George Bernard Shaw

I dread success. To have succeeded is to have finished one’s business on earth, like the male spider, who is killed by the female the moment he has succeeded in his courtship. I like a state of continual becoming, with a goal in front and not behind.

Nothing is ever done in this world until men are prepared to kill one another if it is not done.

The first condition of progress is the removal of censorship.

I want to be all used up when I die.

Never fret for an only son, the idea of failure will never occur to him.

Why should we take advice on sex from the pope? If he knows anything about it, he shouldn’t!

Art is not a thing; it is a way.

I wouldn’t give five cents for all the art in the world.

If you believe in your art and you love what you do, that energy will go out and people will respond.

I hope the Guggenheim plan will be revived.

The essence of all Art is to have pleasure in giving pleasure.

To this day I’m really not sure if I was playing Ziggy [Stardust] or if Ziggy was exaggerated aspects of my own personality. A fair amount of psychological baggage was undoubtedly coming out through the character. Because I felt awkward and nervous and inadequate with myself, it felt easier to be somebody else.

Surrealism had a great effect on me because then I realised that the imagery in my mind wasn’t insanity. Surrealism to me is reality.

All art inspires me. Life inspires me. The art of life, thus my own art.

It is unquestionably true that the need for art is not created by economic conditions. But neither is the need for food created by economics. On the contrary, the need for food and warmth creates economics.

He knows all about art, but he doesn’t know what he likes.

I’m just an individual who doesn’t feel that I need to have somebody qualify my work in any particular way. I’m working for me.

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

I believe that all creative people have more than one passion, more than one creative talent.

Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.

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.