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/cartoons-were-very-conservative-the-country-was-very-conservative/) [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) > [Remember when you were a kid and the boys didn't like the girls? Only sissies liked girls? What I'm trying to tell you is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/remember-when-you-were-a-kid-and-the-boys-didn-t-like-the-girls-only/) [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) > [I didn't have a job. Employers were afraid of losing their reputations. I didn't have a reputation. I had zilch. So, I had the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/i-didn-t-have-a-job-employers-were-afraid-of-losing-their-reputations/) [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) > [I come out of a Cold War sensibility, a Cold War mentality, and during those Cold War years, I used to know, I thought,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/i-come-out-of-a-cold-war-sensibility-a-cold-war-mentality-and-during/) [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) > [I seemed to have instinctually a strong idea of how the strip had to be written from the beginning. That changed too, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/i-seemed-to-have-instinctually-a-strong-idea-of-how-the-strip-had-to/) [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) > [That was exciting to be able to comment on civil rights. I mean, the civil rights movement that young people don't know about today,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/that-was-exciting-to-be-able-to-comment-on-civil-rights-i-mean-the/) [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) > [The artwork had very little to do with the thought process, and the writing too, for that matter. What happens, happens, and it happens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/the-artwork-had-very-little-to-do-with-the-thought-process-and-the/) [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) > [I'm not electronically geared at all; I'm really a 19th century cartoonist. I have a 15-year-old daughter, and what she's attracted to is of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/i-m-not-electronically-geared-at-all-i-m-really-a-19th-century/) [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) > [I found it was my good fortune to somehow be able to work in these forms that I loved when I was a kid.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-feiffer/i-found-it-was-my-good-fortune-to-somehow-be-able-to-work-in-these/) [Jules Feiffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) [Explore all 62 Jules Feiffer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-feiffer/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I am working a book, I go through my library and take a look through some of the great cartoonists of the past, like Cliff Sterrett, who did \"Polly and Her Pals,\" or Winsor McCay who did \"A Little Nemo in Slumberland,\" and Herriman - and I just looked through these guys and looked for somebody to steal. 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