“In art, religion, and politics the respect must be mutual, no matter how violent the disagreement.”

“I trust people who are violent about art, as long as they aren't closed-minded. But, unfortunately, most art blowhards are also art bigots.”

“After all, a love of art is a fine thing for a young boy, but art is long—and life can be pretty damned long too, without our just desserts!”

“Right at this moment, I only want silence. I believe that the end of life is silence in the love people have for you. I've actually been running through what people have said about the end. Religion says that the end is one thing, because it serves their purpose. But great thinkers alike haven't always agreed. Shakespeare knew how to say it better than anyone else. Hamlet says 'The rest is silence.' And when you think of the noises of everyday life, you realize how particularly desirable that is. Silence.”

“I know what I like—I like art—and I like what I know.”

“Art is love-times-love; the creator loves it and his audience adores it. To miss the sensation of loving art is to miss a kind of parenthood—false pregnancy perhaps—but as Van Gogh said, "If, defrauded of the power to create physically, a man tries to create thoughts in place of children, he is still part of humanity"...a big part.”

“Art is excitement which if we can't create ourselves, we can at least, through love of it, make available to others.”