Artist quotes

Artist

8.6K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.

8.6K quotes

Explore further

Browse quotes that often appear alongside artist — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.

Quote collection

Artist quotes (page 8 of 431)

Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.

Akira Kurosawa Director, Screenwriter
Artist

"In order to find reality, each must search for his own universe, look for the details that contribute to this reality7 that one feels under the surface of things. To be an artist means to search, to find and look at these realities. To be an artist means never to look away."

Read quote 38 likes
Bobbi Brown Makeup Artist, Entrepreneur
Artist

"We makeup artists are a unique bunch of people; we don't have the classic brain, the classic training, but we're creative, so we figure it out."

Read quote 38 likes
Kadir Nelson Illustrator
Artist

"I think it's important to have confidence, but then it's also important to try to try something new, to leave your comfort zone to try to grow. That's why I'm trying to grow as an artist and trying to figure out what kind of artist I want to be."

Read quote 38 likes
J. Cole Rapper, songwriter
Artist

"The thing about being an artist today is you get to develop right in front of people's eyes before you even put out an album."

Read quote 38 likes
Moliere Playwright, Actor
Artist

"There is no fate more distressing for an artist than to have to show himself off before fools, to see his work exposed to the criticism of the vulgar and ignorant."

Read quote 38 likes
William Faulkner Novelist, Poet, Playwright
Artist

"People need trouble - a little frustration to sharpen the spirit on, toughen it. Artists do; I don't mean you need to live in a rat hole or gutter, but you have to learn fortitude, endurance. Only vegetables are happy."

Read quote 37 likes
Theodore Roosevelt Politician, Author
Artist

"The mother is the one supreme asset of national life; she is more important by far than the successful statesman, or business man, or artist, or scientist."

Read quote 35 likes
Leonardo da Vinci Artist, Scientist, Inventor
Artist

"An artist who lacks the power of self-criticism accomplishes but little. It is good if your work stands higher than your own opinion of it; bad if it is on the same level. But it is a great disaster if your work stands lower than your judgment of it."

Read quote 35 likes
Maya Lin Architect, Artist
Artist

"A lot of my works deal with a passage, which is about time. I don't see anything that I do as a static object in space. It has to exist as a journey in time."

Read quote 35 likes
Alonzo King Choreographer
Artist

"The world loves a clone and a good knock-off. It cheats the artist... In the obsession for technical wizardry, people disappear; and if your voice isn't present in a relationship, you don't matter."

Read quote 34 likes
Viola Davis Actress, Producer
Artist

"As an artist, you've got to see the mess. That's what we do. We get a human being, and it's like putting together a puzzle. And the puzzle has got to be a mixture, a multifaceted mixture of human emotions, and not all of it is going to be pretty."

Read quote 34 likes
Ice T Rapper, Actor
Artist

"...As an artist, you need the naysayers and the nonbelievers to add fuel to your creative fire."

Read quote 34 likes
Maya Lin Architect, Artist
Artist

"I probably have fundamentally antisocial tendencies. I never took one extracurricular activity. I just failed utterly at that level. Part of me still rebels against that."

Read quote 34 likes
Kanye West Rapper, Producer, Fashion Designer
Artist

"I just close my eyes and act like I'm a 3-year-old. I try to get as close to a childlike level as possible because we were all artists back then. So you just close your eyes and think back to when you were as young as you can remember and had the least barriers to your creativity."

Read quote 33 likes