Museums are for dead artists. I'd never show my work in the Tate. You'd never get me in that place.

Even as a kid in drawing class, I had real ambition. I wanted to be the best in the class, but there was always some other feller who was better; so I thought, 'It can't be about being the best, it has to be about the drawing itself, what you do with it.' That's kind of stuck with me.

I've spent a long time avoiding painting and dealing with it from a distance. But as I get older, I'm more comfortable with it.

Damien Hirst Quotes