Marcel Duchamp

In fact, the creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world...

I wanted to put painting once again at the service of the mind.

A painting that doesn't shock isn't worth painting.

The individual, man as a man, man as a brain, if you like, interests me more than what he makes, because I've noticed that most artists only repeat themselves.

I am not at all sure that the concept of the artist as a 'creator' is a very clear one.

The difference between a Courbet and a Duchamp is the difference between a painter and an artist.

Art is the only form of activity in which man as man shows himself to be a true individual. Only in art is he capable of going beyond the animal state, because art is an outlet toward regions which are not ruled by time and space.

I don't think there is any solution because there isn't any problem.

My ideal library would be one in which all the books are by other people.

I have a very feminine side. I let it live.

The readymade is the consequence of the refusal which made me say: There are so many people who make pictures with their hands, that one may as well not make any more.

I am still a victim of chess. It has all the beauty of art—and much more.

Art is a mirage.

I don't want to be pinned down to any position. My position is the lack of a position, but of course, you can't even talk about it; the minute you talk you spoil the whole game.

The important thing is to have something to say and to say it.

I have never been able to understand why a painting is called a 'work of art.' It's a painting, that's all.

The only possible reaction to a readymade is either indifference or irritation.

I am not responsible for my own ideas. They come to me.

I forced myself to contradict myself in order to avoid conforming to my own taste.

Art is a game between all people of all periods.