Damien Hirst

The best spot painting you can have by me is one painted by Rachel.

— Damien Hirst

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

— Damien Hirst

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

— Damien Hirst

But then architects don't build their own houses.

— Damien Hirst

You've got to be able to copy things faithfully before you can deviate.

— Damien Hirst

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

— Damien Hirst

Sometimes when you're drunk you can see better.

— Damien Hirst

I think money is important for everyone, because the lack of it is so painful.

— Damien Hirst

It's very easy to say, 'I could have done that,' after someone's done it. But I did it. You didn't. It didn't…

— Damien Hirst

Sensation is an element of what I do, and why not? It's not sensational for the sake of being sensational, but it's…

— Damien Hirst

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

— Damien Hirst

The idea of being a painter, I've always thought, is better than being an artist or a sculptor.

— Damien Hirst

I like the confusion you get between science and religion … that’s where belief lies and art as well.

— Damien Hirst

It's good to have a title that's not just one word. If you're gonna title it, you might as well try and…

— Damien Hirst

Great art - or good art - is when you look at it, experience it and it stays in your mind. I…

— Damien Hirst

“The answer to how to live is to stop thinking about it. And just to live. But you're doing that anyway. However…

— Damien Hirst

As an artist you're looking for universal triggers. You want it both ways. You want it to have an immediate impact, and…

— Damien Hirst

I used to watch 'Top of the Pops' when I was a kid and say 'Yeah!' or 'Boo!' at every single song.…

— Damien Hirst

Making art, good art, is always a struggle. It can make you happy when you pull it off. There's no better feeling.…

— Damien Hirst

I've been asked to do a retrospective since I was about 28 and I always thought that was a bit odd. It's…

— Damien Hirst

But it's like the horror of being in a studio with a blank canvas. I used to always run out of ideas…

— Damien Hirst

Even as a kid in drawing class, I had real ambition. I wanted to be the best in the class, but there…

— Damien Hirst

I remember when you used to have your profession on your passport and I always thought that being a painter was the…

— Damien Hirst

But I think it's more that when you're young, you're invincible, you're immortal - or at least you think you are. The…

— Damien Hirst

It's such a crass idea - you're either in love or out of love.

— Damien Hirst

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

— Damien Hirst

Being best is a false goal, you have to measure success on your own terms.

— Damien Hirst

Art comes from everywhere. It's your response to your surroundings.

— Damien Hirst

I think suicide is the most perfect thing you can do in life.

— Damien Hirst

I think an ashtray is the most fantastically real thing.

— Damien Hirst

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

— Damien Hirst

I always feel like the art's there and I just see it, so it's not really a lot of work.

— Damien Hirst

Immortality is really desirable, I guess. In terms of images, anyway.

— Damien Hirst

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

— Damien Hirst

It's ridiculous what I do. I can't believe in it - but I have to.

— Damien Hirst

I wanted a shark that's big enough to eat you, and in a large enough amount of liquid so that you could…

— Damien Hirst

I can't understand why most people believe in medicine and don't believe in art, without questioning either.

— Damien Hirst

If the choice is between buying another building or a Pollock, I'd go for the Pollock every time.

— Damien Hirst

I realised that you couldn't use the tools of yesterday to communicate today's world. Basically, that was the big light that went…

— Damien Hirst

I always look at money not as a motivating factor but as an element in the composition. You can't ignore it, but…

— Damien Hirst