Jeff Koons Quotes

As human beings, we're very materialistic and have all this stuff - furs and cars and diamonds and money.

How many BMWs do you need? How many Rolex watches you gonna wear in your lifetime, for crying out loud? What is it about that kind of desire? I don't understand it.

'As Long As I Know I'm Getting Paid' is a satire. Lyrically, I want to be direct. With my history in Fall Out Boy, there's some expectation that I'm going to be lyrically obtuse. But that song is a straight-faced satire of consumerism.

I just don't like conspicuous consumption. I find it distasteful.

Every man now worships gold, all other reverence being done away.

We live in a materialist world, and materialism appeals so strongly to humanity, no matter where.

The trappings of lifestyle are often that; traps.

I've never been that person who wants a Rolls Royce or wants to live in a mansion or what have you.

People recognize themselves in their commodities; they find their soul in their automobile, hi-fi set, split-level home, kitchen equipment.

I already own more than any human being needs.

I didn't think about money or cars or anything like that.

I have a Mercedes. I wear a Rolex watch. I have no problem with the selling of things.

Consume more than you need This is the dream Make you pauper Or make you queen I won't die lonely I'll have it all prearranged A grave that's deep and wide enough For me and all my mountains o'things

Things, things, things. Always more things, and success is seen as the abundance of things.

Poverty wants some things, Luxury many things, Avarice all things

Our culture is hung up on and overemphasises what can be derived from material objects. I think this is something quite new, over the past 200 or 300 years - that life has become about accumulating material wealth. The 21st century is not about accumulating material wealth like the 20th century. It's already eroding.

I had more clothes than I had closets, more cars than garage space, but no money.

I felt I was owned by possessions.

In sports teams, apart from talk of sporting prowess and the imparting of inspirational thought, an extraordinary amount of time is spent discussing, and flaunting, material possessions.

I had the notion that, OK, so now we have all of this wealth, we could buy not only one expensive car, we could buy all of them. As soon as you realize that you could buy all of them, then none of them are particularly interesting or satisfying.

Utility is when you have one telephone, luxury is when you have two, opulence is when you have three - and paradise is when you have none.

In our rich consumers' civilization we spin cocoons around ourselves and get possessed by our possessions.

Worldly pleasures, such as flow from greatness, riches, honours, and sensual gratifications, are infinitely worse than none.

America must be the teacher of democracy, not the advertiser of the consumer society. It is unrealistic for the rest of the world to reach the American living standard.

I think one of the most pervasive evils in this world is greed and acquiring money for money's sake. Once you have six houses and a plane, it's just about a number. It's never been anything I understood.