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.
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