25 Stan Lee Quotes On Living A Heroic Life

These Stan Lee quotes will inspire the best version of you.

When I think of comic books, I think of Stan Lee.

When I think of superheroes, I think of Stan Lee.

His first superhero to save the world was Captain America.

He worked at Marvel Comics for over two decades but frequently made cameo appearances in their films.

What I didn’t realize was that Stan Lee had an extensive background in writing and publishing.

He was even in the Army!

He also had a lot of wisdom to share with writers and readers alike.

These Stan Lee quotes are some of his thoughts on comic books, superheroes, life, and writing. 

We also have a collection of Martin Scorsese quotes.

If you love this quote collection, read out our most popular quote article about short inspirational quotes for daily motivation. 

If you need more inspirational quotes, check out our motivational quotes category page.

Stan Lee quotes on comic books and fairy tales

1. “Comic books to me are fairy tales for grown-ups.” – Stan Lee

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2. “Comics are stories; they’re like novels or anything else. So the first thing you have to do is become a good storyteller.” – Stan Lee

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3. “If Shakespeare and Michelangelo were alive today, and if they decided to collaborate on a comic, Shakespeare would write the script and Michelangelo would draw it. How could anybody say that this wouldn’t be as worthwhile an artform as anything on earth?” – Stan Lee

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4. “Some people will say, “Why read a comic book? It stifles the imagination. If you read a novel you imagine what people are like. If you read a comic, it’s showing you.” The only answer I can give is, “You can read a Shakespeare play, but does that mean you wouldn’t want to see it on the stage?” – Stan Lee

5. “There’s just something that feels nice about holding a comic book!” – Stan Lee

6. “Marvel is a cornucopia of fantasy, a wild idea, a swashbuckling attitude, an escape from the humdrum and prosaic. It’s a serendipitous feast for the mind, the eye, and the imagination, a literate celebration of unbridled creativity, coupled with a touch of rebellion and an insolent desire to spit in the eye of the dragon.” – Stan Lee

7. “I think almost everybody enjoyed fairy tales when they were young, tales of witches and ogres and monsters and dragons and so forth. You get a little bit older, you can’t read fairy tales anymore.” – Stan Lee

8. “Virtually, every kid is exposed to giants and ogres and talking wolves, and so forth. And magic. And I think you never outgrow your love for those imaginative, fanciful, far fetched, fantastic characters and situations.” – Stan Lee

9. “I don’t think you ever outgrow your love for things that are bigger than life and more colorful than the average life. And somehow I feel that these comic book stories are like fairy tales for older people, because they have the same qualities.” – Stan Lee

10. “We’re living in a world where everything moves very quickly. We’ve become a very visual society, so I think it’s a very natural thing that people are captivated with the illustrations in a story.” – Stan Lee

Memorable Stan Lee quotes

11. “Reading is very good. And you can quote me!” – Stan Lee

12. “Life is never completely without its challenges.” – Stan Lee

13. “If you are interested in what you do, that keeps you going!” – Stan Lee

14. “It’s just, it’s fun to stay in the game.” – Stan Lee

15. “With great power comes great responsibility.” – Stan Lee

16. “I’m very proud of being a hack. It’s why I’ve lived as long as I have, I think.” – Stan Lee

17. “The world has always been like a comic book world to me!” – Stan Lee

18. “I see myself in everything I write. All the good guys are me.” – Stan Lee

19. “To tell you the truth, I never thought of myself as much of a success.” – Stan Lee

Also read our selection of insightful Quentin Tarantino quotes about film-making, writing, and more.

Stan Lee quotes on superheroes and superpowers

20. “We all wish we had superpowers. We all wish we could do more than we can do.” – Stan Lee

21. “When I was a kid, I loved reading Sherlock Holmes. Now, you don’t think of him as a superhero, but he was so damn much smarter than anybody else.” – Stan Lee

22. “Just because you have superpowers, that doesn’t mean your love life would be perfect. I don’t think superpowers automatically mean there won’t be any personality problems, family problems or even money problems. I just tried to write characters who are human beings who also have superpowers.” – Stan Lee

23. “These stories of people with unusual powers and unusual appearances, who do unusual things, people are always fascinated by them.” – Stan Lee

24. “If I got a superpower I wouldn’t say, oh, I got to get a costume and put on a mask. I would say hey, I can do something better than other people. How can I turn it into a buck?” – Stan Lee

25. “I thought it would be great to do superheroes that have the same kind of life problems that any reader – that anybody could have.” – Stan Lee

Which of these Stan Lee quotes resonated with you best?

The fact that this man was once so embarrassed to write comics, that he used a pen name, is mind blowing.

He would later change his pen name of “Stan Lee” to his legal name.

The humbleness of Stan Lee can be heard in his quotes and witnessed in some of his greatest characters.

I can’t imagine what a world without Spiderman and Stan Lee would look like, and I’m glad I don’t have to!

What I do think I will do is have that date night, consisting of binge watching the Marvel Universe movies, my husband and I have been talking about.

I’ll pay special attention to look for the Stan Lee cameos! 

Which of these inspirational Stan Lee quotes resonated with you best?

Do you have any other favorite quotes to add?

Let us know in the comment section below.