Damien Hirst Quotes

Never let money get in the way of an idea

You can always tell a great painting, because when you get close there are all these nervous marks.

What I really like is minimum effort for maximum effect.

When it comes to the British monarchy, I prefer to be seduced by an image than presented with a real person. It's kind of a Warhol thing.

I love art. It is uplifting.

It'd be nice to make lots of money but it's quite difficult, because every time I make lots of money I make a bigger piece that costs lots of money.

The answer to how to live is to stop thinking about it.

There's always something you missed or something you didn't notice or somehow you got wrong... I don't really have a beginning.

I don't see what else you can spend your money on... If you want to own things, art is a pretty good bet.

I always ignore money.

Great art - or good art - is when you look at it, experience it and it stays in your mind. I don't think conceptual art and traditional art are all that different.

I was brought up Catholic, and I felt the power of art from a very young age - seeing the brutality of all those images of flayed apostles and tortured saints was a pretty strong introduction.

I have titles floating around in my head; I have sculptures floating around in my head. It's like a collage.

I'm 43. I'm not ready to sit down in a chair with my name on it yet.

I used to watch 'Top of the Pops' when I was a kid and say 'Yeah!' or 'Boo!' at every single song. So there was nothing in the middle. You brutally put it on one side or another.

A painting probably is the most shocking increase in value, from what it costs to make to what you sell it for.

A lot of people thought I wasn't doing anything because I was spending a lot of time socialising and going out, but I've always managed to get work actually done.

But whenever I look at the question of how to live, the answer's always staring me in the face. I'm already doing it.

In fact, the first piece of art I ever sold, I paid someone else to make the next one, so I could actually keep going out drinking.

I liked The Beatles a lot when I was growing up.

Whenever I've been well-known or hitting the press, I've always had to get my credit card out to prove I'm Damien Hirst.

I quite like it to be risky. I'm not ready to sit down in a chair with my name on it yet. I've arrived at that point in the art world where there really is a chair that you sit in.

I just do what everybody asks me to do, in terms of media and stuff.

You have to step over the boundaries sometimes just to find out where theyare.

Death's just something that inspires me, not something that pulls me down. I used to get called morbid at school. I have always loved horror films; I like being frightened.

For me, art is always a kind of theater.

I used to believe I was going to live forever. And then you suddenly become aware that you're not.

I definitely think about death. And every day your relationship with death changes. And every day I sort of feel like I know it more. I've always thought about it.

As soon as something becomes art I think you get over the fear

I don't think I'd want my pet in formaldehyde, but I guess in America they would.

Picasso, Michelangelo, possibly, might be verging on genius, but I don't think a painter like Rembrandt is a genius.

I can’t wait to get into a position to make really bad art and get away with it.

The infinite possibilities. That's what used to do my nut in.

I think I like big issues, but I don't believe in God or religion.

As a father, I would say I am more like a mother. I do a lot of hugging.

Sensation is an element of what I do, and why not? It's not sensational for the sake of being sensational, but it's sensational art... It's like touching skin.

No, I don't believe in genius. I believe in freedom. I think anyone can do it. Anyone can be like Rembrandt.

I always look at money not as a motivating factor but as an element in the composition. You can't ignore it, but you've got to be very careful that it's not motivating you.

Kids are naturally gifted at art from a very young age. The problem is when they get older and become self-conscious. The process should always be fun, though.