Author

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

But the answer to how to live is to stop thinking about it. And just to live. But you're doing that anyway. However you intellectualise it, you still just live.

From Damien Hirst

I was taught to confront things you can't avoid. Death is one of those things. To live in a society where you're trying not to look at it is stupid because looking at death throws us back into life with more vigour and energy. The fact that flowers don't last for ever makes them beautiful.

From Damien Hirst

The difference between art about death and actual death is that one's a celebration and the other's a dull fact.

From Damien Hirst

You need a big ego to be an artist.

From Damien Hirst

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

From Damien Hirst

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.

From Damien Hirst

Kids are naturally gifted at art from a very young age. The problem is when they get older and become self-conscious. The process should always be fun, though.

From Damien Hirst

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.

From Damien Hirst

For me, art is always a kind of theater. When I started the spot paintings, I made them as an endless series. But I was never serious about it being an endless series. It was just an implied endless series. The theater means you just have to make it look good for that moment in the spotlight.

From Damien Hirst

Damien Hirst

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