As much as I'd like to meet the tooth fairy on an evening walk, I don't really believe it can happen.

Santa is our culture's only mythic figure truly believed in by a large percentage of the population. It's a fact that most of the true believers are under eight years old, and that's a pity.

The Dick, Jane, and Spot primers have gone to that bookshelf in the sky. I have, in some ways, a tender feeling toward them, so I think it's for the best.

At first, I see pictures of a story in my mind. Then creating the story comes from asking questions of myself. I guess you might call it the 'what if - what then' approach to writing and illustration.

Following my muse has worked out pretty well so far. I can't see any reason to change the formula now.

I write for what's left of the eight-year-old still rattling around inside my head.

Some artists claim praise is irrelevant in measuring the success of art, but I think it's quite relevant. Besides, it makes me feel great.

The idea of the extraordinary happening in the context of the ordinary is what's fascinating to me.

The opportunity to create a small world between two pieces of cardboard, where time exists yet stands still, where people talk and I tell them what to say, is exciting and rewarding.

The Polar Express is about faith, and the power of imagination to sustain faith. It's also about the desire to reside in a world where magic can happen, the kind of world we all believed in as children, but one that disappears as we grow older.

There was a great deal of peer recognition to be gained in elementary school by being able to draw well. One girl could draw horses so well, she was looked upon as a kind of sorceress.

When all else fails, complicate matters.

Lawyers are the first refuge of the incompetent.

Life is like an analogy.

The difference between tragedy and comedy: Tragedy is something awful happening to somebody else, while comedy is something awful happening to somebody else.

Any sufficiently badly-written science is indistinguishable from magic.

Definition of 'Free': You pay for it whether or not you elect to receive it.

Feminism is sort of like God. Many people profess to believe in it, but no one seems to be able to define it to everyone's satisfaction.

I really can't complain about actresses who get paid to be dumb. Most of us can't get paid to be smart.

I'm content to stand on tradition. I'm even more content to wipe my feet on it.