Sometimes the solitary voice can be the best one. — Frank Miller
Judging your early artistic efforts is artist abuse. — Julia Cameron
David Cronenberg knows what we actors do as artists. — William Hurt
An artist will betray himself by some sort of sincerity. — Gilbert K. Chesterton
The criminal is a creative artist; detectives are just critics. — Hannu Rajaniemi
Weirdism is definitely the cornerstone of many an artist’s career. — E. A. Bucchianeri
The criminal is the creative artist; the detective only the critic. — Gilbert K. Chesterton
One must not believe any of those mythologies about oneself as an artist — Anish Kapoor
Both read the Bible day and night, but thou read black where I read white. — William Blake
I wanted to learn how to paint rather than just doing black-and-white work — Bill Sienkiewicz
You are an artist. The canvas is your life. Make something worth staring at. — Cheryl Richardson
I don’t believe in dogmas and theologies. I just believe in being a good person. — Robert Mapplethorpe
Artist, gain knowledge, but know that the greatest guru of all is the guru within. — Robert Genn
The hours of folly are measured by the clock; but of wisdom, no clock can measure. — William Blake
I will never be the best dancer or artist. I will be growing until the day I retire. — Misty Copeland
I want to prove a point. That point is, actors are artists, not narcissists necessarily. — William Hurt
A picture is nothing but a bridge between the soul of the artist and that of the spectator. — Eugene Delacroix
Builders eventually took advantage of the look of modernism to build cheaply and carelessly. — Arthur Erickson
Winter makes a bridge between one year and another and, in this case, one century and the next. — Andy Goldsworthy
Of all the artists who emerged in the ’80s, I think perhaps Cindy Sherman is the most important. — Chuck Close
Being a cover artist is not like being a real artist. That’s just copying what someone else did. — Sebastian Bach
Artists are the antennae of the race, but the bullet-headed many will never learn to trust the great artists. — Ezra Pound
The irony is that musical artists have enormous public voices, but behind the scenes we’re voiceless, actually. — Sinead O’Connor
I get a lot from great ’90s artists like Juliana Hatfield, The Pixies, and bands like That Dog and The Breeders. — Margaret Cho
I have been black and blue in some spot, somewhere, almost all my life from too intimate contacts with my own furniture. — Frank Lloyd Wright
I know my sound, and I have to be true to who I am as an artist, even though I want be real cool, and make really cool music. — Brooke Fraser
The only way I’ve been able to survive the betrayal of lovers, family members, and society is to be able to create as an artist. — Madonna Ciccone
If the person or artist doesn’t touch it, and if the camera stays relatively far away from it, it doesn’t really have to be real. — James Pearse Connelly
Religion is a group of scam artists that sell the calming idea that your body is a temple of God, while your mind belongs to them. — Jose Antonio Carrillo
I am an artist, and, through my eye, must confess to a tremendous bias. In my purely literary voyages my eye is always my compass. — Wyndham Lewis
The average man cannot believe that an artist may be as serious and highminded an observer of life as the professed man of science. — Aleister Crowley
I want to be real. I want to be a real person. That’s what an artist is. An artist has to be honest. Without honesty, there’s nothing. — Miley Cyrus
I believe that my clothes can give people a better image of themselves – that it can increase their feelings of confidence and happiness. — Giorgio Armani
When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. — Steve Jobs
My deepest condolences for DJ AM, you were a great artist and will be severely missed. My thoughts and Prayers to his family and friends. — Shanna Moakler
I just appreciate what Andre 3000 has done musically – just the bravery. I think Andre 3000 may be one of the bravest artists in rap music. — Nas
I felt like I was definitely robbed, and I refuse to give any politically correct bullshit ass comment. I was the best new artist this year. — Kanye West
Some artists want your money so they can buy Range Rovers and diamond bracelets, but I don’t care about that kind of stuff. I want your soul. — Lady Gaga
Every kid wants to reach their goals in life and be the best. During my Bruce Lee phase, I wanted to be the best martial artist in the world. — Christian Hosoi
I’m not necessarily interested in being the best Indian artist. I want to be the best artist I can be. That’s enough of a declaration of intent. — Anish Kapoor
The artist is the person who invents the means to bridge between biological inheritance and the environments created by technological innovation. — Marshall McLuhan
It feels much better to me to think that an artist is working to show his appreciation of what already has been created than creating things himself. — E. J. Hughes
Actors in general are pretty good bullshit artists; we’re good at just chewing the fat, interacting with people. So we’re good ambassadors for movies. — John C. Reilly
A true artist, in my mind, is willing to fail sometimes, because if you’re not brave enough to say yes and follow your gut, it’s never going to be good. — Alexander Skarsgard
We will certainly see teachers, journalists, artists and poets in space. Whatever it takes to the be the best is what it will take to get you into space. — Gene Cernan
I design for real people. I think of our customers all the time. There is no virtue whatsoever in creating clothing or accessories that are not practical. — Giorgio Armani
I’m incredibly close to my family. I have two younger brothers; they’re both artists and actors, and their work and the way they see the world inspires me. — Tatiana Maslany
In the late 80s, artists could be signed to labels and be nurtured. It wasn’t, “We’re going to give you one shot, and if you don’t measure up, you’re gone”. — Mary Chapin Carpenter
Social media is so powerful now, and with all these blog sites and YouTube channels and videos, it makes it more and more relevant to bridge artists together. — Tyga
If artists do see fields blue they are deranged, and should go to an asylum. If they only pretend to see them blue, they are criminals and should go to prison. — Adolf Hitler
I was worried in the ’80s that the best abstract painting had become obsessed with materiality, and painterly gestures and materiality were up against the wall. — Frank Stella
Sex energy is the creative energy of all geniuses. There never has been, and never will be a great leader, builder or artist lacking in the driving force of sex. — Napoleon Hill
I support any procedure that allows photographers to express themselves, whether that involves color, black and white, platinum, palladium and digital technology. — John Sexton
Writers, Composers, Painters, – also artists like directors and actors fall into the same category. They have to be handled with kid gloves, mentally and physically — Marlene Dietrich
In the recording process I do listen to other artists a lot and other albums and albums I am loving lately, or ones that I still love that came out in the 80s or 70s. — William Beckett
The moment artists can just do what they love to do then music will go right back to where it used to be. I mean back in the ’60s and ’70s and ’80s, that’s what it was. — Akon
In the tradition of the classic songwriter rooms like The Bluebird in Nashville, Strange Brew is a gift to the music community in Austin, for artists and audiences alike — Christopher Cross
Getting people to go above and beyond the call of duty can be achieved but only if you, the artist, are willing to go above and beyond any and all calls of duty yourself. — Tori Amos
When I was a kid, I loved Sherlock Holmes. I’m not interested in crimes. I’m interested in the mind of the detective and his process, which to me is a lot like the artist. — Patti Smith
I don’t know what people find or like in me, I’m hopelessly commonplace!… Current appreciation of my work is a bit highbrow, I’ve always considered myself a popular artist. — Maxfield Parrish
You’ll nip anybody who’s coming at you with bullshit. You don’t play around. You take this craft very seriously. It’s what separates you, what separates an actor from an artist. — Nicole Kidman
In fact, I don’t believe I’m guilty of any crimes, but I’ve always been drawn to and fascinated by physical, sexual, and psychological change, and there’s an erotic aspect to that. — Jock Sturges
Nast is an artist of uncommon abilities. His works evince originality of conception, freedom of manner, lofty appreciation of national ideas and action, and a large artistic instinct. — James Jackson Jarves
Anything you ever make that matters takes a long time. Some artists never see their work in front of an audience, so for them 15 years is a blink of an eye. I am nothing but grateful. — Adriana Trigiani
To me, eyewear goes way beyond being a prescription. It’s like makeup. It’s the most incredible accessory. The shape of a frame or the color of lenses can change your whole appearance. — Vera Wang
I get up around 7 a.m. That’s very early for a stand-up comic. Then I’ll have breakfast with my husband, the artist Al Ridenour, take my three dogs for a walk and commence with my work. — Margaret Cho
If you’re not operating on an instinctive level, you’re not an artist…. Reason over emotion is bullshit, absolute bullshit… We suffocate ourselves in rules. I find fantasy liberating. — Guillermo del Toro
Our father the novelist; my husband the poet. He belongs to the ages – just don’t catch him at breakfast. Artists, celebrated for their humanity, they turn out to be scarcely human at all. — Alan Bennett
The growth that an artist seeks is a fine combination of mastering craft, garnering an audience, maintaining one’s mental health, and working mightily from a ever-expanding base of experience. — Eric Maisel
Sometimes I write songs that just come out in a pop format because I grew up on melody and these amazing artists during the 80s. It’s my tradition and it’s something that I can’t really control. — Robyn
I’m so used to being behind the scenes. I didn’t really want to be front and center. One of the elements of my relationships with the artists I work with is that I’m not front and center, and they are. — Arthur Fogel
Part of what made the Macintosh great was that the people working on it were musicians and poets and artists and zoologists and historians who also happened to be the best computer scientists in the world. — Steve Jobs
Well, you could almost say, I suppose, that the scientist seeks what is similar between any two days, or bluebirds, or glaciers. And the poet seeks what is different. The artist seeks to celebrate the unique. — Terence McKenna
I want to be remembered as an artist that gave you a piece of me, as opposed to some surface bullshit. I just want to be remembered as a poet that was open and honest because I wake up every morning and I’m me. — Drake
It is only too true that a lot of artists are mentally ill – it’s a life which, to put it mildly, makes one an outsider. I’m all right when I completely immerse myself in work, but I’ll always remain half crazy. — Vincent Van Gogh
You see so many artists who are so talented end up living sad, empty lives. This industry takes so much out of you that without the accountability and leaving God in the center, you can be left so empty and void. — Stacie Orrico
Many of the artists who have represented Negro life have seen only the comic, the ludicrous side of it, and have lacked sympathy with and appreciation for the warm, big heart that dwells within such a rough exterior. — Henry Ossawa Tanner
It seems that our politicians see the world in black and white, so why not our artists? Did Woody Allen’s ‘Manhattan’ have to be in black and white? No. But is it fantastic that it was? To see New York like that? Yes! — Alexander Payne
God is the great mysterious motivator of what we call nature, and it has often been said by philosophers, that nature is the will of God. And I prefer to say that nature is the only body of God that we shall ever see. — Frank Lloyd Wright
I like adding little elements into the final mix. I’m more fond of the ’70s glam than ’80s. I have that style of vocals… there are a lot of pop artists who are using the glam vibe in their music. I’m part of that wave. — Adam Lambert
Artistic tricks divert from the effect that an artist endeavors to produce, and even excellent elements such as bullets, arrows, brackets, ornate initials, are at best superficial ornamentation unless logically employed. — Paul Rand
I think that cognitive scientists would support the view that our visual system does not directly represent what is out there in the world and that our brain constructs a lot of the imagery that we believe we are seeing. — Galen Rowell
After a point of time, when you get success and fame, money and everything, the purpose of life has to be redefined. For me, I think that purpose is to build bridges. Artists can do that very easily, more than politicians. — A. R. Rahman
… everyone’s free to embark on either a great clipper or a little fishing boat. An artist is an explorer who oughtn’t to shrink from anything: it doesn’t matter whether he goes to the left or the right — his goal sanctifies all. — George Sand
What pedophiles and people who have sexual desires on children lose sight of to a terrible, terrible degree – a devastating degree – is that their victims are real people who will suffer forever whatever abuses are perpetrated on them. — Jock Sturges
The paradox of the culture wars is that they have made celebrities out of some artists who would otherwise vanish. Censorship has become a growth industry. This may be the best argument, in the end, for unfettered freedom of expression. — Michael Kimmelman
What was great about the 80s was that you still had record companies who would get behind developing you as an artist. You had these bonkers heads of department and A&R people who, even after a flop album, would let you make another one. — Marc Almond
The sense of having to be the best at everything gets in the way of anybody doing anything. I put all that aside; it’s not worth thinking about when I’m there. My agenda as an artist doesn’t go away when I teach. It actually gets intensified. — Vijay Iyer
I love TV. I love being behind the scenes on a TV show but there’s something about, I don’t know there’s something very special when you’ve signed an artist and that first record comes in and it’s a good record. It is an indescribable feeling. — Simon Cowell
Today my passion is still black and white. Today if I have an array of cameras in front of me the one I would reach for that I would feel most comfortable with would be a 4 X 5 View camera. I was once working in a sort of soft light situation. — John Sexton
As an architect you are a builder. You are of course more than a builder. You need to be a militant, you have to be a poet, you have to be a visionary, you have to be an artist. But certainly you have to be a builder. Everything starts from there. — Renzo Piano
I’m something totally different. There are a lot of female artists my age around at the moment, but they’re all American and blonde and blue-eyed and smiley. I’m totally the opposite of that. I want to show a bit more attitude and I have an opinion. — Samantha Mumba
June Jordan once said something which is just wonderful. I’m paraphrasing her-that her function as a poet was to make revolution irresistible. Well o.k. that is the function of us all, as creative artists, to make the truth, as we see it irresistible. — Audre Lorde
I started in the late 70s, beginning of the 80s, and I think I started to sing and make music as a therapy for myself; I never planned to be an artist; sometimes when I think about it it’s crazy that I’m here, and I’m touring, and I’m doing what I’m doing. — Mari Boine
Even though everybody who looked at me would call me a Chinese artist, that’s the 1980s. New York in the ’80s was not so interesting. I think it’s quite narrow-minded. There wasn’t much encouragement or opportunities for any artist – not just Chinese artists. — Ai Weiwei
I’m quite ignorant about fashion and I’m colourblind, so it’s all a tad tricky. My only knowledge of that world comes through Christopher Bailey, whom I first met in 2008 when I did a campaign for Burberry that featured musicians, artists, actors and sportsmen. — Eddie Redmayne
It is necessary that the object that the artist is shaping, whether it be a vase of clay or a fishing boat, be significant of something other than itself. This object must be a sign as well as an object; a meaning must animate it, and make it say more than it is. — Jacques Maritain
I don’t think of myself as a rebellious artist, a lot of people have said that about me because I came from Cornwall and choose to paint people in what they considered to be an urban style instead of Cornish landscapes. I’ve never agreed with them. It’s bullshit. — Danny Fox
It’s a social media time, where you have YouTube and everything it’s kind of like you see my career grow up on camera. But a lot of the things that you would see from artists would be behind the scenes that nobody would know about before, now it’s all on display. — Young De
To me, I would much rather be part of a healthy industry than being the only player in a dead industry. There are so many great artists out there. And the goal is to make great movies, you know? So to be successful, quality is the best business plan as I always say. — John Lasseter
Just black executives have a bias against older artists. We don’t respect our elders. That’s not because of white people. That’s because of black leadership. We just have that problem, and it’s something that I am going to spend the rest of my life trying to conquer. — KRS-One
General anxiety is the bridge between the manic joys of creation, exploration, new revelations, professional acceptance and reward, and the depression of self-critique, professional rejection and stagnation. All are part of the roller coaster ride of an artist’s life. — Oliver $
The real purveyors of the news are artists, for artists are the ones who infuse fact with perception, emotion, and appreciation…We are beginning to realize that emotions and imagination are more potent in shaping public sentiment and opinion than information and reason. — John Dewey
We usually evaluate creative process in terms of how much feeling or thinking was behind the work or how well the work was done. Isn’t there any other way of appreciating the process? What if the standard of excellence was how fully present the artist was during the process? — Kazuaki Tanahashi
It is my belief one should not belittle the artist; while, however glorious his fame may seem, his time on Mount Olympus as an honourable guest of Zeus is short. It’s a pity, but all too eager will the common folk drag him from this etherial heights to the low and trodden earth. — Ludwig van Beethoven
A true priest is aware of the presence of the altar during every moment that he is conducting a service. It is exactly the same way that a true artist should react to the stage all the time he is in the theater. An actor who is incapable of this feeling will never be a true artist. — Constantin Stanislavski
When I get up in the morning, I go and I work with beautiful women and charming men and funny comedians and dramatic artists. And I’m presented with costumes and great music to choose from and sets. I travel a certain amount of places, so I’ve been living in a bubble. And I like it. — Woody Allen
Justin Broadrick has stated that the drum machine sound was heavily influenced by hip hop artists in the late 80s, particularly the beat on “Christbait Rising” which Broadrick was quoted as saying, “It was my attempt at copying the rhythm sample on ‘Microphone Fiend’ by Eric B & Rakim”. — Justin Broadrick
One of my favorite things that Yahoo does on a regular basis is this story: “Wealthiest Rap Artists.” That’s an example of the internet just perpetuating this myth that we’re all just sitting around in these mansions like Steven Tyler, bopping around in our swimming pool. It’s bullshit. — DJ Shadow
One of the central flaws in the state of contemporary music is that the major record companies have failed to incorporate that simple fact into their business plans. They’ve come into an industry that’s based on idiosyncratic artists and tried to erase every idiosyncratic aspect out of it. — Moby
Judging your early artistic efforts is artist abuse. . . Remember that in order to recover as an artist, you must be willing to be a bad artist. Give yourself permission to be a beginner. By being willing to be a bad artist, you have a chance to be an artist, and perhaps, over time, a very good one — Julia Cameron
Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. — Steve Jobs
I believe the media pretty much dictates the way relationships are handled, even in the way we handle ourselves. Abuse, cheating, threesomes, it’s inspired by music and television. Irresponsible artists and writers with a hidden agenda, just working against the moral fabric that God intended for us to have. — Tony Gaskins
People approach people of color with preconceived ideas. I don’t think this is just restricted to white people, but I think that lots of black and white artists, when race is a subject matter, they put race or the ideology around race first. They don’t see the person and the complications of the human being. — Hilton Als
I’m speaking of the pursuit of excellence in all things. All things! Presence of mind and devotion to craft. A great artist has these. A great chef. A great master of tea. There’s powerful kung fu in a well-built house or an eloquent letter, but the limit of your imagination is bones breaking and bullets flying. — Scott Lynch
Mr. Searle became a satirist, he once said, because ‘in the late ’30s, things in general and politics in particular were no longer neatly divided into things black and white. On top of this,’ he added, ‘there was the irresistible impulse to draw. I cannot remember wanting to be anything else other than an artist.’ — Ronald Searle
There are so many artists these days that are trying to imitate other artists and go for a certain style; there’s a lot of bullshit in the music industry. I don’t want to deviate from anything else other than the music, cause that’s why I listen to my favorite records – not because I like the way the artists dress. — Mister Lies
Memories are like a still life painted by ten different student artists: some will be blue-based; others red; some will be as stark as Picasso and others as rich as Rembrandt; some will be foreshortened and others distant. Recollections are in the eye of the beholder; no two held up side by side will ever quite match. — Jodi Picoult
Among the Indians, as among other nations, some people are born artists, but most are not. I am a born artist. I have as much interest in my people as any anthropologist, and I have studied our culture and lore. My aim is to reassemble the pieces of a once proud culture, and to show the dignity and bravery of my people. — Norval Morrisseau
On the one hand, rock is so predictable, but at the same time, the basic idea that an artist can cut through everything and make something that they believe in or make something that they love or speaks to them personally, that it can cut through the bullshit. But at the same time, the cliches of sincerity can kill that. — Casey Spooner
Writers that pretend to be in the throes of some kind of genius-demon, some kind of possessing spirit that refuses to let them engage with Normal Life are bullshit artists of the highest degree, looking to excuse their antisocial tendencies and bad manners away with a flourish of vocabulary and the semantic waving of hands. — Matt Fraction
This civil action is another case of a tragedy that has become all too familiar in the music industry: a business manager and professional advisers exploit an immensely talented artist’s loyalty and trust through greed, self-dealing, concealment, knowing misrepresentation and reckless disregard for professional fiduciary duties. — Leonard Cohen
It’s been cool to see on the Voice all these up-and-coming artists from all over the country just develop and follow their careers as well, because we were all at a beginning point together. Now, after seeing the business side and behind-the-scenes stuff, it’s hard for me to watch reality TV and play along like they want you to. — Curtis Grimes
When you’re younger, you don’t realize you have limitations and that you are the one who has to take care of yourself. Nobody else is going to do it for you. And so, with all of that time, maturity and realizations, I’m in a much better place to be the best that I’ve ever been and to continue growing as a person and as an artist. — Jennifer Lopez
I’ve never been that person to fake it, and say what everyone else wants you to say. Then you never have anything personal. If I wanted to be an actress all the time, I could do that. But I don’t. I want to be real. I want to be a real person. That’s what an artist is. An artist has to be honest. Without honesty, there’s nothing. — Miley Cyrus
My tastes range all over the place, from vocal standards to Motown to 70s funk & soul to 80s pop to film scores to artists like R.E.M., Ben Folds, Prince, Annie Lennox, the Police, Elvis Costello, Cat Stevens, the Ditty Bops, local bands that friends of mine are in, and the list goes on… I have no single favorite genre or artist. — Stephanie D’Abruzzo
Back in the early days like for the Temptations, Supremes and Four Tops, artist development was alive in record companies. Every artist had a moment to develop the record visually. When the web took over and camera phones, it stripped the artists of the power to figure it out. So there’s a need to bridge that gap and that’s my job. — Laurieann Gibson
I’ve had production offers with artists I really admire, and oftentimes that doesn’t work out. Sometimes it does, but… For instance I was asked if I wanted to do a Talking Heads album back in the late ’70s, early ’80s, and I was already working on a different project and didn’t have time, so I never got the opportunity to work with them. — Todd Rundgren
Remember He is the artist and you are only the picture. You can’t see it. So quietly submit to be painted—i.e., keep fulfilling all the obvious duties of your station (you really know quite well enough what they are!), asking forgiveness for each failure and then leaving it alone.You are in the right way. Walk—don’t keep on looking at it. — C. S. Lewis
I thought ‘The Artist’ was a perfect way to find a good balance. The artistic challenge is obvious because the film is black-and-white and its silent, but I did my best to make the movie accessible and easy to watch. I really don’t want to make elitist movies. I really try hard to work for the audience. Audiences are smart. They get everything. — Michel Hazanavicius
Scientists are people of very dissimilar temperaments doing different things in very different ways. Among scientists are collectors, classifiers and compulsive tidiers-up; many are detectives by temperament and many are explorers; some are artists and others artisans. There are poet-scientists and philosopher-scientists and even a few mystics. — Peter Medawar
Indie music is ‘it’ now. It’s kind of a revolution to the music: 1980s, 1990s music was getting very sanitized; they were complying with the music industry. Music was getting more and more dead in a way. Now, because of the social climate that’s very severe, the artists are compelled to start being real. It’s really great that indie music is now. — Yoko Ono
As a non-western artist, you have to ask yourself a question fairly early in your life: do I want to become a bridge maker, do I want my culture to be understood by the west? I have no intentions of doing such things. I’m fine being a little strange to a non-western audience. It doesn’t bother me if my book doesn’t change a generation of American readers. — Sarnath Banerjee
There’s no “correct path” to becoming a real artist. You might think you’ll gain legitimacy by going to university, getting published, getting signed to a record label. But it’s all bullshit, and it’s all in your head. You’re an artist when you say you are. And you’re a good artist when you make somebody else experience or feel something deep or unexpected. — Amanda Palmer
Now, [hip-hop/grime artists] Stormzy, Skepta, or the Section Boyz have to be validated by Drake, Rihanna or Beyoncé. They’re rolled into this one urban culture bubble; it’s not really to do with, “I’m specifically f – ked off about my country and what’s going on in my town.” We’re very much only showing success to artists who impress American artists, and I’m one of them. — M.I.A.
Throughout his many years, he enriched the lives of countless others and served as a model of generosity and discipline to those he met, fostering an atmosphere of compassion, harmony, and unity. Sri Chinmoy was a leader, humanitarian, artist, athlete, and public servant who will be sorely missed. His legacy of kindness, reflection, and resolve will endure for many years to come. — William J. Clinton
Amy Sedaris [in the Ghost Team] plays a Miss Cleo-esque character – Miss Cleo just died, so that’s kind of timely – but she plays a Miss Cleo-esque TV psychic who’s also kind of a bullshit artist. One of the most triumphant character turns in the movie is when she realizes that even though she’s a bullshit artist, she does have something to offer. She helps save the day at the end of the movie. — David Krumholtz
My aim is to be understood by everyone. I reject the ‘depth’ that people demand nowadays, into which you can never descend without a diving bell crammed with cabbalistic bullshit and intellectual metaphysics. This expressionistic anarchy has got to stop… A day will come when the artist will no longer be this bohemian, puffed-up anarchist but a healthy man working in clarity within a collectivist society. — George Grosz
Well, to me, the tensile strength and the very definition of an artist is something that I would place at the top of a vertical hierarchy. To be an artist is to suffer and to lead a life without shelter. It takes a great amount of daring-do, self reinvention, imagination, familial loyalty, sacrifice, economic uncertainty, and the right to be wrong, the right to fail in order to achieve something of noticeable value. — Van Dyke Parks
I was always aware, reading Chesterton, that there was someone writing this who rejoiced in words, who deployed them on the page as an artist deploys his paints upon his palette. Behind every Chesterton sentence there was someone painting with words, and it seemed to me that at the end of any particularly good sentence or any perfectly-put paradox, you could hear the author, somewhere behind the scenes, giggling with delight. — Neil Gaiman
I wrote about Freud and the process of sublimation, which is when you learn to stop breast-feeding, or stop going to the toilet whenever you want to. It’s about learning to repress a desire for instant gratification. And in a repressed society, artists fulfil a sense of harking back to instant gratification, or immediate expression, by doing things that function on the edge of society, or outside of what is conventionally accepted. — Bat for Lashes
It’s how you tell the story that makes it new. That’s what artists do. They let us look at the world from a different perspective. They let us look at birds in a way that makes us never see birds again in the same way. That’s why I don’t think computers are healthy for kids. They’re too literal. You pop a button and a bluebird comes out. You pop another button and you can take the color blue and shove it into the outline of the bluebird. — Julie Taymor
