H. P. Lovecraft Quotes

I stand by the Lost finale. It's the story that we wanted to tell, and we told it. No excuses. No apologies. I look back on it as fondly as I look back on the process of writing the whole show. And while I'll always care what you think, I can't be a slave to it anymore. Here's why: I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. And I was really … I was alive.

All any artist can do is please themselves.

I am interested in art as a means of living a life; not as a means of making a living.

I want to create music that moves me, not just music that is going to get me famous or make someone at a label happy.

As an artist, you have to do what you feel passionate about. It has to be something you can connect with.

I'm writing for the sake of writing music. Whether it gets heard or not isn't an issue for me. It keeps my own juices going and my mind active.

My work is trying to at least define myself on my own terms, and then if other people enjoy things that's a lovely addition.

The object of art is not to make salable pictures. It is to save yourself.

I mean it's the writing, not the being read, that excites me.

I have never expected anything from my work but the satisfaction I could get from it by the very fact of painting and saying what I couldn't say otherwise.

You must write for yourself, above all. That is your only hope of creating something beautiful.

I’m not trying to satisfy anybody but myself and the role that I’m playing.

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.

I never think about what others are doing. I do a film for myself, not others.

The reception for 'Enemy?' I don't care. No matter what other people think, it was important for me. I will stand for that movie, even if I stand alone.

Satisfying myself is the point in filmmaking, in my mind.

I believe that if your primary motivation in life is to be moral, you don't become an artist.

Why do writers, say, give up a job in economics and decide to write poetry? Or, why do they give up a job in a bank and decide to paint, like Krishan Khanna? They want to convey something.

I only write music for myself, I don't try and appeal to anyone else.

If people would like to come to my concerts I'd love them to come. And if they like the music that I make, I love that too. But I do not make music for other people. I make it to please myself.

I finally got to the point where I decided I don't care if it's good art or bad art - it's what I do. I enjoy doing it, and people like it.

I don't think the goal is, 'How big a star did you ever become?' I think the goal is, 'Were you able to express yourself?'

I don't worry about what everyone wants to see. I make movies that please a writer, director and myself. I always think there are enough people smart as me and sensitive as me.

When I left the Royal College, I decided I would only make paintings that I would want to look at myself, that felt close to my life.

My biggest challenge was to make sure that the songs I did were who I am.