Quotes from the graffitti artist Bansky
A guy who has a lot of interesting things to say
"Graffiti is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing.
And even if you don't come up with a picture to cure world poverty you can
make someone smile while they're having a piss."
- Banksy (Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall)
"You're mind is working at its best when you're being paranoid.
You explore every avenue and possibility of your situation
at high speed with total clarity."
- Banksy (Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall)
"Think outside the box, collapse the box, and take a fucking sharp knife to it."
- Banksy
"A lot of mothers will do anything for their children, except let them be themselves."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"Nothing in the world is more common than unsuccessful people with talent, leave the house before you find something worth staying in for. "
- Banksy
"There are four basic human needs; food, sleep, sex and revenge."
- Banksy
"Some people become cops because they want to make the world a better place. Some people become vandals because they want to make the world a better looking place."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"he human race is an unfair and stupid competition. A lot of the runners don't even get decent sneakers or clean drinking water. Some people are born with a massive head start, every possible help along the way and still the referees seem to be on their side. It's not surprising some people have given up competing altogether and gone to sit in the grandstand, eat junk food and shout abuse. What we need in this race is a lot more streakers."
- Banksy (Cut It Out)
"A lot of people never use their initiative because no-one told them to"
- Banksy
"People who get up early in the morning cause war, death and famine."
- Banksy (Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall)
"If you want to say something and have people listen then you have to
wear a mask. If you want to be honest then you have to live a lie."
- Banksy
"There's nothing more dangerous than sometone who wants to make the world a better place."
- Banksy
"It's a very frustrated feeling you get when the only people with good photos of you work are the police department."
- Banksy
"My main problem with cops is that they do what they're told. They say 'Sorry mate, I'm just doing my job' all the fucking time.”
- Banksy (Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall)
"A wall is a very big weapon. It's one of the nastiest things you can hit someone with."
- Banksy (Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall)
"You owe the companies nothing. You especially don't owe them any courtesy. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don't even start asking for theirs."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"All artists are willing to suffer for their work. But why are so few prepared
to learn to draw?"
- Banksy
"I need someone to protect me from all the measures they take in order to protect me. "
- Banksy
"A recent survey or North American males found 42% were overweight, 34% were critically obese and 8% ate the survey."
- Banksy
"Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled a great and glorious nation. Favourite amongst his subjects was the court painter of whom he was very proud. Everybody agreed this wizzened old man pianted the greatest pictures in the whole kingdom and the king would spend hours each day gazing at them in wonder. However, one day a dirty and dishevelled stranger presented himself at the court claiming that in fact he was the greatest painter in the land. The indignant king decreed a competition would be held between the two artists, confident it would teach the vagabond an embarrassing lesson. Within a month they were both to produce a masterpiece that would out do the other. After thirty days of working feverishly day and night, both artists were ready. They placed their paintings, each hidden by a cloth, on easels in the great hall of the castle. As a large crowd gathered, the king ordered the cloth be pulled first from the court artist’s easel. Everyone gasped as before them was revealed a wonderful oil painting of a table set with a feast. At its centre was an ornate bowl full of exotic fruits glistening moistly in the dawn light. As the crowd gazed admiringly, a sparrow perched high up on the rafters of the hall swooped down and hungrily tried to snatch one of the grapes from the painted bowl only to hit the canvas and fall down dead with shock at the feet of the king. ’Aha!’ exclaimed the king. ’My artist has produced a painting so wonderful it has fooled nature herself, surely you must agree that he is the greatest painter who ever lived!’ But the vagabond said nothing and stared solemnly at his feet. ’Now, pull the blanket from your painting and let us see what you have for us,’ cried the king. But the tramp remained motionless and said nothing. Growing impatient, the king stepped forward and reached out to grab the blanket only to freeze in horror at the last moment. ’You see,’ said the tramp quietly, ’there is no blanket covering the painting. This is actually just a painting of a cloth covering a painting. And whereas your famous artist is content to fool nature, I’ve made the king of the whole country look like a clueless little twat."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"Once upon a time there was a bear and a bee who lived in a wood and were the best of friends. All summer long the bee collected nectar from morning to night while the bear lay on his back basking in the long grass. When winter came the bear realised he had nothing to eat and thought to himself 'I hope that busy little bee will share some of his honey with me.' But the bee was nowhere to be found - he had died of a stress induced coronary disease."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"going through the motions kills the emotions"
- Banksy
"Become good at cheating and you never need to become good at anything else."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"The thing I hate the most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright, creative and ambitious young people, leaving us mainly with the slow and self-obsessed to become our artists.. Modern art is a disaster area. Never in the field of human history has so much been used by so many to say so little. "
- Banksy
"playing it safe will always end in disaster"
- Banksy
"If you are dirty, insignificant and unloved then rats are the ultimate role model."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"People either love me or they hate me, or they don't really care."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"Only when the last tree has been cut down and the last river has dried up will man realise that reciting red indian proverbs makes you sound like a fucking muppet."
- Banksy (Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall)
"People say graffiti is ugly, irresponsible and childish... but that's only if it's done properly."
- Banksy
"I'd been painting rats for three years before someone said 'that's clever it's an
anagram of art' and I had to pretend I'd known that all along."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"the people who run our cities dont understand graffiti because they think nothing has the right to exist unless it makes a profit...
the people who truly deface our neighborhoods are the companies that scrawl giant slogans across buildings and buses trying to make us feel inadequate unless we buy their stuff....
any advertisement in public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours, it belongs to you ,, its yours to take, rearrange and re use.Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head....
"
- Banksy
"It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission"
- Banksy
"Remember crime against property is not real crime. People look at an oil painting and admire the use of brushstrokes to convey meaning. People look at a graffiti painting and admire the use of a drainpipe to gain access."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"Policemen and security guards wear hats with a peak that comes down low over their eyes. Apparently this is for psychological reasons. Eyebrows are very expressive and you appear a lot more authoritative if you keep them covered up. The advantage of this is that it makes a lot harder for cops to see anything more than six foot off the ground. Which is why painting rooftops and bridges is so easy."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"The greatest crimes in the world are not committed by people breaking the rules but by people following the rules. It's people who follow orders that drop bombs and massacre villages"
- Banksy
"People are fond of using military terms to describe what they do.
We call it bombing when we go out painting, when of course it's more
like entertaining the troops in a neutral zone, during peacetime in a
country without an army."
- Banksy (Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall)
"Some people represent authority without ever possessing any of their own."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"The human race is the most stupid and unfair kind of race. A lot of the runners don't even get decent sneakers or clean drinking water.
Some runners are born with a massive head start, every possible help along the way and still the referees seem to be on their side.
It's not surprising a lot of people have given up compeating altogether and gone to sit in the grandstand, eat junk and shout abuse.
What the human race needs is a lot more streakers. "
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"A lot of people never use their initiative because no-one told them to."
- Banksy
"Painting something that defies the law of the land is good. Painting something that defies the law of the land and the law of gravity at the same time is ideal."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"The thing I hate most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright, creative, young people, leaving us only with the slow and self-obsessed to become our artists. Modern art is a disaster area. Never in human history has so much been used by so many to say so little."
- Banksy
"As far as I can tell the only thing worth looking at in most museums of art is all the schoolgirls on daytrips with the art departments."
- Banksy
"Speak softly, but carry a big can of paint."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"Some people become Police to make the world a better place, some people become vandals to make the world a better looking place."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"I don't believe in anything. I'm just here for the violence."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"Imagine a city where graffiti wasn't illegal, a city where everybody draw whatever they liked. Where every street was awash with a million colours and little phrases. Where standing at a bus stop was never boring. A city that felt like a party where everyone was invited, not just the estate agents and barons of big business. Imagine a city like that and stop leaning against the wall - it's wet. "
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"If you want someone to be ignored then build a life-size bronze statue of them and stick it in the middle of town. It doesn't matter how great you were, it'll always take an unfunny drunk with climbing skills to make people notice you."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"I like to think I have the guts to stand up anonymously in a western democracy and call for things no-one else believes in - like peace and justice and freedom."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"Graffiti ultimately wins out over proper art because it becomes part of your city, it' s a tool; "I'll meet you in that pub, you know, the one opposite that wall with a picture of a monkey holding a chainsaw". I mean, how much more useful can a painting be than that?"
- Banksy (Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall)
"Graffiti is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing.
And even if you don't come up with a picture to cure world poverty you can
make someone smile while they're having a piss."
- Banksy (Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall)
"You're mind is working at its best when you're being paranoid.
You explore every avenue and possibility of your situation
at high speed with total clarity."
- Banksy (Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall)
"Think outside the box, collapse the box, and take a fucking sharp knife to it."
- Banksy
"A lot of mothers will do anything for their children, except let them be themselves."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"Nothing in the world is more common than unsuccessful people with talent, leave the house before you find something worth staying in for. "
- Banksy
"There are four basic human needs; food, sleep, sex and revenge."
- Banksy
"Some people become cops because they want to make the world a better place. Some people become vandals because they want to make the world a better looking place."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"he human race is an unfair and stupid competition. A lot of the runners don't even get decent sneakers or clean drinking water. Some people are born with a massive head start, every possible help along the way and still the referees seem to be on their side. It's not surprising some people have given up competing altogether and gone to sit in the grandstand, eat junk food and shout abuse. What we need in this race is a lot more streakers."
- Banksy (Cut It Out)
"A lot of people never use their initiative because no-one told them to"
- Banksy
"People who get up early in the morning cause war, death and famine."
- Banksy (Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall)
"If you want to say something and have people listen then you have to
wear a mask. If you want to be honest then you have to live a lie."
- Banksy
"There's nothing more dangerous than sometone who wants to make the world a better place."
- Banksy
"It's a very frustrated feeling you get when the only people with good photos of you work are the police department."
- Banksy
"My main problem with cops is that they do what they're told. They say 'Sorry mate, I'm just doing my job' all the fucking time.”
- Banksy (Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall)
"A wall is a very big weapon. It's one of the nastiest things you can hit someone with."
- Banksy (Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall)
"You owe the companies nothing. You especially don't owe them any courtesy. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don't even start asking for theirs."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"All artists are willing to suffer for their work. But why are so few prepared
to learn to draw?"
- Banksy
"I need someone to protect me from all the measures they take in order to protect me. "
- Banksy
"A recent survey or North American males found 42% were overweight, 34% were critically obese and 8% ate the survey."
- Banksy
"Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled a great and glorious nation. Favourite amongst his subjects was the court painter of whom he was very proud. Everybody agreed this wizzened old man pianted the greatest pictures in the whole kingdom and the king would spend hours each day gazing at them in wonder. However, one day a dirty and dishevelled stranger presented himself at the court claiming that in fact he was the greatest painter in the land. The indignant king decreed a competition would be held between the two artists, confident it would teach the vagabond an embarrassing lesson. Within a month they were both to produce a masterpiece that would out do the other. After thirty days of working feverishly day and night, both artists were ready. They placed their paintings, each hidden by a cloth, on easels in the great hall of the castle. As a large crowd gathered, the king ordered the cloth be pulled first from the court artist’s easel. Everyone gasped as before them was revealed a wonderful oil painting of a table set with a feast. At its centre was an ornate bowl full of exotic fruits glistening moistly in the dawn light. As the crowd gazed admiringly, a sparrow perched high up on the rafters of the hall swooped down and hungrily tried to snatch one of the grapes from the painted bowl only to hit the canvas and fall down dead with shock at the feet of the king. ’Aha!’ exclaimed the king. ’My artist has produced a painting so wonderful it has fooled nature herself, surely you must agree that he is the greatest painter who ever lived!’ But the vagabond said nothing and stared solemnly at his feet. ’Now, pull the blanket from your painting and let us see what you have for us,’ cried the king. But the tramp remained motionless and said nothing. Growing impatient, the king stepped forward and reached out to grab the blanket only to freeze in horror at the last moment. ’You see,’ said the tramp quietly, ’there is no blanket covering the painting. This is actually just a painting of a cloth covering a painting. And whereas your famous artist is content to fool nature, I’ve made the king of the whole country look like a clueless little twat."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"Once upon a time there was a bear and a bee who lived in a wood and were the best of friends. All summer long the bee collected nectar from morning to night while the bear lay on his back basking in the long grass. When winter came the bear realised he had nothing to eat and thought to himself 'I hope that busy little bee will share some of his honey with me.' But the bee was nowhere to be found - he had died of a stress induced coronary disease."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"going through the motions kills the emotions"
- Banksy
"Become good at cheating and you never need to become good at anything else."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"The thing I hate the most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright, creative and ambitious young people, leaving us mainly with the slow and self-obsessed to become our artists.. Modern art is a disaster area. Never in the field of human history has so much been used by so many to say so little. "
- Banksy
"playing it safe will always end in disaster"
- Banksy
"If you are dirty, insignificant and unloved then rats are the ultimate role model."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"People either love me or they hate me, or they don't really care."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"Only when the last tree has been cut down and the last river has dried up will man realise that reciting red indian proverbs makes you sound like a fucking muppet."
- Banksy (Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall)
"People say graffiti is ugly, irresponsible and childish... but that's only if it's done properly."
- Banksy
"I'd been painting rats for three years before someone said 'that's clever it's an
anagram of art' and I had to pretend I'd known that all along."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"the people who run our cities dont understand graffiti because they think nothing has the right to exist unless it makes a profit...
the people who truly deface our neighborhoods are the companies that scrawl giant slogans across buildings and buses trying to make us feel inadequate unless we buy their stuff....
any advertisement in public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours, it belongs to you ,, its yours to take, rearrange and re use.Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head....
"
- Banksy
"It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission"
- Banksy
"Remember crime against property is not real crime. People look at an oil painting and admire the use of brushstrokes to convey meaning. People look at a graffiti painting and admire the use of a drainpipe to gain access."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"Policemen and security guards wear hats with a peak that comes down low over their eyes. Apparently this is for psychological reasons. Eyebrows are very expressive and you appear a lot more authoritative if you keep them covered up. The advantage of this is that it makes a lot harder for cops to see anything more than six foot off the ground. Which is why painting rooftops and bridges is so easy."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"The greatest crimes in the world are not committed by people breaking the rules but by people following the rules. It's people who follow orders that drop bombs and massacre villages"
- Banksy
"People are fond of using military terms to describe what they do.
We call it bombing when we go out painting, when of course it's more
like entertaining the troops in a neutral zone, during peacetime in a
country without an army."
- Banksy (Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall)
"Some people represent authority without ever possessing any of their own."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"The human race is the most stupid and unfair kind of race. A lot of the runners don't even get decent sneakers or clean drinking water.
Some runners are born with a massive head start, every possible help along the way and still the referees seem to be on their side.
It's not surprising a lot of people have given up compeating altogether and gone to sit in the grandstand, eat junk and shout abuse.
What the human race needs is a lot more streakers. "
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"A lot of people never use their initiative because no-one told them to."
- Banksy
"Painting something that defies the law of the land is good. Painting something that defies the law of the land and the law of gravity at the same time is ideal."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"The thing I hate most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright, creative, young people, leaving us only with the slow and self-obsessed to become our artists. Modern art is a disaster area. Never in human history has so much been used by so many to say so little."
- Banksy
"As far as I can tell the only thing worth looking at in most museums of art is all the schoolgirls on daytrips with the art departments."
- Banksy
"Speak softly, but carry a big can of paint."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"Some people become Police to make the world a better place, some people become vandals to make the world a better looking place."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"I don't believe in anything. I'm just here for the violence."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"Imagine a city where graffiti wasn't illegal, a city where everybody draw whatever they liked. Where every street was awash with a million colours and little phrases. Where standing at a bus stop was never boring. A city that felt like a party where everyone was invited, not just the estate agents and barons of big business. Imagine a city like that and stop leaning against the wall - it's wet. "
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"If you want someone to be ignored then build a life-size bronze statue of them and stick it in the middle of town. It doesn't matter how great you were, it'll always take an unfunny drunk with climbing skills to make people notice you."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"I like to think I have the guts to stand up anonymously in a western democracy and call for things no-one else believes in - like peace and justice and freedom."
- Banksy (Wall and Piece)
"Graffiti ultimately wins out over proper art because it becomes part of your city, it' s a tool; "I'll meet you in that pub, you know, the one opposite that wall with a picture of a monkey holding a chainsaw". I mean, how much more useful can a painting be than that?"
- Banksy (Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall)