“It was the artist’s duty to find the appropriate objects, and the audience’s job to decipher meaning. If the piece failed to work, it was their fault, not yours.”

“The first duty of a human being is to assume the right relationship to society -- more briefly, to find your real job, and do it.”

“An artist’s job is to captivate… if we stumble into truth, we got lucky.”

“It’s an artist’s job to show people the world they live in. We hold up mirrors.”

“The details make life holy. If you want a little happiness in life don’t forget to look at the little things. It is a poet’s work to see the incidental, pluck it, place an appropriate silence around both sides and see the profound in what passes for a passing moment. It is an artist’s job to as much discover art as create it. Prayer is a way of making the common profound by pausing, tying knots around a moment, turning our life into a string of pearls.”

“Asking questions doesn't mean you don't know your job, asking questions means you want to improve the quality of your work.”