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 Copy Share Image
People always say that my work is sensational or shocking but there are truly shocking things you could do, and my sculptures… — Damien Hirst Copy Share Image
I remember when you used to have your profession on your passport and I always thought that being a painter was the… — Damien Hirst Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
Kids are naturally gifted at art from a very young age. The problem is when they get older and become self-conscious. The… — Damien Hirst Copy Share Image
The idea of being a painter, I've always thought, is better than being an artist or a sculptor. — Damien Hirst Copy Share Image
For me, art is always a kind of theater. When I started the spot paintings, I made them as an endless series.… — Damien Hirst Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
Even as a kid in drawing class, I had real ambition. I wanted to be the best in the class, but there… — Damien Hirst Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
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… — Damien Hirst Copy Share
Art goes on in your head. If you said something interesting, that might be a title for a work of art and I'd write… — Damien Hirst Copy Share
Even as a kid in drawing class, I had real ambition. I wanted to be the best in the class, but there was always… — Damien Hirst Copy Share
Since I was a child, death is definitely something that I think about every day. But I think that everybody does. You try and… — Damien Hirst Copy Share
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 possibilities are… — Damien Hirst Copy Share
Museums are for dead artists. I'd never show my work in the Tate. You'd never get me in that place. — Damien Hirst Copy Share
No, I don't believe in genius. I believe in freedom. I think anyone can do it. Anyone can be like Rembrandt. — Damien Hirst Copy Share
I did a butterfly show in Berlin, and we had a guy who's an expert on butterflies; who bred them all and who looks… — Damien Hirst Copy Share
If the choice is between buying another building or a Pollock, I'd go for the Pollock every time. — Damien Hirst Copy Share
Picasso, Michelangelo, possibly, might be verging on genius, but I don't think a painter like Rembrandt is a genius. — Damien Hirst Copy Share
Making art, good art, is always a struggle. It can make you happy when you pull it off. There's no better feeling. It's beauteous.… — Damien Hirst Copy Share
So smoking is the perfect way to commit suicide without actually dying. I smoke because it's bad, it's really simple. — Damien Hirst Copy Share
