39 Quotes by Anselm Kiefer

Life is an illusion. I am held together in the nothingness by art.

History is formed by the people, those who have power and those without power. Each one of us makes history.

Because of my Calvinistic upbringing, I was trained to think that what you do has to have a purpose.

Ruins, for me, are the beginning. With the debris, you can construct new ideas. They are symbols of a beginning.

But I believe above all that I wanted to build the palace of my memory, because my memory is my only homeland.

I grew up in a forest. It's like a room. It's protected. Like a cathedral... it is a place between heaven and earth.

What does the artist do? He draws connections. He ties the invisible threads between things. He dives into history, be it the history of mankind, the geological history of the Earth or the beginning and end of the manifest cosmos.

If I do something that depresses, it's not because I'm depressed, but because political life and history is depressing.

But we should also not forget the difference between what first motivated me and the work that is the result.