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Mary Schmich

journalist, comics writer, columnist

1953

Mary Theresa Schmich is an American journalist. She was a columnist for the Chicago Tribune from 1992 to 2021, winning the Pulitzer Prize in 2012. Her columns were syndicated nationally by Tribune Content Agency. She wrote the comic strip Brenda Starr, Reporter for the last 28 of its 60 years and she wrote the 1997 column Wear Sunscreen. The line "Do one thing every day that scares you" from the column has frequently been misattributed to Eleanor Roosevelt.

All Quotes by Mary Schmich

“You can map your life through your favorite movies, and no two people's maps will be the same.”
— Mary Schmich
“Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere.”
— Mary Schmich
“Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. ... [T]rust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.”
— Mary Schmich
“Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with those who are reckless with yours.”
— Mary Schmich
“Don't waste time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.”
— Mary Schmich
“Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.”
— Mary Schmich
“Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either of them might run out.”
— Mary Schmich
“You can figure out who you were by which movies you loved when.”
— Mary Schmich
“Don't waste time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind.”
— Mary Schmich
“Good art is art that allows you to enter it from a variety of angles and to emerge with a variety of views.”
— Mary Schmich
“Like many women my age, I am 28 years old.”
— Mary Schmich
“The movies we love and admire are to some extent a function of who we are when we see them.”
— Mary Schmich
“Like many women my age, I am 28 years old.”
— Mary Schmich