Maria Callas Quotes

I'm really an artist. I really do this. I don't need the money. It doesn't matter to me.

A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself.

Don't make music for some vast, unseen audience or market or ratings share or even for something as tangible as money. Though it's crucial to make a living, that shouldn't be your inspiration. Do it for yourself.

True artists are almost the only men who do their work for pleasure.

There are lots of things I could have done for the money, but I've made a great living doing the things I want to do.

There's something deeply satisfying when it succeeds, but I'm not going to do another book just to put my name on something and make some money if it's not something I deeply care about.

I'm not a driven businessman, but a driven artist. I never think about money. Beautiful things make money.

I have to do a show which is of interest to me, or else I'm lost.

I love making money, but you can't live your life waiting to get rich in a job that no longer feeds you artistically.

I have never been motivated by money in my life. You can't make choices based on what the financial return might be.

I've hit a point where my big luxury is getting to work on the things I want to work on. That's my hobby. It's being able to do a movie like 'Chef,' where you don't get paid, where you get paid scale, but you get to do exactly the movie you want to do. To me, that's worth more to me than whatever money I would have gotten paid.

It's not part of my ambition to become fabulously rich. My plan was always to make my pictures, and hopefully people would buy them, and then I'd buy a studio, buy a house, help friends out, do bits and bobs - but I've no idea after that.

I've never made a movie to make money. I've never made a painting to make money.

I don't care about money. I really don't care. I just want to do what I do.

People ask me, 'Why are you still writing books?' Like I'm still only writing to make money and as soon as I have enough I'll quit and go fishing? I like to write books. It's the most satisfying thing I do.

And the fact that you must make the movie for yourself because no one else will ever fully appreciate the endeavor, makes it a more rewarding challenge.

I wouldn't think a blues album would be that commercially successful, but I don't really care. I'd do it for the love of blues, not for the money. I've got plenty of money.

I don't believe that artists really are interested in money. That's not the motivation for art.

I never cared about money or fame, and I don't care now. I follow the groove, and money always follows.

You may be basing a portion of your self-worth on your bank account without even realizing it. Try to pinpoint the activities and qualities that, free of charge, fulfill you.

I don't want money to ever drive my career. I want my career to be driven by what I want to do in art.

It's great when people appreciate your work, but I don't know how seriously to take it. The amazing thing is that I found something so early that I can support myself doing, and that can even be extremely lucrative, but I love it either way.

Personally, I've never done things just for money.

The three things I said when I came out of school were I want to work consistently, I want to do good work and I want to be paid fairly, and that's happened. But I didn't become an actress for the money. I do it for other reasons.

Luckily, I'm in the position now of being able to play purely because I have the desire to do so.