Salvador Dali

Have no fear of perfection. You’ll never reach it.

Intelligence without ambition is like a bird without wings.

This type of soul, this type of art takes a while to cook. It’s like when my wife cooks for me and I always ask for greens. She never wants to cook the greens because they take three hours to cook.

Art is self expression. If you are expressing someone else’s personality, that is not art.

The conventional notions of art have changed, and a lot of things done today are considered works of art that would have been rejected in the past.

I hope the Guggenheim plan will be revived.

One of the things about creativity is you can be in denial about these things. When I found out I had cancer, there were four hours in which I was pounding my head on the marble kitchen top saying, “I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it.” But then I felt as if this little army in uniform was flooding me. They had come to help me fight it. I felt really strong about it after that. It was one of the strongest periods of my life.

MoMA is doubling its space, and I decided to raise the money for it.

In the field of art, to be able to have lunch with Kirk Varnedoe is thrilling. I met him at Si and Victoria Newhouse’s dinner one night. Barnett Newman’s widow was there. That’s the part of me that’s a fan. Like when I was a kid and went to the Brooklyn Paramount. Well, my interest has expanded, and it’s not just rock-and-roll.

Life is tough and if you’re creative, it’s tougher.

Can anybody be given creativity? No. Only equipment to develop it if it’s in them in the first place.

There is no art without intention.

If you hold onto the beauty and inspiration and the clarity that is music, you will have an anchor, you will not be too far swayed by what the world is.

Make the best of every moment. We’re not evolving. We’re not going anywhere.

A museum has to renew its collection to be alive, but that does not mean we give on important old works.

I got more publicity for not doing a festival than for doing the festival.

Nothing will stop you from being creative so effectively as the fear of making a mistake.