“Why do so many of us, as female artists, have to go to war to tell our stories when we have so much to offer? Why do we have to fight tooth and nail to maintain our dignity? I think it is because we, as women, have been devalued artistically to an indecent state, to the point where the film industry…”— Salma Hayek, nytimes.com
“An artist is above all a human being, profoundly human to the core. If the artist can’t feel everything that humanity feels, if the artist isn’t capable of loving until he forgets himself and sacrifices himself if necessary, if he won’t put down his magic brush and head the fight against the oppress…”— Diego Rivera, goodreads.com
“As an artist I have always tried to be faithful to my vision of life, and I have frequently been in conflict with those who wanted me to paint not what I saw but what they wished me to see.”— Diego Rivera, amazon.com
“The key to the mystery of a great artist is that for reasons unknown, he will give away his energies and his life just to make sure that one note follows another…and leaves us with the feeling that something is right in the world.”— Leonard Bernstein, goodreads.com
“The gift of imagination is by no means an exclusive property of the artist; it is a gift we all share; to some degree or other all of us are endowed with the powers of fantasy, the dullest of dullards among us has the gift of dreams at night - visions and yearnings and hopes. Everyone can also think…”— Leonard Bernstein, goodreads.com
“Is it worth being so talented if you also have to suffer from a profound sensitivity that is intrinsically connected to your gifts?”— Melissa Broder, amazon.com
“Nature has mysterious infinities and imaginative power. It is always varying the productions it offers to us. The artist himself is one of nature's means.”— Paul Gaugin, amazon.com
“(But then that is one of the severest test of an artist: he must always remain innocent and unconscious of his greatest virtues if he is to avoid depriving them of their uninhibitedness and purity.)...In spite of all this take deep pleasure in what is great about his work and must just make sure not…”— Rainer Maria Rilke, amazon.com
“I hope when people ask what you’re going to do with your English degree and/or creative writing degree you’ll say: ‘Continue my bookish examination of the contradictions and complexities of human motivation and desire;’ or maybe just: ‘Carry it with me, as I do everything that matters.’ And then smi…”— Cheryl Strayed, amazon.com
“The artist begins with a vision — a creative operation requiring effort. Creativity takes courage.”— Henri Matisse, en.wikiquote.org
“An artist must possess Nature. He must identify himself with her rhythms, by effort that will prepare the mastery which will later enable him to express himself in his own language.”— Henri Matisse, en.wikiquote.org
“The simplest means are those which best enable an artist to express himself. His means of expression must derive almost all of necessity from his temperament.”— Henri Matisse, amazon.com
“A lot of people who are artists don’t understand it themselves. Especially the young ones. They feel different, but they don’t know what it is. They feel more. Everything hurts. Everything. They’re super sensitive. They see things that other people don’t see.”— Rick Rubin, esquire.com
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”— Pablo Picasso, amazon.com
“I find it so much easier to be creatively free at night. Daytime is for sleeping. Nighttime is the best time for making art. The later at night it gets the further into another world you go.”— Mark Ryden, markryden.com
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”— Pablo Picasso, simple.wikiquote.org