Salvador Dalí
Master surrealist, Persistence of Memory
Most quoted
"The fact that I myself, at the moment of painting, do not understand my own pictures, does not mean that these pictures have no meaning; on the contrary, their meaning is so profound, complex, coherent, and involuntary that it escapes the most simple analysis of rational intuition."
— from The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí
"The fact that I myself, at the moment of painting, do not understand my own pictures, does not mean that these pictures have no meaning; on the contrary, their meaning is so profound, complex, coherent, and involuntary that it escapes the most simple analysis of logical intuition."
— from The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí
"I am painting pictures which make me die for joy, I am creating with an absolute naturalness, without the slightest aesthetic concern, I am making things that inspire me with a profound emotion and I am trying to paint them honestly."
— from Letter to André Breton, 1929
All quotes by Salvador Dalí (305)
The only thing I regret is not having invented the wheel.
I am interested in art as a means of communication, not as an end in itself.
The only thing I am afraid of is not being afraid.
The only way to be truly original is to be yourself.
The only thing that can save the world is the imagination.
The only thing that can destroy a dream is a lack of imagination.
The only thing that can make life worth living is the pursuit of beauty.
The only thing that can make death bearable is the knowledge that you have lived a full life.
The only thing that can make consciousness meaningful is the ability to create.
The only thing that can make truth beautiful is the ability to see it.
The only thing that can make the human condition bearable is the ability to laugh at it.
The only thing that can make spirituality meaningful is the ability to connect with something larger than yourself.
The only thing the world will not have enough of is the absurd.
The secret of my influence has always been that it is an influence of the unconscious.
I am a man of genius, and I am not afraid to admit it.
The only difference between a good and a bad painting is that a bad painting is a good painting that has been badly painted.
The only thing I fear is death, and I'm not afraid of that either.
I believe in general in the future of the human race, but I have no faith in the future of the human individual.
The world will never be able to understand me, and I will never be able to understand the world.
I am an exhibitionist. I am a showman. I am a genius.
Contemporaries of Salvador Dalí
Other Visual Artss born within 50 years of Salvador Dalí (1904–1989).