I have always been aware that you have to get people listening before you can change their minds. Any artist's big fear… — Damien Hirst Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
Most people live in the city and go to the country at the weekend, and that's posh and aristocratic, but actually to… — Damien Hirst Copy Share Image
Art is the closest you can get to immortality, though it's a poor substitute - you're working for people not yet born… — Damien Hirst Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
You'd never look at a Rembrandt and say, 'That's just wood and canvas and paint - how much?!' It's all about how… — Damien Hirst Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
People don't like contemporary art, but all art starts life as contemporary - I can't really see a difference. — Damien Hirst Copy Share Image
I always try to make everyone mellow down, make sure everybody's happy. The people I have employed have always kind of stayed… — Damien Hirst Copy Share Image
It's a great advantage to be able to play people off against each other, isn't it? You go to Christie's and get… — Damien Hirst Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
As an artist, you don't stop making art because people are not buying it. — 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
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 Copy Share Image
I can't wait to get into a position to make really bad art and get away with it. At the moment if… — Damien Hirst Copy Share Image
I think art is good at looking back and looking forward. I don't think art is good at looking head-on. At the… — Damien Hirst Copy Share Image
I can't understand why most people believe in medicine and don't believe in art, without questioning either. — 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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
If the choice is between buying another building or a Pollock, I'd go for the Pollock every time. — Damien Hirst Copy Share Image
