Being some country lad from the banks of the River Boyne, I never wanted to be wealthy. I was driven by artistic intention.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I never set out to be rich and famous. I wanted to follow my own path.
Coming from where I came from, it was unimaginable to ever be wealthy. That was just too far out of my reach.
I never had ambitions to see how rich I could get. I got a lot of contemporaries that that's their ambition, and I don't know very many of them that are happy.
I had never really wanted to be famous. Everyone is supposed to want to be rich and famous, but as a boy I never knew what rich was, and the first view I had of famous made me leery.
Although I grew up in very modest and challenging circumstances, I consider my life to be immeasurably rich.
Before I really even understood what the term meant, I wanted to be wealthy. I wanted to be able to drive the beautiful old Rolls-Royces my father admired when I was a child.
It's not part of my ambition to become fabulously rich. My plan was always to make my pictures, and hopefully people would buy them, and then I'd buy a studio, buy a house, help friends out, do bits and bobs - but I've no idea after that.
I have never had the need or thrill for being wealthy.
To be honest, I was born in luxury. I never saw the dearth of money, so money is not something which motivates me.
As a young kid, I really wanted to be rich.