Damien Hirst's Quotes

I've been asked to do a retrospective since I was about 28 and I always thought that was a bit odd. It's great to look forward as an artist because in the future the possibilities are infinite; you look back and it's all fixed so it's a scary thing.

Making art, good art, is always a struggle. It can make you happy when you pull it off. There's no better feeling. It's beauteous. But it's always about hard work and inspiration and sweat and good ideas.

People always say that my work is sensational or shocking but there are truly shocking things you could do, and my sculptures don't go anywhere near that.

Since I was a child, death is definitely something that I think about every day. But I think that everybody does. You try and avoid it, but it's such a big thing that you can't.

The idea of going on tour for the rest of my life with old works is not that exciting. As an artist I definitely think the work in future is going to be better than the work in the past, otherwise why do it?

When I used to do abstract paintings at school, like everyone else, the tutor said these would make great curtains. I would always neglect the formal stuff that was going on by using colour, because colour kind of came naturally to me.

So smoking is the perfect way to commit suicide without actually dying. I smoke because it's bad, it's really simple.

Sometimes when you're drunk you can see better.

The goal in life is to be solid, whereas the way that life works is totally fluid, so you can never actually achieve that goal.

I think suicide is the most perfect thing you can do in life.

I have always been aware that you have to get people listening before you can change their minds. Any artist's big fear is being ignored, so if you get debate, that's great.

I always feel like the art's there and I just see it, so it's not really a lot of work.

I used to believe I was going to live forever. And then you suddenly become aware that you're not.

A lot of people thought I wasn't doing anything because I was spending a lot of time socialising and going out, but I've always managed to get work actually done.

A painting probably is the most shocking increase in value, from what it costs to make to what you sell it for.

But I'm more interested in why people are frightened by Jaws and why Jaws was such a hit than saying Spielberg's my main influence.

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

But I think it's more that when you're young, you're invincible, you're immortal - or at least you think you are. The possibilities are limitless, you're inventing the future. Then you get older and suddenly you have a history. It's fixed. You can't change anything. I find that a bit disturbing, to be honest.

Artists are like everybody else.

As a father, I would say I am more like a mother. I do a lot of hugging.

Being best is a false goal, you have to measure success on your own terms.

But whenever I look at the question of how to live, the answer's always staring me in the face. I'm already doing it.

For me, art is always a kind of theater.

I always ignore money.

I made one untitled piece.

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 an ashtray is the most fantastically real thing.

I think I like big issues, but I don't believe in God or religion.

I think money is important for everyone, because the lack of it is so painful.

I'm 43. I'm not ready to sit down in a chair with my name on it yet.

Immortality is really desirable, I guess. In terms of images, anyway.

I'm very bad at delegating writing responsibilities, because I've never been able to do it; I've never had any help or looked for any help.

It works better if your lead character is complex and interesting and not perfect.

Nobody knows what really happened in any historical period. There are some periods where we know more than others, though.

Once I engage in something, I really engage in it, and I love the process of reading and researching because I come from an academic background.

People love cliches. If you can give people cliches, that's very good TV, then.

When you're a screenwriter working on a film, you're not really even welcome on set, even if you know... When I wrote 'Elizabeth' and Shekhar Kapur was a friend of mine, but I wasn't really welcome on set, because the director is God and it's a very difficult position for a screenwriter who's put so much passion into that, into the writing.

When you're making a TV drama, the showrunner is God, and so however onerous and difficult and consuming that responsibility is, you're being treated with respect, so it changes your whole outlook to the production. You're being asked about costumes, set design, music, every aspect of the show.

With 'The Tudors,' I had a huge amount of material, I mean so many books and so much stuff about what they really said. So, in a way it was kind of trying to strip it out and find the stories inside all this material.