Damien Hirst

Painting is so poetic, while sculpture is more logical and scientific and makes you worry about gravity.

— Damien Hirst

Buy art, build a museum, put your name on it, let people in for free. That's as close as you can get…

— Damien Hirst

I mean, people listen to music, and they like that, but I think in England, a lot of people don't like contemporary…

— Damien Hirst

In fact, the first piece of art I ever sold, I paid someone else to make the next one, so I could…

— Damien Hirst

But I'm more interested in why people are frightened by Jaws and why Jaws was such a hit than saying Spielberg's my…

— Damien Hirst

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.

— Damien Hirst

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

— Damien Hirst

But for me, from my point of view, I don't mind if it falls over... if you break the glass you replace…

— Damien Hirst

You've got to be oblivious to other people, the push and pull of other people's opinions, the way other people measure success.…

— Damien Hirst

I just hope that I can be kind of like the Beatles. I really like that kind of model. I like the…

— Damien Hirst

I think I've always been afraid of painting, really. Right from the beginning. All my paintings are about painting without a painter.…

— Damien Hirst

You've really got to get down on the floor with yourself and get low in order to make great art. I think…

— Damien Hirst

For me, art is always a kind of theater. When I started the spot paintings, I made them as an endless series.…

— Damien Hirst

To be an artist is not about fame; it's about art, which is this intangible thing that has got to have lots…

— Damien Hirst

I think I've always been afraid of painting, really. Right from the beginning. All my paintings are about painting without a painter.…

— Damien Hirst

I was taught to confront things you can't avoid. Death is one of those things. To live in a society where you're…

— Damien Hirst

There was a point I could have just churned out the spot and spin paintings for ever and laughed all the way…

— Damien Hirst

I did a load of medicine cabinets a long time ago and I named them after Sex Pistols songs. I suppose I…

— Damien Hirst

Because it's visual art, a lot of it comes from childhood experience but then a lot comes from the visual language -…

— Damien Hirst

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

— Damien Hirst

Art goes on in your head. If you said something interesting, that might be a title for a work of art and…

— Damien Hirst

The goal in life is to be solid, whereas the way that life works is totally fluid, so you can never actually…

— Damien Hirst

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

— Damien Hirst

I definitely think about death. And every day your relationship with death changes. And every day I sort of feel like I…

— Damien Hirst

The spot paintings and spin paintings were trying to find mechanical ways to make paintings.

— Damien Hirst

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

— Damien Hirst

People don't like contemporary art, but all art starts life as contemporary - I can't really see a difference.

— Damien Hirst

That's the great thing about art. Anybody can do it if you just believe. With practice, you can make great paintings.

— Damien Hirst

I did a butterfly show in Berlin, and we had a guy who's an expert on butterflies; who bred them all and…

— Damien Hirst

People always say that my work is sensational or shocking but there are truly shocking things you could do, and my sculptures…

— Damien Hirst

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

— Damien Hirst

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

— Damien Hirst

So smoking is the perfect way to commit suicide without actually dying. I smoke because it's bad, it's really simple.

— Damien Hirst

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

— Damien Hirst

Death's just something that inspires me, not something that pulls me down. I used to get called morbid at school. I have…

— Damien Hirst

A lot of people thought I wasn't doing anything because I was spending a lot of time socialising and going out, but…

— Damien Hirst

It'd be nice to make lots of money but it's quite difficult, because every time I make lots of money I make…

— Damien Hirst

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

— Damien Hirst

I've had laser eye surgery and I don't wear glasses any more, so people just go, 'You're not Damien Hirst.' I don't…

— Damien Hirst

Commercials are so contemporary and up to date that when you're involved in that visual world, you can't really go backwards.

— Damien Hirst