James Thurber

James Thurber (1894–1961) was a beloved American cartoonist, author, and humorist. Discover his quirky stories, signature style, and famous quotes that continue to delight readers with their wit and insight.

Introduction

James Grover Thurber was one of 20th-century America’s most distinctive humorists. He combined simple but expressive cartoons with short stories and essays that captured the absurdities, frustrations, and small triumphs of ordinary life. His best-known works—My Life and Hard Times, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Fables for Our Time, among others—still resonate because they expose the universal conflict between imagination and reality, and the comic strain of modern existence.

Early Life and Family

• Born: December 8, 1894, in Columbus, Ohio

• Parents: Charles L. Thurber and Mary Agnes (“Mame”) Fisher Thurber. His mother had a strong sense of humor and often played pranks, influencing his comic sensibility.

• As a child, Thurber suffered a serious injury: he was shot in the eye by an arrow during a “William Tell” game gone wrong. This injury eventually led to poor vision and, in later life, near blindness.

• Because of the injury and later complications, he was excluded from some school activities and developed a rich inner life and strong observational skills.

He attended Ohio State University from 1913 to 1918, where he was active in student publications and dramatic clubs, but he left without graduating (in part due to his eyesight preventing him from completing a required ROTC course).

Career & Achievements

Journalism & The New Yorker

After working at newspapers (such as The Columbus Dispatch) and doing various reporting tasks, Thurber moved to New York. In 1927, he joined The New Yorker as a writer and editor, thanks in part to the encouragement of E. B. White. Thurber’s cartoons, essays, and short stories became a central part of the magazine’s voice and charm.

Writing Style & Themes

Thurber’s humor often centers on ordinary people in bewildering situations—caught between their inner lives (dreams, fantasies) and the constraints of real life. He also published fables (such as Fables for Our Time and Further Fables for Our Time), in which animals or peculiar characters reveal moral or absurd truths in satirical form. Many of his better-known short stories include:

• “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” (the daydreaming everyman)

• “The Catbird Seat” (a clever tale of a meek man plotting revenge)

• “My Life and Hard Times” (a semi-autobiographical collection of odd episodes)

His cartoons are distinctive—simplified figures, wobbly lines, and a sense of humorous imbalance—often mirroring the tone of his prose.

Later Life & Decline

As his vision worsened, Thurber adapted by working on large paper, using thick lines, or creating cartoons that were photographed with contrast adjustments. Though his drawing output declined after the 1940s, his writing remained prolific into the 1950s. He died on November 2, 1961, in New York City, at age 66.

Legacy & Impact

• Thurber’s name lives on in the Thurber Prize for American Humor, awarded annually since 1997.

• His works have been adapted multiple times: Walter Mitty, The Catbird Seat, The Male Animal, and My World and Welcome to It.

• Two of his homes are preserved or on historic registers: Thurber House in Columbus, Ohio, and the Sanford-Curtis-Thurber House in Connecticut.

• Thurber deeply influenced American humor, especially in bridging cartoon and literary humor—his voice is often compared to that of Mark Twain in its timing, irony, and observation.

Selected Quotes

Here are some of Thurber’s most quoted lines, reflecting his wit, insight, and gentle satire:

• “Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness.”

• “When a man's best friend is his dog, that dog has a problem.”

• “In the long run, the pessimist may be proved right, but the optimist has a better time on the trip.”

• “Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility.”

• “Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle.”

• “Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what happened.”

• “Perhaps in time the so-called Dark Ages will be thought of as including our own.”

• “Love is friendship that has caught fire.”

Lessons & Reflections

• Find humor in modesty: Thurber shows how the small frustrations and idiosyncrasies of daily life can be the richest source for comic insight.

• Balance imagination and reality: His characters often retreat into daydreams, but are pulled back to practical life—a tension we all know.

• Adaptation is strength: Thurber’s capacity to continue creating despite visual disability is inspiring for creative resilience.

• Wit with humanity: Even in satire, Thurber maintains empathy; his “victims” are often lovable, bumbling people rather than villains.