Jack White Quotes

I have a company in New York City producing music for commercials, for radio, TV, features, etc. That's how I've been making my living. And now the company is very successful - to the extent that I can afford to come out and play.

In other countries, art and literature are left to a lot of shabby bums living in attics and feeding on booze and spaghetti, but in America the successful writer or picture-painter is indistinguishable from any other decent business man.

How I envy those clerks who go by to their offices in the morning! There's the day's work cut out for them; no question of mood and feeling; they have just to work at something, and when the evening comes, they have earned their wages, and they are free to rest and enjoy themselves. What an insane thing it is to make literature one's only means of support! When the most trivial accident may at any time prove fatal to one's power of work for weeks or months. No, that is the unpardonable sin! To make a trade of an art! I am rightly served for attempting such a brutal folly.

We're all given a window of opportunity, I think all artists are, of any genre. A window when you're truly relevant, the spotlight's on you and people are watching what you do.

I think what you have to do is have a box office success in every genre and then you're set for life. And fortunately, I happened to do that, so I get a myriad of offers of various sorts.

When you are able to make a living with your job as an artist, that means you have an audience and you have to thank this audience.

I’m not all about money, but, like most musicians, I am about survival.

A writer can make a fortune in America, but he can't make a living.

I just always wanted a platform. In the past, I always dreamed of having a following and a fan base - you know, a group of people just listening and paying attention to what I was making. I think the reality kicked in that you have to make a living so that you have enough time to keep creating, you know? 'Cause if you're not making a living at this, then you're making a living working another job, and if you're working another job, you're spending all your time doing that and can't put enough time into the music.

I had a million jobs before I managed to make a living out of poetry.

I hope my career will be long-term. It's not something I'm taking for granted, but we try to plan that way.

I just really feel so grateful to Sundance because I've always been an artist and I've never been able to make a living at being an artist until Sundance.

It's been so long now and so much has happened that I am able now to look back with much less emotion and my take on Andy as an artist now comes down to a simple sentence: he made religious art for a secular society which is why it has so much appeal.

I don't think that the big crunch should be seen as a menace, but rather as an opportunity. It's one of these times in -history - and we have plenty of examples from the past - where it's possible to really make a difference. And if art is serious about claiming a central role in today's society and culture, this is the best chance it's had in ages.

Fortunately, artists can live off their works, if you're creative at how you do it. If you just depend on the videos and the radio, you're at a loss.

Working a model liberated me from ever having to hold a day job. I transitioned from doing that to working full-time as an artist. If you're 19 and living cheap, being an artist model can sustain you. I dropped out of college at 21 and my illustration hadn't yet taken off. It is more than working in a store. It is a hard way to make a living but you earn more than in a similarly unskilled job.

When you know your work sells, then seeking a gallery or outdoor show is fine. Then, if an event or art gallery kicks sand in your face don't give up, keep moving forward. Use your brain and eliminate a lot of your personal agony. There are times when you should not take NO for an answer. But there are others when you should never put yourself in the place to be rejected to begin with. Seek the wisdom to know the difference and then go for it. Persevere in the face of disappointment.

In 1908, you could easily earn $20 to $200 as a cartoonist. What's amazing is that it's still true!

The wonderful news is that when a person with my lack of art background can be successful, then anyone can. I'm not super talented and had no art training. Nothing, nada, zip. No workshops or classes.

Success financially is a measure of creative success, it is the same in all arts.

In the end, art is small beer. The really serious things are earning one's living so as not to be a parasite and loving one's neighbor.

To interest is the first duty of art; no other excellences will ever begin to compensate for failure in this.

I consider that success for anything, whether it's being a musician or a writer. As long as you can support yourself, you're successful. People need to change their idea of what success is.

The opportunity to be able to tell stories to a massive audience is really incredible and this job couldn't be more satisfying. So, any drawbacks I think are worth it if you really enjoy the work. I hope to be doing this until I die.

The creditors are proving impossible to deal with and short of a sudden appearance on the scene of wealthy art patrons, we are going to be turned out of this dear little house where I led a simple life and was able to work so well. I do not know what will become of us.