218 Quotes by Damien Hirst

I definitely think about death. And every day your relationship with death changes. And every day I sort of feel like I know it more. I’ve always thought about it.

For artists it’s a lot easier to make art in bad times than it is in good times. When you’ve got no money it’s easy to just drink your way through it and make great art. But if you’re making lots of money it can be very problematic.

I realised that you couldn’t use the tools of yesterday to communicate today’s world. Basically, that was the big light that went on in my head.

I think art is good at looking back and looking forward. I don’t think art is good at looking head-on. At the end of the day, people are more important than paintings.

It’d be nice to make lots of money but it’s quite difficult, because every time I make lots of money I make a bigger piece that costs lots of money.

I don’t really have a career plan.

I quite like it to be risky. I’m not ready to sit down in a chair with my name on it yet. I’ve arrived at that point in the art world where there really is a chair that you sit in.

You’ve got to be able to copy things faithfully before you can deviate.

In an artwork you’re always looking for artistic decisions, so an ashtray is perfect. An ashtray has got life and death.