Quotes from Raymond Pettibon

Who needs eyes when you can hallucinate?

My values are relativistic, and I'll give a cop the benefit of the doubt. If that's me with my gat – my gat's larger than the one depicted – we can have a discussion, and he can answer me just as well with my .357 barrel in his mouth, or on his cheek, or on his adenoids, or down his throat. I'll listen to his whimpering cries.

Orgasm coincides with a general hardening of the arteries.

It's not easy going through life constantly questioning the punk credibility of everyone around you.

Forgiveness is the nature of my art in general. It's expressing love and compassion, the kinds of things that don't make sense in any other context other than emotive expression.

No one can help me with my work. I think I do best when I am just left alone.

Art can be a kind of therapeutic, or kind of a fantasy life, or wish fulfillment...o r creating this alternate universe. Art gives me the freedom to do that.

In communist Russia, their major organ was Pravda, which means "truth." The Russians knew how to read between the lines. They didn't take their literature literally.

When I see a train, I want to take it in my arms.

I don't feel that I decided deliberately I'm going to write something and have it stand alone. Somewhere by the end I think it would probably revert to imagery.

Everybody has his own great ideas about what my art should be. But I can do whatever I like and there aren't many constraints to the way I work, whether I'm using a brush with ink or paint.

My work is more driven by the creative word. It's immersed in other writing and printed work, rather than drawn so much from life or past experience.

I really don't see any influence of my work on any artists. But I do think I've had an influence on drawings' being shown. I've had an influence on the economics of it.

Art comes after the fact, as a witness to certain things that have happened.

It's an extreme to go from an artist like myself to a commercial artist with art directors looking over your shoulder, or any other knucklehead telling you what your art should look like.

I don't make art with grandiose delusions. I do know there are limits to what art is capable of. That makes it all the more appealing to me. And I can do as I will whenever I choose.

I don't know if it's good to be stuck at one place. I'm probably too close to home on that. Because that can happen-where I'm not the best judge of my own work.

I don't have extravagant tastes or expenses - like with cars, clothes, or whatever.

It's very rare that someone gets the death penalty for charges of conspiracy, for his influence, for his Svengali-Rasputin act.

I don't want to express violence or anger or hate in my art. I want to express forgiveness.