The charismatic icon made his official debut in the first Peanuts comic strip in 1950. The creator, Charles M. Schulz, put much of himself in Charlie Brown, and even named some of Charlie’s friends after his own, including Linus, Shermy, and Peppermint Patty. At the same time, Charlie is an archetypal lovable loser. Schulz himself said that “Charlie Brown must be the one who suffers, because he’s a caricature of the average person. Most of us are much more acquainted with losing than winning. Winning is great, but it isn’t funny.”
It’s true, Charlie does suffer, whether from the barbed comments of the bullying Lucy van Pelt or from his unrequited obsession with the Little Red-Haired Girl. But it’s from his moments of failure, and his refusal to ever give up, that we get Charlie’s most insightful reflections on the human condition. Here are some of his best words of wisdom, ranging from the melancholic to those rare instances when everything seems right with the world.
