A lot of our writers, like Conan O'Brien, moved on to other things.
Matt Groening

A lot of people believe that if everybody just did what they were told - obeyed - everything would be fine. But that's not what life is all about. That's not real. It's never going to happen.
Matt Groening

Basically, everything I try to do is to present an alternative to what somebody else is doing.
Matt Groening

Because good writing in a TV cartoon is so rare, I think the animation on The Simpsons is often overlooked.
Matt Groening

Don't have a cow, man.
Matt Groening

Donuts. Is there anything they can't do?
Matt Groening

Eat my shorts!
Matt Groening

Everybody doesn't have to get every joke. People really appreciate not being condescended to.
Matt Groening

Families are about love overcoming emotional torture.
Matt Groening

God often gives nuts to toothless people.
Matt Groening


Here's to alcohol: the cause of, and answer to, all of life's problems.
Matt Groening

I also found child's play - stuff that was not considered serious, but goofy - was the stuff I liked to do, so I still do it as an adult.
Matt Groening

I don't have to be careful, I've got a gun.
Matt Groening

I don't know why I did it, I don't know why I enjoyed it, and I don't know why I will do it again.
Matt Groening

I draw a weekly comic strip called Life in Hell, which is syndicated in about 250 newspapers. That's what I did before The Simpsons, and what I plan to do for the rest of my life.
Matt Groening

I love the idea that we put in jokes the kids don't get. And that later, when they grow up and read a few books and go to college and watch the show again, they can get it on a completely different level.
Matt Groening

I want it to go on, but I want us to go out on top.
Matt Groening

I've loved science fiction ever since I was a little kid, mainly from looking at the covers of science-fiction magazines and books, and I've read quite extensively as an adult.
Matt Groening

It's a funny show. The characters are surprisingly likable, given how ugly they are. We've got this huge cast of characters that we can move around. And over the last few seasons, we've explored some of the secondary characters' personal lives a bit more.
Matt Groening

It's just hard not to listen to TV: it's spent so much more time raising us than parents have.
Matt Groening