Many of the best Peanuts quotes involve a character saying something accidentally brilliant. While a line might be intentionally insightful when it was written by creator Charles Schulz, when those words transfer from his mind to the mouths of his creations, it’s usually without ever meaning to say anything brilliant — or even notice they did. For example, the best line about heartbreak from Peanuts is “Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter like unrequited love!” That quote perfectly encapsulates the physiological sensation associated with romantic rejection, but for Charlie Brown, he’s just reacting to the feeling without any deeper intention.
Lucy’s quote, “Happiness is a warm puppy,” is another great one that touches on life’s simple joys on a really deep level. But to determine the best quote ever uttered by Charlie Brown, I didn’t want accidental brilliance, I wanted something that he understands as much as the audience does. Something where he’s telling you who he is with complete self awareness. I wanted the character’s philosophy on life. To me, that’s the difference between a brilliant Charlie Brown quote and brilliant Charles Schulz quote, if that makes sense.
To find that perfect quote, the first question to ask is, “Who is Charlie Brown?” Charlie Brown may not have a ton of friends, but he’s loyal to the ones he has. He’s also a great pet owner to Snoopy. He’s also generally kind to those around him. But besides that, Charlie Brown is kind of a loser. While that may sound harsh, it’s basically his whole deal. Charlie Brown is unlucky at love, he’s a mediocre student, and he hardly ever “wins” at anything. That’s what makes him so relatable — many people feel like they’re not really winning at life. Charlie Brown is perpetually that kid who has the football yanked away from him when he’s about to kick it.
But Charlie Brown is also persistent. He falls for the football gag again and again because he thinks, “This time I’ll get it.” There’s an element of hope to the character, even if that optimism is unwarranted and goes unrewarded. That optimism is also why we root for Charlie Brown. Sure, he’s a loser and a sad sack, but he’s endearingly persistent.
Charlie Brown’s philosophy on life
Charlie Brown’s best quote should exemplify his bleak outlook as well as his sense of persistence, while also giving his philosophy on life, without any accidental brilliance to clutter it. One quote from 1973 comes close to doing this. In this comic strip, Charlie Brown is leaning on a brick wall with his pal Linus and he says, “I used to try to take each day as it came… You know, live one day at a time… My philosophy has changed. I’m down to half-a-day at a time!” This quote is good, but I feel like it can almost be misinterpreted as an optimistic “live life to the fullest” kind of quote, especially without the context of the misery on Charlie Brown’s face.
So I turn to an earlier, similar quote from 1966. Once again, it involves Linus and Charlie Brown chatting by that same brick wall. Linus begins the strip by saying, “Life is difficult, isn’t it, Charlie Brown?” “Yes, it is,” Charlie Brown replies. Then he utters his best line in the comic’s 50 years of publication:
“But I’ve developed a new philosophy… I only dread one day at a time.”
Those words unmistakably speaks to Charlie Brown’s miserable outlook on life, while also including that tinge of persistence he brings with it. With life, just like with the football, Charlie Brown expects the worst and that’s usually what happens, but he’s not giving up. He’s taking it one day at a time.
The quote is so good it even made it into the 1969 TV special A Boy Named Charlie Brown, where Linus and Charlie Brown have the exact same conversation by that exact same brick wall. This special was written by Schulz himself and came out in 1969, three years after this comic strip, which means it stuck in Schulz’s brain well after publishing this comic, just as it’ll likely stick with those of us who share Charlie Brown’s bleak outlook on life.