Calvin and Hobbes is a comic strip that has inspired readers for generations. He evokes a wide range of emotions and often tries to transmit lessons to his audience. There are the fun bands that see Calvin and Hobbes throwing snowballs on Susie and the sad bands who see Calvin fight with his insignificance.
Each of Calvin’s misadventures has a philosophical pinch. It can hang on a hill while preaching on the virtues of human contact and the need for cohabitation. This bizarre element of the band produced significant and convincing dialogues alongside some of the best quotes of Calvin and Hobbes.
Updated on June 3, 2025 by Anthony Jeanetta. Calvin and Hobbes remain one of the funniest and most poignant comics of all time. Due to its ability to juggle with humor and significant life observations, it is also one of the most conditional comics. This list has been updated with more of the best quotes from Calvin and Hobbes and to reflect CBR’s current style guide.
25
“Is it better to do the right thing and fail …”
Posted on July 27
While a large part of Calvin and Hobbes Links his philosophy in humor, sometimes comics adopts a simpler approach. In this band, Calvin told Hobbes that he was planning to cheat on a test. This revelation inspires the emblematic quotation of Hobbes to do the right thing.
I wondered, it is better to do the right thing and fail … or is it better to do the bad thing and succeed!
Calvin’s back and forth, mainly with himself, are a fascinating exploration of what the right thing means doing in a world that often rewards the opposite. The ideas of the band of good and evil are as premonitory today as they were when Watterson wrote them. In addition, the two jokes in comics are just as hilarious, and the rest of his philosophy is fascinating.
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24
“Questions I know about the answers, I don’t need to ask, right?”
Posted on March 20, 1986
Throughout Calvin and HobbesIt is obvious that Calvin is as acieuro as he is interested in being a good person. It is this balance between chaos and peace that animates the character and comics as a whole. On its surface, this band is not as deep as some of the others on this list.
Questions I know about the answers, I don’t need to ask, right?
However, this quote is as memorable as any other. The line can be read as a comic version of the adage: “It is better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission.” In addition, in typical Calvin and Hobbes Fashion leads Calvin to do something stupid that does not end as he thought.
23
“We are so busy monitoring what is just waiting for us …”
Posted on April 17, 1988
This band and the accompaniment quote embody the best of Calvin and Hobbes. It is a poignant reflection on a deeply philosophical declaration expressed in a hilarious piece. The comic strip takes place while Calvin and Hobbes get on a steep hill.
We are so busy monitoring what is just waiting for us that we do not take time to enjoy where we are
By stealing at the bottom of the hill, Calvin is thinking about the inability that many people have to slow down and enjoy the present. It is a message that remains relevant today, especially in a world dominated by technology that tries to propel people into the future or bring them back into their past. Of course, the end of comics joke also hammers this central thesis in an exceptional way.
22
“How is it that we were playing war and not peace?”
Posted on March 23, 1986
A few Calvin and Hobbes The quotes are so emblematic that they have transcended their status of simple comics. This quote and the support band are an example. The comic strip begins with Hobbes, thinking that they play war instead of peace, to which Calvin replies that there are too few models.
How is it that we play war and not peace? Too few role models.
On the surface, this quote is a fun line, but it carries a surprising depth. In addition, the end of comics effectively reinforces this philosophical belief. The power of this band is obvious by its real scope. In 2012, the American navies exceeded it on a wall of an American patrol base in Helmand, Afghanistan. This recreation is a powerful memorial of this exceptional quote.
21
“If good things have lasted forever …”
Posted on n / a
Calvin and Hobbes is often the ideal mixture of philosophical and hilarious. This comic strip is an excellent example of this excellent mixture. In the strip, Hobbes reflects on his fall love, while Calvin does not agree, saying that he finds the fall Melancholy.
If good things last forever, do we appreciate how precious they are?
This back and forth leads to this excellent quotation from Hobbes on the appreciation of the precious moments of life. Of course, in typical Calvin and Hobbes Fashion also leads to a hilarious refutation from Calvin. The comic strip ends with a great response from Calvin and an equally fun agreement of Hobbes.
20
“Get a thumb of snow is like winning 10 cents …”
Posted on December 9, 1988
A look at all comics on Snowman’s sculptures by Calvin and Readers have a pretty good idea What winter means Calvin. A day of snow means that snow time and Christmas holidays is like an awareness of the unlimited art of snowman. Thus, readers can imagine Calvin’s excitement when he realizes that he has snowed and that a possible school closure could be at stake.
Getting a thumb of snow is like winning 10 cents at the lottery.
Readers can also easily imagine its disappointment when there is not enough snow to cause a school closure. This means that no snow-sinle sculpted. It means another dull and tedious day at school. It is outside this state of mind that Calvin delivers this classic quote. The comparison of his hopes rushing to win 10 cents at the lottery makes the quote easily adaptable.
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19
“Life is full of surprises …”
Posted on January 6, 1993
In this three -panel strip, Calvin is again faced with the disaster reality of the school. Another morning means another wait at the bus stop. But if the bus cannot do it in one way or another, it would be a surprise and a surprise to hope. Calvin’s imagination often fled with situations that make Calvin unable to go to school.
Life is full of surprises, but never when you need it.
But in this comic strip, Calvin pronounces a cynical truism that anyone who wants something completely out of reach can repeat: it would be a total surprise if it happened, which can relate to his feeling. The reverse of this declaration (and the subtext) is that the surprises of life tend to be really unexpected, especially the terrible.
18
“… I memorized this completely useless fact …”
Posted on January 27, 1994
This band of the subsequent period of Waterson of Calvin and Hobbes is one of Calvin’s classic statements on the school. The exuberant boy has always been anti-school, but here, his feelings about him (what the reader suspects, Mirror Watterson’s own) is crystallized in his classic quote:
As you can see, I memorized this fact that is completely useless long enough to pass a question of test. I now intend to forget it forever. You didn’t teach me anything except how to cynically manipulate the system. Congratulations.
There is practically no school, past, present or future, which did not feel it at school at a given time. It takes a while to get to the point where people have the impression of learning something useful. Even then, the academic experience can often degrade towards cynical manipulation of the system. Fortunately, Calvin went before today’s students And can give them a moment of empathy in this quote.
17
“Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists …”
Posted on November 8, 1989
Bill Watterson has established comics that give thought for his readers. Its cynical edge could catch readers by surprise, especially when there was often (and unfortunately) so much truth that is found in your writing. Here, Calvin and Hobbes walk in the woods in one of their best bands on the environment. In the first sign, Calvin ruminates that “countless species are pushed towards extinction” by deforestation.
Sometimes I think that the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of this has tried to contact us.
Calvin makes the observation above in the second panel, which is the largest panel and throws an overview of the wood around them. It is, of course, deeply cynical, but it also has a great degree of truth. Humanity is not known for its wisdom, which is the attribute in question. Intelligence describes life elsewhere, and the hypothesis is that intelligence can reach a point where it learns wisdom to apply it.
16
“Everyone is looking for happiness! Not me, however!”
Posted on October 20, 1993
Several times in Calvin and Hobbes,, Watterson gave readers a window on themselves Through the nihilist charm of its titular character. Whether it is criticizing someone else’s snow art or trying to discuss with his mother, Calvin’s motivations are transparent in the most flattering way possible. However, via Calvin, the readers had the chance to think in a defense posture on their own equally unflattering motivations.
Everyone is looking for happiness! Not me, however! This is the difference between me and the rest of the world. Happiness is not good enough for me! I demand the euphoria! “”
In this band, Calvin is hilarious blind to his own selfishness. He poops the rest of the world for having wanted happiness, and the reader half expects him to claim that he wants to altruist world peace or something such and that the punchline will fall later. Instead, Calvin wants euphoria and then observes the loss of Hobbes for words. And in this one, Hobbes delivers the punchline: “I found who saves a lot of friendship.”