When I began painting, all my paintings were of words which were gutteral utterances like Smash, Boss, Eat. Those words were like flowers in a vase.

Good art should elicit a response of 'Huh? Wow!' as opposed to ‘Wow! Huh?'

I'm interested in glorifying something that we in the world would say doesn't deserve being glorified. Something that's forgotten, focused on as though it were some sort of sacred object.

When I first did the book on gasoline stations, people would look at it and say, Are you kidding or what? Why are you doing this? In a sense, that's what I was after: I was after the head-scratching.

I just use [the camera]. I just pick it up like an axe when I've got to chop down a tree. I pick up a camera and go out and shoot the pictures I have to shoot.

Traveling is irritating to me, but not driving. Going to the airport makes me nervous, but when I set out to just take a leisurely drive, it's blue skies and puffy clouds and time.

People refuse to believe that I've never been to Starbucks or Disneyland.

All my artistic response comes from American things, and I guess I've always had a weakness for heroic imagery.

My pictures are not that interesting, nor the subject matter. They are simply a collection of facts; my book is more like a collection of Ready-mades.

I wasn't captivated by the romance of Paris or London. I love visiting, but I'd rather be in L.A.

Perhaps there would be more anxiety in my work if I lived in New York.

Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.

Of course, REAL zombies never get the giggles when they look at each other.

Music is a creative endeavor so I feel the business around it should be creative, too. One size doesn't have to fit all.

I worked with two young women translators. One died and the other received a death threat from the Taliban.

I never met a librarian worth his or her salt who didn't perceive my passion for books.

And if this is illegal, then sue me!

I love getting dressed up for red carpet events and having my hair and makeup done professionally - that definitely helps with nerves of going down the red carpet.

Don't dwell on your insufficiency, but dwell on God's all-sufficiency.

One was a book thief. The other stole the sky.

I don't go for the flash and panache.