Quotes from Robert Mapplethorpe

I don't know why my pictures come out looking so good. I just don't get it.

Sell the public flowers... things that they can hang on their walls without being uptight.

My theory about creativity is that the more money one has, the more creative one can be.

When I create art, it's like holding hands with God.

I don't believe in dogmas and theologies. I just believe in being a good person.

The more pictures you see, the better you are as a photographer.

I just hope I can live long enough to see the fame.

I am selfish, but that's an attribute that all artists possess.

To make pictures big is to make them more powerful.

The photographs that are art have to be separated from the rest - then preserved.

This AIDS stuff is pretty scary. I hope I don't get it.

If I have to change my lifestyle, I don't want to live.

To make pictures big is to make them more powerful.

Beauty and the devil are the same thing.

I just hope I can live long enough to see the fame.

People don't have time to wait for somebody to paint their portraits anymore. The money is in photography.

I would never have done what I'd done if I'd considered my father as somebody I wanted to please.

My father wants me to be like my brother, but I can't be.

Happiness? No, it's not there for me.

When I work, and in my art, I hold hands with God.

I am obsessed with beauty. I want everything to be perfect, and of course it isn't. And that's a tough place to be because you're never satisfied.

I stand naked when I draw. God holds my hand and we sing together.

You're never going to get anywhere in life if you don't live up to your obligations.

I just try to live my life and do my thing.