Skip to main content

Love Quote by Charles M. Schulz

"I love mankind; it's people I can't stand"

About this Quote

Schulz’s line lands because it’s a contradiction that feels like a confession: the idea of “mankind” is easy to adore precisely because it doesn’t talk back. “People” do. They’re needy, inconsistent, petty, loud, cruel by accident, cruel on purpose, and forever stepping on each other’s feet. The joke isn’t misanthropy as a lifestyle; it’s the low-grade despair of daily social contact, the kind that makes you want to root for humanity in the abstract while hiding from your neighbors.

As a cartoonist, Schulz understood that the big emotions of modern life often show up in small humiliations. Peanuts isn’t a series about wars or elections; it’s about a kid failing to kick a football because trust keeps getting weaponized. That’s the subtext here: optimism has to survive contact with actual humans. “Mankind” is a concept you can project ideals onto; “people” are where ideals go to get scuffed up.

The intent is also slyly self-protective. Loving humanity lets you claim a moral baseline, a kind of decency. Not standing people creates distance, a way to admit disappointment without admitting defeat. It’s an emotional hedge that reads like a punchline but functions like armor.

Culturally, the quote anticipates a very contemporary posture: humanitarian rhetoric paired with social exhaustion. We donate, we post, we care, we also mute group chats. Schulz turns that tension into one clean sentence, funny enough to repeat, bleak enough to recognize.

Quote Details

TopicWitty One-Liners
Source
Verified source: Around The World In 45 Years (Charles M. Schulz, 1994)ISBN: 9780836217667 · ID: 9YT7LcIdakAC
Text match: 95.00%   Provider: Google Books
Evidence:
Charles M. Schulz. Around the World in Three Dimensions by Connie Boucher ' ve loved the Peanuts comic strip ... I Love Mankind , It's People I Can't Stand . " All our hard work was worth the effort . Soon the market was flooded ...
Other candidates (1)
Charles M. Schulz (Charles M. Schulz) compilation37.5%
do you think about that i just dont trust anybody if i think its funny or if i
Cite

Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Schulz, Charles M. (2026, January 13). I love mankind; it's people I can't stand. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-love-mankind-its-people-i-cant-stand-5024/

Chicago Style
Schulz, Charles M. "I love mankind; it's people I can't stand." FixQuotes. January 13, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-love-mankind-its-people-i-cant-stand-5024/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I love mankind; it's people I can't stand." FixQuotes, 13 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-love-mankind-its-people-i-cant-stand-5024/. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

More Quotes by Charles Add to List
I Love Mankind Its People I Cant Stand - Charles M Schulz Quote
Click to enlarge Portrait | Landscape

About the Author

Charles M. Schulz

Charles M. Schulz (November 26, 1922 - February 12, 2000) was a Cartoonist from USA.

26 more quotes available

View Profile

Similar Quotes

William Lloyd Garrison, Journalist
Theodore Parker, Theologian
Theodore Parker, Theologian
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Philosopher
Ralph Waldo Emerson