Quotes from David Bowie

The skin of my character in 'The Man Who Fell to Earth' was some concoction, a spermatozoon of an alien nature that was obscene and weird-looking.

Being shoved into the top-40 scene was an unusual experience. It was great I'd become accessible to a huge audience but not terribly fulfilling.

I still derive immense pleasure from remembering how many hod-carrying brickies were encouraged to put on lurex tights and mince up and down the high street, having been assured by know-it-alls like me that a smidgen of blusher really attracted the birds.

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.

The best DJs in the world know how to pull in music from all over the place and make it work as a cohesive whole.

I felt I really wanted to back off from music completely and just work within the visual arts in some way. I started painting quite passionately at that time.

Nearly all the synth work on Heathen is mine and some of the piano.

I think much has been made of this alter ego business. I mean, I actually stopped creating characters in 1975 - for albums, anyway.

Strangely, some songs you really don't want to write.

I'm rather kind of old school, thinking that when an artist does his work, it's no longer his... I just see what people make of it.

For me, often, there's such a cloud of melancholia about knowing I'm going to have to leave my daughter on her own. I don't know what age that is going to be, thank God. It just doubles me up in grief.

I've learned to relax and be my present age and my present position. I feel comfortable on my mid-thirties. It doesn't seem such an alien place to be.

I do value the respect I get from my contemporaries, but to have Oasis cover my song, to have Puff Daddy cover a song, to have Goldie come along to my gigs - that's where my ego is at. To have my fellow musicians like what I do, that's very cool.

I'm rather kind of old school, thinking that when an artist does his work it's no longer his.

I don't mind trying it out and making sure something seems to work well.

But I'm pretty good with collaborative thinking. I work well with other people.

In fact, everything I do is about the conceptualizing and realization of a piece of work, whether it's the recording or the performance side.

But I've got to think of myself as the luckiest guy. Robert Johnson only had one album's worth of work as his legacy. That's all that life allowed him.

When I was going through those very fast changes, I think it was terribly important to me that I was seen to be inventive. I think that was the characteristic of my work that I wanted people to see.

I think Lindsay Kemp really introduced me to the work of Jean Genet, and through that, I kind of kept re-educating myself about other prose writers and poets.

I turned myself to face me, but I've never caught a glimpse of how the others must see the faker.

I'll ruin everything you are, I'll give you television.

Illusion I will be, for I've never been a sinner.

Oooh, fashion, we are the goon squad and were coming to town, beep beep.