Damien Hirst Quotes

The idea that one might use art for 'instrumental' reasons tends to set off alarm bells at the heart of the cultural elite, who contend that it's not a pill, that it shouldn't be asked to perform some specific function, especially something as egocentric as to 'cheer you up' or to 'make you a more empathetic person.'

I believe art is utterly important. It is one of the things that could save us.

What's the point of art, of any art, if it doesn't let us see with a little bit of objectivity where we are?

The work of art is brought into the world without there being a need for it. The house satisfies a requirement. The work of art is responsible to none; the house is responsible to everyone. The work of art wants to draw people out of their state of comfort.

If art has a purpose, it is to interpret life, reproduce it in fresh visions.

I don't believe that art is just for entertainment. I want to create art that is meaningful in some way.

My purpose is to make films that will help people to live, even if they sometimes cause unhappiness.

I think the sensation of being moved by a piece of art is something that is really good for a person's soul.

Without art we would be nothing but foreground and live entirely in the spell of that perspective which makes what is closest at hand and most vulgar appear as if it were vast, and reality itself.

If art doesn't make us better, then what on earth is it for.

We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth, at least the truth that is given to us to understand.

My own position is, that it is largely up to the work itself to suggest the nature of these referential points without dimensions in and through the processes by which the distance between them is maintained.

Art is not an end in itself, but a means of addressing humanity.

Through a painting we can see the whole world.

Good art in general aspires to something, as a good painting aspires to something, almost spiritual or holy.

That is why I believe that art is so much more significant than either economics or philosophy. It is the direct measure of man's spiritual vision.

Music is essentially useless, as is life.

Photography is a way of putting distance between myself and the work which sometimes helps me to see more clearly what it is that I have made.

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.

The educator and the public need to have an opportunity to discuss why certain art is important.

At the end of the day, you have to find the humanity in you in each character.

Art should be life. It's an imitation of life. It should have some humanity in it.

We have to remind people how important arts are. People just don't see it.

To me, at its best, that's what art should do, perform both the emotional and intellectual function.

All good performance pieces have some philosophical validity. That's the difference between mere theater and performance art.